Company News

Advisers and client rise to the challenge

On 6th June this year four of our advisers and our managing director took part in the Three Peaks Challenge, taking in the mountains of Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon, with the aim of completing all within a 24 hour period. There were varying degrees of walking experience amongst them but Phillip Bray, Peter Stanley, Darren Ward, Robert Elmes and Andy George were accompanied by a client, Tony Thorley, who is an experienced hill walker and had already completed the challenge on two previous occasions.

The challenge covered 26 miles of walking and ascents of over 1340 metre - in the case of Ben Nevis with some miles of driving to be done in between. The team had sensibly drafted in two additional volunteers to do the driving for them - Phillip's father John Bray and another client Barry Widdowson. It was a tough challenge and they were certainly glad that they had put some training in before hand but they took in some beautiful scenery along the way, as you can see from the photos. Some of the team managed to finish the challenge within the 24 hours and a couple of them were just outside the time limit - but they have pledged to try again next year.

The Four Corners nominated charity ChildLine will benefit from the money raised which stood at £2,678.80 with some cheque and cash still rolling in. A page was set up on the Just Giving website. On this very popular website the donations are processed in 'real time' by Barclays. Funds are then paid into a legal trust account and transferred to the charity by the end of the week. All UK taxpayers can opt for the donation to be Gift aided, whereby tax relief is allowed on any donation.

Should you wish to make a donation the address to make the donation is - www.justgiving.com/fourcorners until August 1st 2008.

Ken Clarke MP opens our new offices – April 11th 2008

On 11th April Rushcliffe MP Ken Clarke officially opened our new offices on Loughborough Road in West Bridgford. Having bought out the Leicestershire based firm of independent financial advisers – Maplelord Financial Management Ltd, a move was inevitable in order to accommodate the advisors and administration staff from the three Leicestershire based offices of Maplelord.

Mr Clarke spent some time with us and quite happily answered questions from financial advisers on his views of the economic situation today. Mr Clarke was in fact, instrumental in bringing about the changes in legislation requiring the regulation of the financial services industry.

“We were delighted to have Ken Clarke with us for our official opening, especially as he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was very interesting to hear his take on the current climate in the financial world. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and he wished us every success for the future.” said Phillip Bray, our managing director.

Second company acquisition - March 2008

West Bridgford based Independent Financial Advisers Four Corners Financial Management has just announced its second company acquisition in just 15 months. The purchase of Maplelord, a firm of Independent Financial Advisers, with three branches in the Leicestershire area, follows on from the first acquisition in May last year of a Walsall based firm.
Maplelord’s founder, Trevor Harrington and his team of advisers had built the company up over an 18 year period having a total client bank of almost 4,000. “It’s with considerable confidence that I pass over the company to Phil to take it into the next era of its development and expansion. I have no doubt that with Phil’s energy and enthusiasm and under his trusted leadership, the future for all the staff and clients really is quite exciting, there are rewarding times ahead”, said Trevor.

The company acquisition will see the total number of advisers rise to 15 with 10 support staff and an additional £60 million funds under management, taking the total for the group to around £110 million. The renewal income will be £335,000.

The purchase involved accountancy support from Kate Sealy of Sealy Shaw, and a legal team from Shakespeare Putsman. Compliance issues and due diligence were handled by Three Sixty Services who specialise in support for IFA’s.

“I made the bold statement to the Nottingham Post back in May 2007 that we aim to be Nottingham’s premier IFA and I haven’t waivered from that. This latest acquisition was always going to be part of our business plan and buying a company whose ethos was very similar to our own was perfect for us,” commented Phillip Bray, managing director. “The focus on delivering unsurpassed client service levels remains paramount but we will not be stopping here. We have proved, in a relatively short space of time, that it is possible to expand a company at a fast rate, whilst still maintaining superb levels of client service, and to make a profit. Our clients are given the opportunity to provide feedback on all transactions and while ever we maintain 100% records of clients who would happily recommend a Four Corners adviser, we know we are on the right path”

To accommodate the growth a re-location became inevitable, although only to the premises next door. This now sees the company in a prominent position on Loughborough Road. Comments Phillip, “We needed to double the size of our office space, and we’ve done that and more, as we need to leave room for further expansion. The purchase of Maplelord Ltd last week will see those three branches in Leicestershire, make the move to West Bridgford in order for us to centralise our operations and house all of the advisers under one roof. The majority of our clients are seen in their own home, so this will not impact on client service at all. There will be a name change - with all companies now being part of the Four Corners Group”

Launch of new website - January 2008

We very proudly launched our brand new website in January. The site has a whole host of information both company and financial, along with topical news items that will be updated on a regular basis. The site has a Meet the Team section to enables you to see the faces behind the names and to learn more about the areas of expertise and qualifications of each Adviser.

We are very pleased to be able to display some of the wonderful testimonials we have received from our clients. These can be found on the testimonials page of the site, as well as on each Adviser's page within the - meet the team section.

Two more Independent Financial Advisers join Four Corners - November 2007

Katherine Ashton

Katherine joins West Bridgford based Four Corners Financial Management from Alliance & Leicester, having graduated in Accounting and Finance from Nottingham Trent University. Katherine is one of the first two recruits to embark upon the Four Corners Independent Financial Adviser training programme.

Robert Elmes

Robert is another graduate joining Four Corners as an Independent Financial Adviser, having previously worked as a Compliance Officer for a Mortgage Brokerage company. Robert has joined Katherine on the IFA training programme here at Four Corners.

Four Corners Financial Management Training Programme for IFA’s

The in-house training programme is aimed at individuals coming into the company having previously been in a financial role in related industries and will lead to a career as an Independent Financial Adviser. The course gives an excellent grounding in all aspects of the role and the industry, as well as allowing the individual to specialise in a specific area, whether that be Pension Investment Options, Lifetime Mortgages or Savings & Investments or indeed, any other aspect of Financial Planning.

The Growth of Four Corners Financial Management - May 2007

In May 2007 the Four Corners Group acquired the majority of the clients of Stephen Craig Associates, which included the clients of ITS (Independent Transfer Services) and IFS (Independent Financial Services).We now operate this company under the name of Stephen Craig Financial Management and over the ensuing months we will be undertaking comprehensive reviews with the clients, ensuring that they begin to enjoy the same high quality service experienced by Four Corners clients.