Treating Colleagues Fairly

I’ve had some great bosses over the years.  I’m still in touch with John Sayers and Tony Moody who gave me my first job at Hill Samuel when I was 16 in 1980, and at DBS, where I worked from 1995 to 2002, I had the pleasure of working for Ken Davy and Martin Greenwood, both of whom I greatly admired and still do.  It’s not all been sweetness and light though.  Like most people I’ve had a few very bad bosses over the years, but even the worst provided me with some sort of learning experience, even if it was only how not to be like them! 

We treat our colleagues fairly.  Pay is a big part of that, obviously, and I’m pretty sure that job-for-job we are the best paying employer in this town.  We also have a zero-tolerance policy toward bullying of any kind.  Most of us have been on the receiving end of bullying colleagues at some time or other, or have seen it happen to others colleagues.  Not here though.  Real fairness though goes a lot deeper.  It’s about equality of opportunity.  That means, amongst other things, not pigeonholing people.  Just because we hire somebody as a receptionist or administrator, that doesn’t mean they’re stuck in that position.  We have always had the aim of helping our people rise as high up the professional ladder as they want to rise, provided that they are prepared to put the effort in. 

So how successful have we been?  To cite just a few examples, my former PA Ryan Banks who started here aged 18 is now a well-respected adviser with another firm.  Chloe Bennett, another former PA, is these days doing well with Santander.  We have an excellent relationship with the vast majority of our former employees and we are always open to re-employing a ‘good leaver’ if the opportunity arises.  As to our current colleagues, Toni Turton joined us in October 2011 as my PA with no previous financial services experience.  Toni has worked her way up in our company and was appointed a director with effect from 1 January 2020.  Nikita Kyle joined us in November 2016, again with no previous financial services experience, and has smashed all her exams first time to qualify as an adviser.  Millie Spargo started with us in March 2020 and is already on her own journey to her full CII qualifications. Read more about our employment policies here and here