Guidance – Active founder Glyn Pemberton ( centre ) with current directors Paul Gibson ( left ) and Karl Pemberton at the firm ’ s offices in Thornaby .
ACTIVE
AT20
Financial planners celebrate two decades in business
Active Chartered Financial Planners is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year . Tees Business catches up with founder Glyn Pemberton and two of the current directors , Karl Pemberton and Paul Gibson , to discuss how things have changed .
How was Active established ? GP : I had worked in financial services for a long time and had been with my previous employer for 14 years by 2000 . I was managing the financial advisory division of the firm when the owners decided they wanted to move away from that side of the business . After plenty of soul searching , I made the decision to start a financial planning business of my own . Luckily , I had a good relationship with the regulators at the time , so starting afresh felt like more of a transition than simply starting from scratch . It was just me and three employees in the early days , then we started to expand in 2002 .
When did the business start to change ? GP : In 2004 , I was extremely poorly , and I was out of the business for six or seven months . Karl and my oldest son , Mark , who is an accountant , stepped in to keep things running . KP : It was a torturous time for the entire family . We didn ’ t know from one day to the next whether he would survive , and all we could do was be with him and watch . The agony was further compounded for my mum with the financial worry of how the bills would be paid . It was a strange experience for both myself and my brother , because this was our first look “ under the bonnet ” of the business , knowing what we knew
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