CELEBRATING OUR B-DAY!

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8 April 2021

B-Compliant is three years old, hooray! In the words of country legend, Shania Twain, “They said, I bet they’ll never make it. But just look at us holding on…”

And what a trio of years it has been. Even a global pandemic hasn’t halted our progress!

B-ing visionary

We had a grain of an idea…how about offering compliance support that focuses specifically on the needs of smaller financial services businesses? Who is catering for them?

Once we’d identified our market, B-Compliant became a reality and started trading in April 2018.

To begin with, director, Vicky Pearce, was flying solo, but thanks to her reputation within the industry, clients were quick to recognise the advantages of outsourcing onerous regulatory tasks and by June, the pace of work demanded another pair of hands in the form of fellow director, Jeremy Smith.

This rapid progress continued and a month later, premises were found and an office manager recruited, Zoe Crimes, who is still keeping us all in check today. The next 12 months flew by and as our reputation spread, so did our client base.

By June 2019, we were on the hunt for another compliance consultant, to ensure our standards didn’t slip as we grew, and we were pleased to welcome experienced financial services specialist, Annabel Gray. She is now an integral part of the business and a passionate mentor with the Chartered Insurance Institute.

As we entered 2020 and the pandemic took its first bite out of British businesses, we waited with baited breath to see how our industry would weather the storm. Fortunately, we were already operating a model that was agile enough to adapt quickly to the required changes and restrictions on movement and we were able to continue providing the support our clients required, albeit no longer in person.

In fact, over the last 12 months, we have thrived under these less-than-ideal working conditions. So much so, another two compliance consultants have joined our ranks, bringing with them more than 50 years’ combined experience in the sector.

Vicky’s talents have also been recognised by the trade media. She was shortlisted for the Professional Adviser Woman of the Year 2020 Awards in the ‘adviser support services’ category and was a finalist for ‘role model of the year’ in the Investment Week Women in Investment Awards.

B-ing ambitious

Despite the challenges the economy still faces, our growth continues apace, along with our profile nationally. Already this year, we have made the finals of the Professional Adviser ‘best support services’ award and been named compliance advisory firm of the year UK by Corporate LiveWire.

Since signing up our first client three years ago, we now have the pleasure of supporting more than 50 firms nationwide, from across the financial services industry. They include independent advisers, wealth managers, consumer credit organisations, mortgage brokers, insurance companies, private banks and private equity specialists.

We’re incredibly grateful to all those who believed in us at the start and to the clients who have made the journey possible so far. But it doesn’t stop here. We have plans afoot to recruit an apprentice this year and move to larger offices.

We’re excited about the future and can’t wait to see what the next three years bring!

For more information about the compliance services we offer to FCA regulated businesses, don’t hesitate to contact us on (0161) 521 8641.