A TRIO of young financial advisers are the next generation to lead a well-respected Wrexham wealth management firm.
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Ben Gittins, Gwyn Edwards and Tom Hadlow have all been appointed as Directors at Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management Ltd, as part of a long-term strategy to ensure the continued success, direction and longevity of the firm.
Existing senior board director James Parry has also increased his stake in the business.
The company, which was set up by founding directors, Warren Hadlow and Medwyn Edwards in 2000, moved their rapidly expanding team into the former Wrexham Lager Old Brewery building in the heart of the town just over a year ago.
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The firm now has 26 employees and looks after the financial plans for nearly 3,000 clients. The business is continually looking to recruit both experienced advisers and support staff.
It is a representative of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, a FTSE 100 company which is one of the UK’s largest wealth management organisations.
Warren Hadlow, founding director for Hadlow Edwards, said: “This is all about ensuring the longevity of the business which we are proud to say is still rooted in the heart of Wrexham.
“Medwyn and I are now in our 50s and pride ourselves on the fact that much of the success of the business has come from the long term, trusted relationships we have developed with our loyal clients.
“But we are not going to be here for the next 30 years to carry that on with the younger clients coming through, often the younger generations of the same families who we have advised for many years.”
Two of those with new directorships, Ben Gittins and Gwyn Edwards have just been made Fellows of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) – the highest accolade there is in the industry.
Ben, 27, from Wrexham and now living in Farndon, joined Hadlow Edwards in 2014 and has an Economics degree from Manchester University.
The former Darland High School pupil said: “I am proud to be part of the wider picture of Hadlow Edwards. It’s a great business which is going places and I have known Warren and Medwyn for a long time. When I was offered a place as a director, I was always going to take it with both hands.
“We have big ambitions for the business and it’s a privilege to be part of the director team helping to steer the ship as we move into the future.” Ben, who lives with his fiancée Kirsty, said: “One of my specific roles will be to coach and manage some of our younger advisers coming through. The business is growing all the time, quite naturally, through client referrals which we are proud of and as we increase the numbers of advisers we have, we will also need to take on more staff to support them. This is great for the local community and its economy and we are committed to playing an important part in Wrexham’s future.
“We have always prided ourselves on the family feel to our firm which works for our clients and all those we employ. Even as we continue to grow, we are really determined to maintain this because it is an important part of the success of the business.”
Gwyn Edwards, 29, who is the son of Founding Director Medwyn, joined Hadlow Edwards three and a half years ago after graduating from St. James’s Place Academy. He heads up the firm’s London office.
He said one of the main focuses for his new directorship would be to drive forward the development of the business in this region.
Gwyn, a former Ysgol Morgan Llwyd and Llandovery College student, said: “Since we set up the London office in 2016, it has been going from strength to strength and we are not too far off being at a point where we will need an additional adviser there to help with the volume of work. It’s my goal to push forward and increase our presence in the area.”
Gwyn, who lives in West Hampstead and got married in August to Nia, added: “I feel very proud about gaining the directorship and being trusted by Warren and Medwyn to help look after what they have been building over the last 19 years.
“I think we are a great team with different strengths and we will all bring something different to the role which will be of terrific benefit to the firm and its long-term strategy for going forward whilst continuing to look after all our clients to the very best of our ability.”
Tom Hadlow, 30, who has worked in the financial industry for eight years and is the son of Founding Director Warren and lives in Chester his fiancée Lowry, said: “It has taken a lot of hard work to get to become a Director but I am really pleased to have achieved this.
“It would have been harder to do without the support of the great team we have behind us at Hadlow Edwards which means that I can focus solely on the important job in hand which is to look after my clients and do the right thing for them.”
The former Bishop Heber High School pupil, a graduate of Aberystwyth University, said it was looking after private individual’s financial needs which had become his passion.
He added: “I enjoy helping to look after people’s wealth through their life stages and I already have several families where I look after three generations, the grandparents, the children and their grandchildren.”
Tom said that his aim as one of the new directors would be to protect the firm’s guiding principles.
He said: “Hadlow Edwards is a really good firm and has always put its clients’ needs at the fore of everything we do. I see my director role as making sure we stay on track and that we continue to look after our clients the way we have always done, whilst also making sure that the company continues to grow.”
Warren went on to explain how welcoming younger people to the business had helped his firm to evolve and innovate. He said: “What the younger people bring is an energy, they bring a lot of innovation and fresh ideas, particularly around the use of IT which has been very important to embrace in order for us to stay current.”
He also stressed that nurturing this fresh talent was not exclusive to the adviser roles and how his firm has taken a similar approach to those in the administrative team too.
He said: “We have been fortunate to recruit some excellent staff on the administrative side too with four of them now in charge of running the office for us. They have grown through their time with us from junior clerical positions to defined management roles.
“This again helps to ensure the success and longevity of the business because the financial advisers are all supported by an experienced and talented team who know the business inside and out.”
Warren added: “We are continually on the look-out for new and experienced advisers to join us and would invite interested parties to get in touch.”
