Member Article

Wearside wealth management company turns 21

A SUCCESFUL Wearside wealth management company has marked its 21st anniversary by signing up its 1,000 client and expanding its growing team even further.

David Cook launched financial advice company Northern Spire, based just off Wessington Way, Sunderland, in April 2002. The company now has more than £140m under its management, signed up its 1,000th client earlier this year and last month recruited two more team members.

Yet David started his journey to success selling coach holidays to travel agents.

He explained: “I left school to study a B-Tech in travel and tourism at North Tyneside College and then started work with a company selling bus holidays to Spain to travel agents.

“I was looking for something else, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Then on a works night out, we ended up in a bar where the comedian Spike Rawlings was having a drink. I overheard a conversation in which he was saying he’d been earning good money as a financial adviser.

“So the next day I somehow I tracked Spike down, explained who I was and that I too wanted to be a financial adviser. He roared with laughter at my cheek, but helped me set up a meeting with Hill Samuel Financial Services.

“I put on my shiny suit and went to Hill Samuel in Newcastle. They thought I had a cheek too, and said I was too young (I was only 20). However, they liked my confidence so took me on and sent me on a course in Birmingham to become a financial adviser.”

That was the start of his career, and David went on to work with Barclays, where he worked for ten years and provided financial advice to corporate and premier banking clients. David was then headhunted by a wealth management services company before setting up Northern Spire in Sunderland in 2002.

“It was a bit of a risk, but I knew the business and our client list grew quickly,” said David.

That growth has continued, with Northern Spire, a Senior Partner Practice of St James’s Place Wealth Management, now averaging 200 new clients a year.

“We were doing well enough, with most of our clients being small or medium-sized business owners but then it was suggested to me that we should host a networking event to meet prospective new clients,” he added.

The result was The Mussel Club, launched in 2005, and now a regional powerhouse of a business network with almost 4,000 members.

“Our first meeting was at the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle and the chef’s signature dish was mussels,” explained David.

“As The Mussel Club took off, so did the business and although we now advise several millionaires the majority of our clients are still everyday business people across the north east. We offer a range of financial advice, but we also share our network which includes a vast array of professional services.

“I think the secret of our success is our excellent customer service, our experience and knowledge and how we can help clients through out networks.”

To cope with the growing number of clients, Northern Spire has grown its team, with two more financial advisers starting this month.

“We’ve come a long way in 21 years but we’re still growing at a good rate and we’re ready to scale-up further,” said David.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rob Lawson .