[apfs]
A P Financial Planning Services
The History
From a small office in Strawberry Bank in Blackburn, the Company began trading in 1987 under the name of Astley-Pierce Financial Services Ltd .The business was formed by two firms of Chartered accountants with a view continuing to provide a comprehensive independent financial advisory service to their client banks following the introduction of the Financial Services Act 1986. The Executive Directors of the company were recruited from an insurance company background to run the company on a day-to-day basis and to provide the advice to clients. One of those Directors - Paul Squires - is still with the company and is now in charge of the companies which have developed from the original business.
The business prospered and in 1991, the ownership of the company passed from the Accountancy firms to the Executive Directors which enabled the business to form numerous partnerships with other firms and develop professional connections with both accountants and solicitors. To signify the change of ownership, the name of the company was changed to A.P.Financial Services Ltd and the business relocated to much larger premises on Preston New Road in Blackburn and increased its staff complement.
The 1990s represented a rather troubled time in the financial services sector. Since the company's inception there have been 3 different Regulators - FIMBRA, The Personal Investment Authority (PIA) and The Financial Services Authority (FSA) - and the burden of (sometimes heavy-handed and arguably unnecessary) regulatory requirements and various industry reviews undoubtedly inhibited the growth of the business. The company enjoyed mixed fortunes and its failure to develop to its full potential culminated in 2000 in a major staff clearout which started a sequence of events which in other circumstances, with a less determined management, could have resulted in the demise of the company.
Since 2000, the company has been successfully rebuilt and its current robust position is due to the collective talent of the new staff, the continuing support of the business's professional connections and the unwavering loyalty of the client bank.
In 2002, the business again relocated - this time to larger, brand new, prestigious, out-of-town office premises. The location of our new (current) premises, being just on the outskirts of Blackburn and near the motorway network, is ideal for both Blackburn-based clients and those from somewhat further afield. Our new premises have provided an excellent platform from which the firm has continued to develop. (click here to see some photos of our new office)
In 2003, with a view to positioning the company to become one of the larger firms of Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) in Lancashire, we forged a strategic partnership with a major IFA network - IN Partnership. IN Partnership is the trading name of The On-Line Partnership Limited and to signify this new alliance a new company - A P Financial Planning Services Ltd - was formed to deal with clients future financial services needs.The old company - A.P.Financial Services Ltd - volutarily ceased trading. The new company represented a completely new start as it did not take on responsibility for the activities of the previous companies. Nearly all of the qualified adviser staff had changed and it seemed logical to create a new company and enjoy the economies of scale and reductions in overheads afforded to us by joining IN Partnership. Indeed, were we not to have done so, the increasing and burgeoning costs of direct regulation could well have brought about the company's closure. Trading under a different company but with a name which is very similar to that of the previous companies allows us to retain our local identity whilst benefiting from the shared resources and technological know-how of a national network and has helped us to broaden the range and quality of the service we offer to our clients.
In October 2005, having worked succesfully with In Partnership for two and a half years, we made a further commitment to them by becoming part of their National IFA. Our Blackburn offices will be the Northern hub for The On-Line Partnership Limited's National IFA and A P Financial Planning Services will operate as a trading name of The On-Line Partnership Limited. This gives us an even more stable platform from which to continue to grow and develop in the immediate future.
In different trading vehicles under the APFS brand , we have offered high quality, independent financial advice to a broad range of clients for nearly 20 years and we expect to be able to continue to grow and develop and believe we are now ideally placed to be able to respond on behalf of our clients to the inevitable increasing pace of change in the financial services marketplace.
Our 'sister' companies are:
Business Wills
Classic Mortgages (Lancashire)
IFA Renewals