Old Mill gain top industry qualification

Leading Exeter financial planning firm, Old Mill has become one of only a handful of firms in the UK to meet internationally recognised standards in the provision of financial advice.

As part of its’ commitment to offering an exceptional client experience in the provision of financial planning services, Old Mill has completed the certification programme for BS 8577 – a framework for financial advice and planning services set out by the British Standards Institute.

BS 8577 provides a framework to increase client confidence by specifying established best practice and processes. It is the only professional quality standard within the UK’s financial services industry to focus solely on the following key areas of business practice; operational management, objectives and policies, management responsibility, customer relationship management, recruitment, training, development and ongoing competence and control of documents and records.

BS 8577 was developed in conjunction with industry and professional experts, consumer representatives including, Which? and Standards International. Old Mill is one of only 19 firms in the UK to have gained the certification.

Paula Hodge, Head of Financial Planning at Old Mill says the whole team worked really hard to gain BS 8577 and this will now give potential clients seeking financial advice the confidence that Old Mill is an organisation that can be trusted to provide such advice safe in the knowledge that it does so in line with the highest industry standards.

Founder and Director of Standards International Ltd Michelle Hoskin, said Old Mill’s achievement is proof of the firm’s ongoing commitment to ensuring it delivers the best possible financial planning experience to its’ clients.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with Paula, Duncan, Sally and the whole team at Old Mill,” she said. “Their programme started off with an in-depth training workshop, which was an opportunity for the firm to really understand their business in all areas and identify a number of improvements that would benefit them and, most importantly, their clients.”

Michelle continues, “From there, a great deal of care and effort went into their achieving BS 8577 as a multi-site firm. Certification is the outcome of a rigorous process in which setting standards of excellence has been fully embraced by everyone at Old Mill. Congratulations and exceptionally well done!”

Paula concludes: “BS 8577 gives us the peace of mind that comes with having put together and implemented robust business systems and processes, while it gives clients the confidence that a firm operating to the standard will be a cut above the rest.”