Mark Brewer

Hi, I’m Mark Brewer. I’ve been a client with Broom Consultancy for 15 years plus and I’ve been looked after by my adviser, Jeff Watson.

I never, ever thought about my finances, and it becomes a problem when you have a family, and suddenly you think about it. So that’s why I needed to sort it out. And I have to tell you, I’m useless. I’m one of those people who haven’t got a clue about anything, and Broom Consultancy explained everything to me and told me what I needed.

I run a holiday resort with lots of entertainment and sport, and one person I met was very sporty and competitive. I never ask people, “What’s your job?”, it’s not something I tend to do, but I got to know this guy and I asked, “Jeff, what do you do then?”. He brought up that he ran a finance company that’s part of Broom Consultancy, and suddenly it clicked that I didn’t have a clue about my finances. So, then I said, “Well, Jeff, do you want to have a chat about that?” And that’s how we got to know about Broom Consultancy.

One of the things I liked about Broom Consultancy was the fact that they’re very personal. Already, I’ve made friends with a gent that I actually liked, and then he sort of advised me as a friend. He wasn’t saying “Come with me” or anything like that; he was just chatting to me completely about my finances and then I thought, “I really do need someone to sort out my finances.” So that’s what I love about Broom. They’re very personal and they look after you.

I’m ready to retire, and Jeff shows me how I could retire today. Of course, I don’t particularly want to retire today, but he shows me the finances and explains them. I love that because that means I know that I can retire when I want to, and that’s so important, instead of being pushed. So, I found that great.

I love the individual side to it. You feel like you’re getting very personal treatment, they’re talking to you about your personal affairs, they know you, and they get to know your family. They understand who your children are, and they know about your wife. In fact, my wife has a totally different point of view to me, and we have to bring that together, and they did bring that together. That’s what I loved about Jeff: when we thought, “What do you want? What do I want?”, Jeff brought us harmony.

The three words I’d use to describe my adviser, Jeff, are A) friendly, B) personal, and C) trustworthy – which is so important with finance.

The best advice Jeff has ever given me is, “For goodness’ sake, sort out your finances, whether you do it with Broom, with us, or somebody else, you have got to sort your finances out.” Lots of us don’t care and don’t think about it; we go on easily in our way of life, but the best advice was, “Seriously, Mark, you must sort out your finances, and it’s for your family’s sake.”

I would say to anyone who is looking for financial help, “You’ve got to go to Broom because they’re so personal.” I know John Broom as well, and all the people in it, Gary in the mortgage department, and Kelly. I know a lot of the team now and it’s nothing for me to ring up and say, “Do you mind having a check to see what’s happening to this and what’s happened to my pension or what’s happened to my mortgage.” And that’s all I have to say. You really have to trust these people and they all become a family. Actually, that’s probably a good description; they are a part of your family.