Finding and nurturing potential talent

Sharing Experience: Colin Low, Kingsfleet

One of the main challenges facing SMEs today is recruitment, especially with the pressure now to get it right from day one.

At Kingsfleet, we favour hiring those who have the right attitude and are keen to learn, even if they may not have the right experience. We are prepared to nurture our junior professionals in-house – after all, young people have an exciting energy and that keeps the culture bright and innovative. By investing in their training and growth, we can harness that energy and talent while ensuring that each new member of the Kingsfleet family develops to share our key values and, importantly, adopts a team-based approach to financial planning.

What do we look for?

To work in financial planning, you have got to be able to communicate with clients, listen well and build relationships. All our advisers offer top level financial advice, of course, but it is our human approach that sets us apart.

So, when we are looking for the right person, it’s not only about the hard skills – the expertise and qualifications – it’s also about the soft skills; it’s about their ability to relate and talk to people. We can teach them the specific knowledge required for each role, but they need to have ‘personality’ and be able to connect with people.

Kingsfleet is a growing company with high standards, centred around providing dependable, compassionate and expert advice to those who need it most. Our success is built on trust and as a local family business, our people are the life force of that success.

Education, education, education

We started Kingsfleet 15 years ago, with the aim of providing financial advice on an ethical basis to help people in and around Suffolk achieve their wealth objectives. I chose to name the company after my primary school, as education forms a key pillar in everything we do, and that is reflected in the core values driving our vision. It underscores the company’s focus on continued learning – for clients, the wider community and, of course, staff.

We offer apprenticeships where we can provide on-the-job training and role development in-house. Alongside James McLaughlin, who has just completed his training to be a Financial Planner, we currently have Apprentice Administrators, Ellie Rainger and Sam Wood, who both joined in the last year. Day to day, they assist the team with record keeping and other important administrative tasks including booking client meetings and preparing any documentation needed for them – learning on the job and getting real experience.

Nurturing our staff with knowledge and training, to continually raise standards for our clients and help the next generation learn, will always be part of the business plan for Kingsfleet. We delight in seeing people thrive, and we will continue to review and examine each aspect of our work to see if there is anything more we can do to improve – always putting clients first and staying true to our values.