Lowes Magazine Issue 128

SPOTLIGHT

Chair of the Lowes Board, Jerry Hall, has a history with Lowes stretching back to 1987. “I joined the company a week before the stock market crash of that year,” he says. “It was a baptism of fire and we learned a lot from that period.” An accountant by profession, Jerry started his working life with the Inland Revenue (now HMRC) acquiring his tax qualifications, before looking outside for a role with a private practice. “Then the agency I was using called me and said I should have a conversation with the owner of an Independent Financial Advice firm, Ken Lowes. “Ken and I hit it off and I looked at what was involved in financial planning, which offered a different and far broader path than accountancy, and in particular at the ethos of Lowes and what it wanted to do for its clients, and I joined the firm and stayed for eight years.” Spotlight on Lowes people

In 1995, Jerry joined a longstanding client of Lowes, local creative company DECIDE, as Managing Director, but he has remained a non-executive of Lowes ever since. In the intervening years he has also added a large number of credentials to his name, including an MA in Enterprise Management, fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and the Chartered Governance Institute, as well as membership of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Institute of Consulting, among others. He is also passionate about helping to kick start and grow businesses in his native North East, including as Chair and member of the expert panel for Design Network North. All of which feeds into his role as Chair of the Lowes Board. “Non executives are an important part of any successful company,” he says. “We bring external perspectives and experience to the Board. But also, three board members are ex Lowes employees and that is important. It brings an historical context and ensures everything we do has the long-held ethos and values of Lowes very firmly in mind.” Jerry puts the success of Lowes down to its ethos and sticking to its principles. “The Lowes strapline says it all: ‘Personal finances cared for personally’. It is the culture of the firm and everyone in it. “Many Lowes clients have been with the firm for decades and having ex-Lowes staff on the Board, we’ll often hear about clients we know from our time with the firm. That makes what we do far more personal.” What also makes Lowes stand out, he says, is its long history of using innovative products and services to help serve clients. “Ken Lowes set up one of the first truly Independent Financial Advice firms and Lowes invested in the development of one of first pieces of technology for supporting the advice process,” Jerry says. “But every innovation is firmly focussed on the growth and protection of clients’ wealth. Lowes values are always paramount.” Looking to the future of Lowes, Jerry says: “We will continue being innovative and looking for the best products and services for our clients. We will use technology not just to improve business efficiencies but to help support and improve our service to clients. So many businesses are now so technology focussed I think they have lost the personal touch in the process. That is not the route Lowes will be taking. We are a people business; for us, our clients come first. Everyone here genuinely cares about doing our best for them.”

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