FINANCE
Meeting – Active directors Karl Pemberton ( right ) and Paul Gibson ( centre ) in discussion with the firm ’ s founder , Glyn Pemberton , at the premises they ’ ve occupied since 2012 .
from what had been spoken about around the family dinner table .
How did clients respond to this change ? KP : Dad ’ s loyal clients kept saying , “ We ’ ll just wait for your dad to come back ”. We just wanted to shout “ No !” at them , because we needed them to continue using us , not waiting for him to come back . GP : Yes , it was tough because they were used to me . I was the business . It was a real eye-opener , because it made me realise that if I needed to step down , the business would not be as valuable as I thought , and I didn ’ t want 20 years of hard work to be wasted .
When did Karl and Paul join Active ? GP : As you can tell by the fact I ’ m speaking to you now , I did recover from my illness , but I quickly realised that I didn ’ t have the energy to keep the business going on my own , I invited Karl to join the team in 2007 . He left RBS , which he had only recently moved to , to head up further expansion and a restructure of the firm . KP : It was a strange shift , but I had a vision of what I wanted to achieve with Active . I wanted to bring my knowledge from Yorkshire Bank and RBS to develop a “ best of all worlds ” approach . Smaller family practices are often independent , extremely moral , personable , and client-focused , which is brilliant . However , they often struggled to develop a brand , which was exactly the background I had been used to . PG : I joined Active in late 2008 / early 2009 . It was a strange experience moving from the corporate world to a smaller business that was so client-focused . We had a business
model we had faith in , which was tough considering what was happening in the financial sector at the time , and in the end it paid off !
When did you move to Active House ? KP : We moved here in late 2012 . We wanted premises that reflected the firm we had now become and one that would ultimately allow us to develop and grow for years to come . With new premises came new people and we were able to invest in and grow our team even further . PG : Attracting great people allows you to develop a great culture . Driven individuals always ensure knowledge and skills remain current and industry leading . I have always been passionate about training and development , and it was amazing to be able to recruit such talented people to join us . KP : We had some key recruitment successes in 2013 . Three more of our former bank colleagues joined us , including Karl Nendick as a director , who now heads up the regulatory and compliance side of the business .
Active has a reputation for developing and retaining its staff – how has that come about ? PG : Everyone has a personal development plan and we help them to achieve their goals . In the past 12 months , several members of our team have gained further external qualifications , including our executive support manager , Rachel , achieving chartered status , our ninth to do so ! People are proud to work for our brand . They see a career progression and they feel like part of the business , which makes them loyal . Your people are your biggest asset .
Compared to 20 years ago , is Active where you thought it would be , and what does the future hold ? GP : I always expected the business to grow and I am very proud that it ’ s gone the way I hoped . I officially retired at Christmas 2019 and it is fantastic to see the business go from strength to strength . PG : We are going to continue supporting our staff to train and develop and we hope that , when the opportunity arises , we will be able to welcome some new stars on board . KP : Our focus has always been , and always will be , to give quality advice , a great service and have a superior level of knowledge , achieved by hard work . The industry is always changing and we want to be the leaders in that change , rather than being one that struggles to keep up . It has proven to work well for us after all of the challenges we have faced in our first 20 years , so we ’ re confident that it will help us in our next 20 .
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