Sarah Elson

Director

Certified Financial Planner™ Professional

Berry & Oak

Boston Spa, West Yorkshire

berryandoak.co.uk

Sarah.Elson@berryandoak.com

I am a director and co-founder of Berry & Oak, a family run Chartered Financial Planner Firm and we are also an Accredited Financial Planning Firm. We have recently won several awards in the profession, including CISI Accredited Financial Planning Firm of the year 2019, Professional Adviser – Firm of the year 2020, as well as New Model Adviser Firm of the North for 2020 & 2019.

My role covers two functions, the Operations Director, and a Financial Planner.

In the Operations Director role this can be HR related such as Recruitment, Payroll, Staff Training and Development, to Premises, Submitting the Gabriel, or VAT return, or overseeing compliance and office processes. I also have responsibility for the marketing strategy, social media presence and delivering the Berry & Oak Business plan.

In the Financial Planner role, I am meeting with clients to work with them on their financial plan to achieve their goals and ensuing that they stay on track. Being there for our clients through thick and thin is what they depend on us for. I absolutely love seeing the clients journey with us from that initial meeting, where we are really just starting to get to know them, to working together to design the life that they’ve always wanted but just didn’t realise was possible. The feeling of success when a client retires from work to start enjoying their life more, with the reassurance that the financial plan / strategy we have helped them build and stress test will see them through, is why we do what we do.

I have joined the PFS Financial Planning Practitioner Panel to help promote awareness of Financial Planning and our profession to the next generation. This is something I feel passionate about having seen first-hand how life changing it can be.

We have launched an apprenticeship scheme and a graduate scheme, whilst also offering internships and work experience. It has been a very rewarding experience for all our team as well as those joining us, with their new ideas and skills.

Financial Planning has the power to change lives by:

• Helping people to achieve the things that they want out of their lives without the fear of ever running out of money.
• Knowing that they have a plan that has been stress tested gives them peace of mind and the confidence to take action.
• Its gives people the opportunity to rethink their lives and change the path that they are on. Knowing they can retire now or that they no longer must work 12 hours days in a job they no longer enjoy.