2019 marked half a century of providing financial advice to our clients and it would be remiss of us to let it go by unnoticed. In the 50 years that the company has been in business, the world has changed dramatically.
Partridge Muir & Warren was established in 1969, the year that Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. Since then the world has seen the launch and retirement of Concorde, the first female UK Prime Minister, the first mobile phone call, the stock market crash of 1987, the first test tube baby, fall of the Berlin Wall, invention of the World Wide Web, recession of 2008 and Brexit; to say just a few. For a company, especially one that is affected so vigorously by advances in the economy, it is a great achievement to reach 50 years.
The route has not been easy and there have been many bumps along the way. Our service offering has changed, our office has moved locations a number of times, and team members have come and gone. Throughout this time, we have maintained our client relationships, with our focus always on providing the best service to our clients and our efforts have been rewarded by a loyal client base; many of which have been with us from the very early days.
Unlike many other firms, our goal over the years has not been to increase in size, but to stay small, so that we can continue to develop a bespoke wealth management service for our customers. We have a great spot in a good niche and we want to maintain that position. What makes us very different from our competitors is that we can genuinely provide a bespoke service. Everybody says that they do, but the reality is that if you scale up your business, you have to sacrifice individuality and start to develop off the shelf solutions.
Our goal has always been to deliver more value than our cost. The key benefit of this is that we can allow people to focus on the important things in life; like having fun, spending time with their family and not having to worry about their wealth. Our clients have the peace of mind of knowing that we are looking after their wealth for them and their future generations. This is what we plan to continue doing in our 50th year and beyond.
Of course, every 50th Birthday deserves a celebration. In June 2019 we invited our clients to join us at the beautiful Amber Lakes in Wraysbury, to recognise 50 years of success. As 1969 was the year of Woodstock, we opted for a festival theme, with plenty of food and entertainment. The event was attended by nearly 200 PMW clients who were kept busy by live music from sixties themed bands, flower garland making and boat trips around the lake. The day was a great success and PMW certainly saw in its 50th birthday in style.
We are sure that PMW will have many more challenges to face over the coming years, but with the knowledge and teachings of the past 50 years, we are confident we can face whatever the future may hold.