From ‘minor shareholder’ to major milestone: Matthew Douglas Ltd is on track to achieve £2.5 million turnover in 2023
A leading national investment and financial planning firm is on track to achieve its best ever turnover as it celebrates twenty years in business.
Having begun trading on 1st November 2003, family-owned Matthew Douglas Ltd was founded by financial adviser Matthew Pescott Frost. Now completing its second decade in business and its ninth consecutive year as a TOP 100 IFA Business, the Suffolk-based firm shows no signs of slowing down.
With a background in investment banking in the city of London since 1994, Matthew harnessed the forward-thinking skills that he felt were sadly lacking from more monolithic corporations to create a thriving business that continues to flourish, despite decades of fluctuating economic conditions.
Matthew Pescott Frost, founder of Matthew Douglas Ltd, said:
“I’m thrilled to be celebrating 20 years of giving astute financial advice to UK taxpayers. It’s an incredible milestone that can’t be understated, especially when so many private equity groups are swallowing up independent companies like ours.
“We’re on track to take our best ever turnover as we approach £2.5 million a year. That’s record-breaking for my team, and a large part of our increasing momentum and on-the-pulse advice comes from our young and diverse lineup. The best financial advice isn’t always the most palatable and they’re not afraid to get stuck in and cut to the crux of an issue, just like when I started the business in 2003.
“I’d worked with larger firms such as Barrow Hazell & Co and Timothy James & Partners as a minor shareholder and I couldn’t help but think ‘there’s a better way of doing this’. Well, there is and we’re happy to share it with anyone throughout the South East of England who’s looking for sage financial advice to protect their savings, income and investments.”
With a growing team of nine expert financial advisers, the company has ambitious plans to further its growth over the next five years, bucking the trend of independent firms being acquired by private equity groups by potentially looking to acquire business of its own through prospective mergers and acquisitions.
Having begun business after the dot-com crash and enduring the 2008 banking crisis, Matthew Douglas Ltd essentially hit the market at its lowest. Matthew explains how, in the early days, his fledgling business managed to fend off economic uncertainty for itself and its clients:
“Like a lot of companies, essentially half our income at that time was revenue for arranging mortgages. When that revenue stream was suddenly cut off, we had to drastically rethink the model and our entire approach.
“Despite having to remortgage my house to pay the wages, we weathered the storm and took the proactive step of completely pulling out of mortgages to focus solely on investments and pensions. We also abolished commission before it became a legal mandate, instead replacing it with variable fees to offer a fairer, more robust business model that can stand the test of time, and leave a legacy for my two sons.”
The firm celebrated the milestone occasion with a round of golf at the renowned Constable Course at Stoke by Nayland. Whilst half the team enjoyed the picturesque Colchester countryside, the rest took the chance to have a well-deserved spa break and afternoon tea, before a dinner prepared by the award-winning team at the golf club, toasting to the first 20 years of Matthew Douglas Ltd.
As well as enjoying continued growth and being on course to achieve a personal-best turnover of £2.5 million, Matthew Douglas Ltd is the proud winner of the MoneyAge Awards 2023 ‘Diversity Award’ in recognition of its age, gender and ethnic diversity across its expanding team. The team clinched the accolade earlier this month, beating well-known industry names, including Zurich and Fisher Investments UK.
With the largest recorded net decrease of companies operating in the UK through the first quarter of 2023 alone, Matthew Douglas Ltd is urging business owners and private investors across the South East to get in touch to protect their assets and their interests as the UK economy shows little signs of growth.
