Ellis Bates News

It’s time for a new approach to financial advice. One which is fair, transparent, dependable and consistent – for the whole of the UK. One based on proven expertise and mutual respect. One which genuinely puts clients first and is bold in its simplicity.

We are delighted finally to share the news that Ellis Bates will now be trading as Shackleton, Britain’s financial adviser.

Shackleton brings together some of the UK’s most respected, professional financial advice firms and is uniting them under one approach, one fair and affordable fee structure and a single set of values:

• We are respectful – we seek to earn and retain your trust by listening carefully to you, and by acting always in your best interests. We remain ever mindful that you look to us for specialist financial knowledge and expertise, and we will never, ever seek to use this to our advantage.
• We are fair – we are resolutely committed to making high-quality financial advice easily available and accessible to everyone who would benefit from it, nationwide, and in whichever way best suits their needs. Simultaneously, we seek to be fair and affordable, continually seeking to drive down fees and costs for you.
• We are caring – we care deeply about providing you with high-quality advice and service, and our company has been deliberately structured to ensure that that there are no impediments to doing so.
• We are dependable – we are among the most highly qualified professionals in our field, and we are motivated to act always in your best interests, through honesty, integrity and openness.
• We are courageous – we have the courage to build a business that is fundamentally different from established nationwide advice providers. To challenge the status quo, and take necessary action when it’s in your best interests. To believe that quality advice should be accessible to all, and to have conviction in our approach to investment. To build Britain’s financial adviser.

While our name may be new, you can be assured that we will continue to deliver the high quality, consistent financial advice we delivered at Ellis Bates, but for the whole of the UK.

Welcome to Shackleton – Britain’s financial adviser.

Read more about Shackleton here: https://www.shackletonadvisers.co.uk

As of 30th September, Ellis Bates will become part of the Skerritts Group.  

Ellis Bates have always had ambitious plans to become one of the UK’s largest and most accessible providers of financial advice and have been busy exploring several ways to achieve this over the last couple of years. 

The financial services profession moves at an incredibly fast pace, with constant changes to technology, legislation and the requirements placed on regulated firms, and we have been conscious for some time that being part of a larger organisation, with greater resources, would benefit our clients, as well as our team. After a rigorous search, we have found the perfect organisation and are delighted to announce that we are joining the Skerritts Group, one of the leading Chartered Financial Planning firms in the UK. 

We have known of the Skerritts Group for many years, and they have an outstanding reputation. During our talks, we have come to know Paul Feeney, their CEO, and the wider management team very well and it’s clear they all share our very high standards and family values. In common with us, they have also won several awards in our sector, reflecting our shared commitment to professionalism and client service. 

As part of the Skerritts Group we will gain access to a broader array of investment instruments to complement our current range, providing clients with a greater choice of cost-effective solutions and faster and easier modifications to portfolios in line with our recommendations.  

We will also invest more in technology, to expand the ways we can deliver our services to clients.  

Paul Feeney, CEO of Skerritts, says

Link to Skerrits press release

We are looking forward to working closely together in the coming weeks and months and will be providing regular updates for our clients. 

You can learn more about Skerritts here www.skerritts.co.uk

Michael Cope, Managing Director

We are delighted to announce that Ellis Bates have achieved Top Rated Financial Adviser Firm status in VouchedFor again in 2024. 

The theme this year is ‘Helping solve life’s financial puzzles’ and for over 40 years we have been humbled to be chosen as the trusted adviser by all our clients. 

These same clients have then taken time out to leave heartfelt, insightful feedback for which we are truly grateful. 

It is these reviews which then form the backbone of the assessment of achieving Top Rated Firm status in the UK, along with being vetted and monitored in key areas such as ensuring our clients are on track to achieve their financial goals and fully understand all elements of risk and fee structure. 

Ben Clapham, Director of Financial Planning: ‘As always, public recognition is as a result of tremendous teamwork which leads to giving our clients the best experience possible. We would not be able to deliver the service we do without exceptional people supporting throughout our various teams, whilst some of us are the face of this, the entire team’s contribution makes amazing things happen for our clients.’ 

Alongside achieving Top Rated Firm status, 18 of our financial advisers also achieved Top Rated Adviser, many for the second year in succession. 

International Women’s Day 8th March 2024 

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality.  

Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion 

With a 55/45 female/male split in our team leaders, our female team leaders have been sharing how they were inspired into a leadership position and how they in turn now try to inspire others into leadership roles. 

Elizabeth Mills, Director 

I realised early in my career the important role women play in business and was lucky enough to work alongside several professional, intuitive and inspirational women who set the bar very high for me. Equally, I now feel so lucky to work alongside some talented and committed women who offer a diverse skill set, drive our success and always deliver.  

Jo Nickell-Lean, HR Manager 

I was inspired to getting into a leadership role as I worked for a company that was growing very fast at that time.  We recruited a diverse range of people, we had a mixture of mature and young inspirational leaders at the top, who all shared the same vision, with clear goals and we had a dedicated training team who in conjunction with those senior managers encouraged and inspired others to grow and develop, including myself. Personalised training was given to support those individuals too, whether that be in house training or encouraging individuals to do external professional qualification/study. I could see other colleagues progressing and I too wanted to develop and was lucky to work closely with Elizabeth and Grant who very much encouraged me to choose a different career path and move into HR.  

In my role now, I take my responsibility to help others on the same journey of self-discovery and development very seriously and love to see my colleagues being given both opportunity and encouragement.

Beth Irwin, Client Services Team Leader (Support) 

For me, a leadership position has always been something for me to aspire to; wanting to surpass my own expectations and challenge others’ perception of me whilst effecting a rewarding and vital role. When I was in primary school, our headmistress was beloved by all who knew her and she was such a strong female influence in my life – taking over from her ex-military father, she had big boots to fill and a lot of parents’ expectations to meet. Always dependable, she really inspired me to be that robust and reliable figure in others’ lives, and looking back, I’m sure that she subconsciously influenced my decision to work my way towards a team leader position and collaborate with www.thegirlsnetwork.org.uk/.

As part of the mentoring programme, I work on a one-to-one basis with disadvantaged young women across the North East to break through the glass and class ceilings and help them realise their own potential. Some of these girls are already in ‘leadership’ positions without even realising it; looking after siblings or cooking their family’s meals and being part of www.thegirlsnetwork.org.uk/ allows me to help them to understand their unique strengths, apply them to a professional perspective and expand their further ambitions.

Kelly Slater, Client Servicing Team Leader (Corporate & Technical) 

I have been at Ellis Bates for just shy of ten years now and throughout that time, I have been lucky enough to work alongside many incredible women – all of whom have supported and motivated me to get to the role I am currently in, leading our Corporate and Technical Administration Team. 

I have two young children so managing my work and home life is a definite juggling act, but I hope that I, like all of the fabulous women I work with, prove that women really can do it all! 💪 

Jayne Graves, Head of Marketing 

My first inspiring female was definitely my Mum who juggled work and family life and managed to be brilliant at both. My primary school Head Mistress declared ‘you are all going to be knowledge super-heroines’ and so began a lifelong love of self-learning and encouraged by home and school went onto undergraduate and masters university degrees to underpin my leadership journey. 

In my career I have met some simply astounding women, whose light you cannot help but follow and they set the tone for everyone in the room and showed how to help everyone be the very best version of themselves. In my role now, the greatest compliment I could be paid would be that I had helped someone on their path to career or personal success and work towards doing exactly that every day. #InspireInclusion

August 2023 sees the introduction by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of new Consumer Duty legislation with a focus on fair value, products and services designed to meet client needs, high levels of client service and increased consumer confidence and understanding. Over the last 4 decades we have worked tirelessly on these principles for our clients and both welcome and embrace an even greater spotlight being placed by our industry on achieving good financial outcomes for all.

Our mission is to enhance people’s lives by delivering peace of mind, enabling financial freedom and helping our clients achieve their financial goals. We take great pride in leading the way in having these four outcomes already well and truly embedded in how we look after our customers both old and new and continue to work relentlessly on our customer experience and outcomes.

Director of Financial Planning, Ben Clapham, was asked to be a panelist on a recent webinar on creating a truly client-centric culture. VouchedFor is the UK’s leading review site for Financial Advisers, Mortgage Advisers, Solicitors and Accountants.