It’s great when a Chelsea boy makes a basic error…..

Matt Leaver, one of our admin sales support guys and arguably one of the fittest lads in the office, Martial Arts (so I won’t go too far with this..), running, gym and a bit of football sent this e-mail to Big Al. And, Big Al thought it best if I received the e-mail to add onto the website. The e-mail is below and so is the weblink for his footie team.



From: Matt Leaver http://www.ashtonprime.uwclub.net/reports/2006/match2/Match2.html

Couple of assists even in defeat…class act!

Matthew Leaver


Obviously, if he supported West London’s finest football team (the hooped one) then I might not have been so harsh! Sorry Matt.

Johnny

Paul Hancock

Paul has joined as a paraplanner from Origen IFA in Farnborough where he was an annuity consultant. Prior to that, Paul worked for ‘the Pru’ working on the buy-out of bulk annuities, taking on liability of final salary wind up's and techie stuff.

Paul lives in Reading and his interests are playing golf & badminton, travelling and seeing concerts.

The role of a paraplanner is to do the behind the scenes work for us advisers. Paul and Big Al are forming a good relationship in helping with research and techie stuff to support us in providing excellent reports for our clients.

He has fitted in well and we wish him the best in developing his career with us.

David Taylor – our new Owl

David joins from a mid sized IFA in Northampton where he led the Corporate Sales operation. Prior to that he was with Marsh for 9 years, the last two of which he was the Practice Leader for the Employee Benefits operation in the European Head Office in London. He has joined Morgans to develop the corporate benefits offering into a market leading operation, and is excited about the prospect of developing a number of unique offerings for corporate clients.

David lives in a village just outside Northampton, and is clinging to memories of a sporting past by playing village cricket in the summer and rugby in the winter. As he’s said at the start of the last 3 seasons…..this will be my last!

Owl? Well he’s from Sheffield and he isn’t a blade.

David is clearly an expert in his field and we are going to learn a lot from him. Welcome on board David.

Johnny

The Guvnor aka ‘Ironman Brodie’

Swim – 2.4 miles
Bike – 112 miles
Run – 26.2 miles

12 hours 49 minutes and 38 seconds

What a way to spend your Sunday!

In scorching temperatures on August 20th in Sherborne Dorset, 1,500 competitors entered the extreme sport of UK Ironman Triathalon. The eventual winner was New Zealander Bryan Rhodes with a time of 8 hours and 42 minutes.

Alex came out of the water in 108th position, dropped back after the bike ride into 860th, was raked 533rd for the run and finished a very respectful 592nd. He was actually 47th in his age category!

Put this into perspective, after an hour of swimming, he then cycles the equivalent of London to Birmingham and then finishes it off with a marathon. Doing anyone of those is pretty tough, but all three in succession is something else.

And, Jack & Tom also showed that they too have that Brodie competitive edge. The day was a family day and the youngsters were encouraged to compete in their own event.

Tom did an 800 meter run, followed by 1k on the bike then another 400 meters and out of 54 competitors he finished 8th!! He was only a minute and a half behind the winner (who was a bit of a pro). Tom’s time was 10 minutes and 17 seconds.

Jack started with a 400 meter run, then 1k on the bike followed by another 400 meter run. There were 22 competitors in his event and he finished in a respectable 8th place. Jack’s time was 5 minutes and 44 seconds, 1 minute 22 seconds behind the winner.

Tom & Jack’s times were pretty impressive and they ran the last bit in with their Dad too, see the picture.

Alex has already indicated that he fancies having a go at another one, this time sub 12 hours he says, new bike, stack of training and maybe somewhere exotic? Maybe he’ll need a cycle coach to go with him??

So into February !

Well the first month of 2006 has flown by - and Easter Eggs are already appearing on the shelves...

Work is a busy as ever ! Now don't forget you can add your views to what I post online as well - all you need to do is to click where it says 0 comments and then tap in whatever you want to say ,then remember to select Other, if you want to leave your name, or Anon if you don't (!) and then complete the word verification, click on "publish your comment" button and off it wings it way to the office.

Once it arrives and the humourous comments are circulated around the building they are added so all can enjoy ;0)

Any queries you can drop me a line at J.Hardman@morgans.co.uk - oh and be warned - pic of me soon to appear !

All the best


Johnny

This could be the last of these…..

Philip Porter, our Managing Director was 40 a couple of days ago.

Anyhow, not being one to miss an opportunity, I called Phil’s brother Nick and he called Mr Porter senior.

Well, Mr Porter went through the family albums and he found a couple of rather lovely and cute photos of his boy. He sent the photos up to Nick and we had a covert meeting in Green Park to hand over the ‘brown envelope’.

Very public, there were guards and coppers everywhere and it must have looked a bit odd, two blokes in a hand over… We had a little chuckle and skimmed through a dozen or so very flattering shots of our MD.

I just couldn’t decide on which one, some were group shots and I didn’t think it fair on others in the pictures, even though there was a great page boy shot. Anyhow, he had an interest in farming in his younger years, so the tractor is in fitting (it is an old shot, so apologies for the quality) and then the Porter grin and someone told me he’s still got that jumper….

Happy Birthday Phil !

There should be more postings soon, depending if I still have a job…..

Johnny

Happy New Year

2006 is going to be cracking!

I’d like to wish all of our clients, introducers, product providers and anyone that ever visits our website a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

The festivities are over, the office has the usual faces back in and we are all looking forward to cracking on with it again.

It’s been a bit quiet over the festivities and there are no pictures of me stuffing the turkey or opening another bottle of Port.

Keep an eye out for things to come, a certain person has just had their 40th and it would be a shame to miss out on an opportunity to put a nice picture up of him…..

Keep well

Johnny

And another birthday! And then another one! And then another one!

Cassie Bellato (our Chairman’s P.A.) and Martin Dilke-Wing had their birthday’s last week and went out partying to various establishments......

I am assured there are some photos circulating and I’ll get them on here when they get into safe hands!

Martin is apparently a good little mover on the dance floor, so I’ve been told. Cassie went for sandwiches rather than cakes and Martin, oh yes; he said to have some of Cassie’s sandwiches!

Then, Candice Fields (our MD’s assistant) had her birthday yesterday. Candice remembered the cakes, not like Martin.

Anyhow, Happy Birthday guys.

The David Niven of Morgans reaches 60

Our Head of Finance, Mr Peter Braithwaite, was 60 just over a week ago.

Sam, (our finance queen), did some organising and made sure that Peter had a fabulous day at work and Trisha, Peter’s wife, then took him out to the theatre. Peter was unaware of any of the planning that went on to ensure that he had a thoroughly enjoyable birthday.

Peter was taken to the Ritz with a few of the guys (who were all in on it!) to have aperitif’s in the Rivoli bar. Obviously, this type of establishment is in fitting with the perfect gentleman (see description below).

Next it was onto Le Caprice, where Sam and Peter enjoyed their meal which we understand was superb. Next, across the road and into Just St James to meet up again with all the Morgans staff for a few drinks, where Thomas (Peter’s son) and Trisha met up.

I think some of the Morgans boys and girls may have stayed on after Peter left for the theatre and had a couple more…..

Anyhow, I had to get the Collins out, because how do you describe Peter? I also thought it wise to check and make sure my etiquette in addressing Peter was correct, although Mr does sound enough.

Perfect - having all essential elements, unblemished; faultless, correct or precise, utter or absolute
Gentleman - a man regarded as having qualities of refinement associated with a good family, a man who is cultured, courteous, and well-educated.

Well, these words sum Peter up - and more.

Although a little belated, Happy Birthday Peter.

BIRTHDAY BOY !

Here is a shot of Alex Brodie, our Chairman, with his pride and joy, the Smart Board. You can see by the grin on his face how much excitement his toy brings him…. It’s also Alex’s birthday today and in fine tradition, he charged the table with cakes and biscuits.

Happy Birthday Alex !

Weekend Press Review

Each week, Clive Nicholas, one of our directors brings in the weekend press and we discuss some of the relevant topics. It is expected that each adviser gets a weekend paper and reads the money/business sections. We think he had two articles for us this week… (See picture).

Clive also fires out questions, just to keep us all on our toes with topics such as A-Day. Each adviser is expected to discuss details of any recently attended seminars in order to let the other advisers know what’s going on in the market place, not just how good the lunch was at the seminar!

Paul Stevens of 1st Port Asset Management also offers us an insight into the markets and economic situations which helps in our discussions with clients.

That Tuesday Morning Feeling......


Every week at 08.30, we have our ‘Tuesday Morning Meeting’.

Attendance is compulsory and it is at these meetings that we try and ensure that the advisers are up to speed on areas of our business.

The meeting lasts 30 minutes and at 09.00, we look to our providers and contacts to impart technical information for learning or refreshers. This week, one of our contacts, Simon Shaffer, Managing Partner of Moerans Solicitors and his colleague David White gave us a refresher on the importance of Wills, Estate Planning and Civil Partnership.
(See picture – can you spot West London’s finest cup in there?).

Inheritance Tax, Estate Planning and Wills for our clients is a vital part of the advice that we offer and we are grateful to our contact for giving us ideas, knowledge and up to date information of current law.

Morgans Run London
- Literally !


Some of us at Morgans got into our running gear (Nike of course! Thank you W+K) and set about raising a few quid in the process.

All four of our guys n girls completed the run, with respectable times too, not that there was any competition or side bets back in the office...........

Picture One: "Aussie Steve" Goodwin our ICT Manager, along with Lesa Rogers, the one who looks like she is auditioning for a part in Saturday Night Fever ..... our receptionist, and Sam Messenger, our Finance Queen !

Picture Two: Aussie Steve again, Michael Coulson-Tabb, Director of Morgans Financial Solutions our in house Master of tax efficient investments, and Sam again.

Well done to everyone !

Johnny

Happy Birthday to

Chris Marson of

Lombard International

He has reached a youthful looking 40 !

Well from the photo that Philip Porter, our M.D, and I borrowed from his birthday party in Broadstairs at the weekend we are sure you’ll agree, that he looks young, and the cheeky grin hasn’t changed a bit.

Chris, many thanks for inviting us to your party, our partners enjoyed themselves and all at Morgans are sure that you are grateful that we entered the spirit of things and put your smile on our site.

A big thanks for all your help in keeping us informed at Morgans about the services offered by Lombard from which many of our clients have benefited !

Johnny

Welcome,


As some of you may have noticed our main website was recently given a new look!

The site now comes with a new section where John Hardman, one of our Associate Directors, will introduce you to the people you may have spoken to and also let you know about some of the things that we get up to outside of the office, along with the events that the Morgans Group gets involved in.

You will be able to add your own comments to various sections as they come online so make sure you bookmark this page in your favourites section!