A fond farewell to Neil and Helen Bailey

When Hemingway wrote ‘A Farewell to Arms’ he was thinking more about weapons than anatomical appendages, but as we sit here contemplating our own ‘A Farewell to Neil and Helen’, it definitely feels like we’re losing a couple of limbs.

You may already be aware of the imminent departure of Neil and Helen Bailey, two colleagues who have been part of the bedrock of Fortitude since the very beginning. If you’re not, we’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate their contribution and explain what their departure means for the business. 

Happily, Fortitude has an incredible team of professionals to support the business through this transition, and while we may be losing a couple of limbs, we have a newt-like ability to grow new ones. While we’re sorry to say goodbye to two such established stars, we’re delighted to bask in the ascendancy of two new ones, as Richard Peters and Sam Colby Butcher take up the challenge.

From May to September

This year has been a strange one – for some very notable reasons. While we’ve all had to come to terms with a new normal (albeit a temporary one) the passage of time has seemed somewhat elastic.

Even though the ups and downs of the last few months have in some respects lasted forever, in other ways the spring and summer seem to have evaporated. Back in May we were deep in lockdown and the departure of Neil and Helen was still something which sat firmly on the horizon, but suddenly now that we are in September, we have reached the moment of bidding a fond farewell.

A hard act to follow

It’s 12 years since Neil and Helen first brought their skills, experience and track record to Fortitude Financial Planning. But their story goes back much further to 1997 when they founded ‘The Sensible Financial Planning Company’ together, which we like to think was essentially a key step along the path of their destiny to where they were really meant to be – here at Fortitude. After all, this is where they both did some of their finest work, not just in continually pushing the business forward, but in making sure that our clients are prepared and focused on achieving the things they really want from life.

Take Neil for example – working alongside fellow directors Chris Bowmer and Mark White, he’s been instrumental in both the internal and external understanding of what Fortitude is and what we do. He’s always kept track of the big picture, contributing to our profession as a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (formerly the Institute of Financial Planning). But closer to home, he’s been the dependable, credible face of Fortitude for more than a decade.

That said, Neil won’t be leaving the profession altogether; you can’t keep a good man down, and besides, he really can’t help himself. Even in the midst of lockdown, Neil worked with Steve Martin of the Financial Planning Training Academy to build a three-day Zoom-based course for Certified Financial PlannersTM. Even as he moves on to a retirement filled with road trips and photography, Neil will continue to be a shareholder in a company he strongly believes in, and he still takes a keen interest in where the profession goes from here.  

Then there’s Helen, foundation stone and font of all knowledge when it comes to keeping Fortitude on course and moving forward. Helen has been an essential part of running the business for more than a decade, making sure we remain compliant, that we stay relevant and that we never take our eye off the ball in helping our clients reach their own life goals. 

But follow it we will…

When key people decide it’s time to move on, where does a business go from there? Well, Neil and Helen have always been very open about their plans to retire and the timescales they were working to. As a business, we’ve had every opportunity to make sure that the next generation of skilled and passionate professionals is in place, ready and waiting to take over the reins at the right time.

It’s actually something we’ve all worked on together. With everyone involved understanding the need to set ourselves up for the future, the handover has really been several years in the making. In 2016, in what Neil believes is an example of the notion that “Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation”, we were joined by Richard Peters. Two years later Sam Colby Butcher arrived and together, these inspired individuals will help to define the next chapter of Fortitude.

As we look to the future, Richard and Sam will join Chris and Mark in the management team, pushing the company forward. Change is the one constant and as a team of colleagues – incoming, outgoing and enduring – we’ve worked together on a cast-iron continuity plan that not only covers team goals and objectives, but also sets out how we’ll do our very best for our clients. We’re very happy to see Neil and Helen achieve their goals, but the business exists to help clients achieve theirs.

Neil and Helen Bailey, this is (not) your life

Working with Fortitude has been a huge part of life for both Neil and Helen, but it’s part of their lives, not the sum total of what their lives are about. That’s a lesson that our two departing colleagues would be keen to pass on to clients and colleagues alike. It’s important to love what you do for a living, to work hard at it, do it well and celebrate your achievements in that field. But ultimately we all work to live, not the other way around.

For Neil and Helen, their departure marks an exciting new phase of the lives they’ve always planned together, and their success as professionals (along with their innate understanding of the importance of preparation) puts them in a position to do it. Here at Fortitude we’ve always championed continuous improvement, not only in the business but in life too. The direction of time ensures that we have no choice but to move forward, however we can choose to move upwards at the same time. It’s something that Japanese culture calls ‘Kaizen’ – making things better a step at a time, in every way, always.

While we’ll miss their contribution, we’re excited for Neil and Helen as they embark on the next chapter and we’re grateful too for the great example they set. Enjoy what you do, do it to the best of your ability, but always know what’s next and plan ahead to make it possible.

If you’d like to discuss what’s next for you, we’d love to help you get your plans in place. Just get in touch.