Fernleigh Wearden & Company Ltd
Independent Financial Advisers
Four fields. That’s it.
One of our advisers will ring you back by the end of the next working day, at the time you asked for.
In a hurry? Call us on 01772 864314, 9am–5pm Monday to Friday.
For business
Owner-managed firms tend to look after everybody except the person who built them. We work on both sides of that.
Overview
There is the business — its pension scheme, its people, what happens if a key person is not there next month. And there is you, whose retirement is very often entirely dependent on an asset you cannot easily sell.
Both matter and they interact more than most owners realise. Employer pension contributions are usually one of the most tax-efficient ways to take value out of a company and they solve the second problem while sitting on the right side of the first.
We work alongside your accountant rather than around them. Mark specialises in pensions and financial planning for businesses and handles most of our company work.
How can we help?
Small firms rarely have one clean problem. Most owners recognise three or four of these.
Auto enrolment got set up once and never looked at again. We review the scheme, the charges and the default fund, then handle the paperwork.
Company pensionsVery common among owners. Employer contributions are one of the most tax-efficient ways to pay yourself and it’s rarely too late to start.
Director pensionsUsually their family — who may not want them and you may not be able to buy them. The right agreement and cover solves it in advance.
Business protectionMost small firms have someone like that. Key person cover buys the business time to recover rather than scramble.
Key person coverBenefits are often what tips it. Group life, income protection and health cover cost less than most owners assume and staff notice them.
Employee benefitsThe most common risk we see in owner-managed firms. Building something outside the company is what turns a business into a retirement.
Your own planWorking with us
Nothing is committed until step five and the first two cost you nothing but time.
A chat, at our office, your home or over video. We listen, you ask questions. There is no charge and no obligation and if we can't help we'll say so.
What you have, what you owe, what you want and how you feel about risk. This is the part most people find surprisingly useful in itself.
We review your existing plans, charges and funds against the whole of the market. Being independent means nothing is off the table.
A written report in plain English setting out what we suggest, what it costs and why. You take it away and think about it.
Only once you're happy. We handle the paperwork, the providers and the chasing, which is usually the tedious bit.
If you'd like us to, we'll review everything at least once a year and tell you honestly if nothing needs changing.
Who you’d be dealing with
Mark specialises in pensions and financial planning for businesses. We will always endeavour to keep you with the same adviser, which matters when the conversation covers both the company and your own affairs.
In their words
Always attentive and at the end of a phone or an email. Positive, professional and reliable.
We have had a long and successful working relationship with Fernleigh Wearden & Company. They are always striving to do the best for our business and personal needs. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
I have always found Fernleigh Wearden & Company to be very helpful and professional in company and personal matters. They are on hand to answer any of our queries promptly and efficiently.
Often relevant alongside this
Owners are consistently the worst-served people in their own pension scheme.
Read more For youWhat to do with proceeds, dividends or a sale — and how to keep more of it.
Read more Worth readingCompany pensions from £795. Everything set out plainly on one page.
Read moreCommon questions
Most of our company clients are Lancashire firms with between two and fifty employees. That’s the size where owners tend to be doing everything themselves and where a second opinion is worth most.
Gladly and it usually produces a better result. Accountants and financial advisers see different halves of the same picture.
No. We use it to work out whether we can add anything. If we can’t, we’ll say so.
Yes and we’d encourage it. A workplace pension nobody understands is a cost with no benefit attached.
Auto enrolment work starts at £500 for firms with fewer than five employees and rises with headcount. Other work is quoted before you commit — see our costs page.
Often overlooked
A great many companies hold a substantial buffer against a fall in orders. Almost all of it sits in a current or deposit account earning very little.
That buffer needs to stay accessible and nobody sensible suggests otherwise. But accessible does not have to mean idle. Surplus capital held above what the business realistically needs at short notice can be invested with the aim of doing better than a deposit rate, while remaining reachable within about ten working days.
It suits companies with genuinely surplus reserves and a settled view of what they need to keep liquid. It is not for money you may need next month. We will work through which is which with you and your accountant before anything moves.
Beyond the above. Employee benefits and business exit or sale planning are not part of our mainstream offering, but they come up often enough in conversation that we are happy to talk them through and point you in the right direction. Just mention it when you ring.
Our services
Advice areas overlap. Part of our job is spotting which ones actually apply to you.
Tell us when suits and we’ll ring you back by the end of the next working day. The first conversation is free.
