Tell us a bit about your background?
Born and bred north Northumberland, school in Edinburgh (with Peter Glenton!), a year in Africa, Newcastle University, then a job in Horse Racing before heading into the City. Joined Lycetts where I became MD of the FS division and left after 20 fun years. Happily married to Alice and we have three boys (Orlando, Freddie and Arthur). We live near Wooler where both Alice and I were brought up.
What was your reason and motivation to start Hedgehope Limited?
From an early age I always wanted to set up my own business, but there are two main reasons for setting up Hedgehope. The first is that I wanted to have equity and sadly this wasn’t possible at my previous business, as they were bought by a large charity owned Insurance Underwriter. The reality is that in order to build significant wealth this can (usually) only be achieved if you have equity. The second reason was to focus more on people. We are a people business and if you look after people, both internally and externally they will look after your business. Internally our team will look after clients in an ethical, compliant, efficient and comprehensive way, providing a high level of service with care and diligence. We really care for our clients, most of whom we consider as our friends. Externally, when you have happy clients, because we give a great service and they have very competitively priced advice, from people who they like and trust, they are loyal and in turn look after the business. This in turn allows us to be efficient and profitable.
What is special about Hedgehope and how does that set it apart from its competition?
We don’t run any investment proposition in house as we use multiple Discretionary Fund Managers to manage our clients’ portfolios. Essentially, we act as a broker to Investment Managers, choosing the right Investment firm (individual) for our clients based on various factors. We negotiate a discounted charge with the investment manager. The discount is often our fee; providing two heads for the same price as one.
How do you see the business evolving from here?
Having moved out of my office at home to some stunning new offices at Old Bewick, near Alnwick, where we can see Hedgehope Hill, we are about to set up an office in London and also plan to set up an office in Newcastle. We are looking to bring in people who want to work for a business that puts people first. I also want everyone to be given the opportunity have equity options, so they really feel part of the business. Moreover, we are prepared to sacrifice maximising profitability to look after our people and to grow the business.
What has been your biggest challenge since you started the business?
Starting a Financial Services regulated business from scratch is NOT straightforward or easy. We have partnered with Benchmark Capital, part of the Schroders Group to help, but the initial team, which included Sarah Parsons and Grace Collingwood-Cameron, have been utterly brilliant. We also brought in seven investors, which was crucial. They all sit on an Advisory Board and their counsel and support have been invaluable. They are a very punchy team, but as they were all friends they understand and believe in what we are trying to do. We spent a lot of time building the foundations of our business, which may have been unnecessary, but I wanted to build a platform to build on, being scalable and robust for significant longer term growth. Doing all of this took considerable time, work, resource and investment.
What has been your greatest achievement within the business to date?
To have built a brilliant and fun team around me who trust each other, understand what we are doing and enjoy what they do. This is fundamentally crucial. I want people to enjoy working for Hedgehope. Working in Financial Services can be stressful and quite intense, with a lot of pressure on ensuring we do things properly and timely, so having the right people is key.
What business advice would you give to other entrepreneurs with the benefit of hindsight?
Get the foundations right and don’t cut corners with your business structure if you really want to grow. Also, always look after people.
What interests do you have outside of work?
I love all sport, and playing when I can (tennis, golf, skiing, fishing, cricket and shooting, having retired from the more dangerous and physical ones). I’m a Director at Kelso Racecourse and enjoy going racing when I can. I also consider myself somewhat of an expert when it comes to Lobster potting. Last but certainly not least, I love and enjoy my family and being at home with them. The view from our home looks directly towards Cheviot and, of course, Hedgehope.