20 | Tees Business
WORDS: JULIE BURNISTON
PICTURES: GRAEME ROWATT
S
how me a financial visionary at the
top of his game – one who has just
been appointed chair of the Institute
of Directors (Tees Valley) at the relatively
tender age of 42, and I wouldn’t necessarily
show you Karl Pemberton.
On meeting, he is open and approachable
– far from your stereotypical money man.
The Stockton offices of Active Chartered
Financial Planners, where Karl is MD, are
immaculately neat and welcoming.
“I have OCD,” he reveals with a smile.
“But if you’re hiring someone to look after
your money, you need someone with
attention to detail.”
Relaxed yet on point, Karl is also self-
deprecating. When I tell him that he has
again made it onto Tees Business’ annual
list of the region’s most inspiring business
leaders, he’s reluctantly happy.
“None of what I’ve done has been for
recognition, so when the plaudits come I
find it hard to deal with,” he admits.
The new vision which Karl injected into
Active when he joined forces with his father
Glyn in 2007 has paid dividends, with the
company being voted one of the 50 best
places to work in the North-East.
Last year over £600,000 was spent
purchasing impressive offices and
rebranding the company – a decision made
with a decisive nod to the future.
“Your brand should represent who you
are and also who you want to be,” says
Karl. “You must be suitable for now but
aspirational enough to attract clients who
may be ready for you in two or three
years’ time. It’s all about cultivating brand
emotion.”
During the rebrand, staff were consulted
and their emotive words used to create
the flowing movement of Active’s logo and
colour palette. There’s also a suggestion box
and annual anonymous director feedback.
“We use our strengths to train other
people and the negatives to self-develop,”
he explains.
Being the managing director of such a
successful company is something that’s
come as rather a surprise to a man who
achieved no more than a grade C in his
school exams.
“I don’t think anyone would dream that I’d
be doing what I’m doing now,” laughs Karl.
“When I was younger, I just wanted to
make people laugh and have a wind up. It’s
taken time and experience to know when I
should and shouldn’t do that – and when I
do have a laugh as a much-needed outlet, to
do it in private as there are people watching
and judging.”
Going into the work field at 18 instead of
following his friends to university proved a
fated decision for Karl, adding: “I did what
many people did in the ‘90s and sat with
the Yellow Pages finding addresses to send
my CV to and hoping for the best.”
“Charity work gives
me a sense of
responsibility which
is both humbling
and rewarding.”
That best came in the shape of Yorkshire
Bank, who offered Karl a job at their
Gresham branch on Linthorpe Road,
Middlesbrough.
“Those were great years,” he recalls.
“Fair play to Yorkshire Bank, they were
supportive, saw my determination to do
well and gave me every opportunity.”
The leadership style at Yorkshire Bank is
something Karl brought to Active. “I believe
you can have success without keeping
your team on a tight rein. Give people the
freedom to be brilliant and you’ll get the
best out of them.”
In 1999 Yorkshire Bank opened an
executive banking department which looked
after high net worth private individuals and
Karl, then 22, was an enthusiastic recruit.
A two-year stint at RBS as an investment
banking manager followed and Karl was
destined for even greater things, had his
father not fallen dangerously ill.
“I realised he could lose his business,
so call it an opportunity or an ultimatum,
but I knew if I didn’t do something with it
he’d have to sell. I took the leap, with my
now business partner Paul Gibson following
later.”
Thankfully, Glyn made a full recovery
and remains involved to this day, but his
illness highlighted the fact that the business
was a cottage industry which couldn’t be
sustained without him.
“Financial services at that time was
either one or two-man bands or big and
bureaucratic,” says Karl.
“There was nothing mid-market. Larger
clients would naturally go to well-known
brands, while smaller clients would go to
high street operations. Active’s aim was
to bolt on the brand strategy process and
quality I’d learned from the banking world,
attract the better clients from the smaller
end and bring on board the larger clients by
offering them better alternatives.
“At the time the industry had been vilified
as generally it was commission-based with
people trying to make a quick buck and
not necessarily doing the right thing for
the client. Active consciously put distance
between ourselves and that stigma.
“We focused on building a brand culture
where everyone on the team is chartered
and at the top of their game. The downside
is that it took a long time for that ethos to
stick and gain traction.”
Eighteen months into the new era, the
recession kicked in. “We knew tough
times were coming but we trusted our
convictions,” says Karl. “When the banks
imploded and haemorrhaged customers and
staff, Active took them.
“The staff brought the clients and it
exacerbated our growth. Our biggest
competitors left the playing field and that
gave us the propulsion to get to where we
have. Fast forward seven or eight years and
others tried to copy us, but that’s only given
us the drive to stay ahead of our game.”
Karl is open about the fact that he’s
struggled with success. He suffered anxiety
attacks and became withdrawn at home and