Triple Triumph at the Professional Paraplanner Awards 2024!

Jul. 192024

We’ve just returned from an incredible day in London where we attended the 2024 Professional Paraplanner Awards at the stunning Merchant Taylors Hall —and what a day it was. We're absolutely thrilled to share that Accelerate scooped three of the eight national awards, a historic first for the event. It's still sinking in!

Celebrating a Clean Sweep:

Our team brought home the following accolades:

Outsourced Paraplanner of the Year – awarded to Matt Baird
New Paraplanner of the Year – awarded to Stephanie Tennant
Administrator of the Year – awarded to Deb Watts

Winning all three of our entered categories was beyond our expectations and a proud moment for each of us. It’s a powerful endorsement of the hard work, passion, and innovation we’ve invested into building something unique since we launched Accelerate in September 2022.

From Redundancy to Resilience:

Our journey began when we were made redundant from a local advice firm here in Oakham. Rather than go our separate ways, we chose to build something of our own and now that decision has proven more rewarding than we ever imagined.

We agreed from the outset that we wouldn’t compromise on quality. That principle still guides everything we do and the consistent, positive feedback from our clients reassures us that we’re doing the right thing—and now the judges at the Professional Paraplanner Awards agree.

A Team built on Innovation:

One of our biggest strengths is the way we work together. We genuinely enjoy working with each other and know how to bring out the best in our different roles:

Matt leads client engagement and helps advice firms identify opportunities not just for paraplanning and admin, but for improving internal efficiency.
Stephanie delivers the technical and paraplanning expertise, with a constant drive to innovate and elevate our service offering.
Deb leads our administration function with unmatched precision and focus on continual improvement.

Looking to the Future:

As we reflect on this milestone, we’re excited about what’s ahead. In October 2023, we welcomed Emily to the team, and we’re already planning to expand further this year. With a 3–5 year growth plan in motion, the best is yet to come.

A Big Thank You!:

We’re incredibly grateful to Professional Paraplanner for hosting such a memorable event and to the sponsors who make it all possible. The venue was perfect, the atmosphere inspiring, and meeting so many fellow administrators and paraplanners and sharing ideas reminded us how vibrant and supportive our profession truly is.

To our clients, peers, and friends—thank you for being part of our journey. We hope to see you next year!

Last week, Emily and Matt had the pleasure of representing Accelerate at the East Midlands Small Business Awards 2024, held at the fantastic Village Hotel in Nottingham. We were thrilled to be shortlisted as finalists after submitting our entry and...

Triple Triumph at the Professional Paraplanner Awards 2024!

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