“We know we can rely on Fortitude.”

Neil:

Hi, my name is Neil Bailey, this is my wife, Helen. We both worked at Fortitude between 2005 and 2019 – I guess you could say we've been clients for all that time – so when we left Fortitude in 2019, we wanted to retain our relationship with the business. Sam Colby Butcher is our financial planner.

Helen:

Sam's been able to reassure me that the planning that Neil and I have done on our own account for the last 25 or so years is in line with his conclusions. He’s come at it with a fresh pair of eyes, challenged our objectives and really started the planning process from scratch, so it was very reassuring to discover that Sam’s conclusions were the same as ours.

Neil:

We recruited Sam specifically to help with the succession planning, that is, to help my exit from the business. As part of that process, Sam and I worked together for two years, and I had the opportunity to observe the way he interacted with his clients. Helen worked with him as well and we were both very comfortable with him, so when the time came to make the decision about who would be the best fit for us going forward, it naturally came to be Sam.

I'm very happy to be working with Sam and the team at Fortitude. Because of our history, we've got more insight than the average client into what goes on behind closed doors. So, therefore, we know that Fortitude is a values-based business, and that the team don't just pay lip service to those values; they live them.

Helen:

I feel very comfortable working with Sam and the team at Fortitude. I know I can trust them, I know I can rely on them to do what they say they're going to do when they say they're going to do it, and I am entirely comfortable with that relationship.

Neil:

As time goes by, we're going to rely more and more on Sam and the team at Fortitude. I certainly have not maintained my industry knowledge and I've got no intention of doing so – I've got better things to do with my time now – so knowing they are there is very reassuring.

Helen:

I would describe Sam as reassuring, fun and insightful. I would describe Fortitude as trustworthy and true to their values.

The best thing about working with Sam is gaining the reassurance that the decisions and plans that we've put in place in the past continue to meet our needs as we look forward to, hopefully, a very long retirement.