End of Year Review 2025

• January: Lily joined us as our Financial Administrator, strengthening the operational and financial backbone of the business.
• April: Ed came onboard as a Paraplanner, bringing fresh insight and experience.
• July: Rachel joined us as a Paraplanner, adding even more strength and energy to the team. She settled in quickly, brought great ideas to the table, and has already made a real difference to how we support each other and our clients.

Learning, Exams & Professional Development

A big part of what makes Accelerate stand out is our commitment to constant learning, through formal study and keeping up with evolving legislation and industry changes.

This year we celebrated several exam successes:

• Lily passed R05 in May.
• Emily passed R05 in January and R02 in July, continuing her fantastic progression through the diploma pathway.

Alongside exam success, the whole team has worked hard to remain up to date with the significant legislative changes that 2025 has brought, ensuring the advice we support remains accurate, compliant and forward-thinking.

Team Days & Celebrations

This year featured two brilliant team days, full of laughter and a whole load of memories:

April Team Day – Brunch, Games & Karaoke

We kicked off spring with brunch, team games and some brave karaoke performances. A great chance to reconnect and welcome our newer teammates.

September Team Day – Electric Bikes at Rutland Water

A beautiful ride around Rutland Water on electric bikes, complete with a pub lunch pit stop. The day wrapped up with a quiz and games which were competitive as always...

Awards & Professional Recognition

2025 has been an exceptional year for recognition within the profession:

Professional Paraplanner Awards – July

The team attended the ceremony at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London after being nominated for three awards. While we didn’t take home a win, our Head Paraplanner Steph Tennant was Highly Commended in the Paraplanner of the Year category - an outstanding personal and team achievement.

Chartered Status Graduation – October

Several team members travelled to Central Hall Westminster to celebrate Stephanie’s graduation, marking her achievement of Chartered Status. This is a huge milestone representing expertise, professionalism and dedication to the highest standards.

PFS Awards – October

Later that month, Steph and Matt attended the Personal Finance Society Awards at the Sea Containers Hotel in London.

We are thrilled to share that Steph won the PFS Paraplanner of the Year 2025 Award! This is a prestigious and well-deserved recognition of her leadership, technical excellence and contribution to the profession.

Clients, Growth & Feedback

It’s also been a strong year for business growth:

• We welcomed multiple new clients, reflecting the growing reputation and trust in our services. Not only has our client base expanded, but the calibre and diversity of the new relationships we’ve formed demonstrate the strength of our offering and the value we strive to consistently deliver.
• We are lucky enough that our fantastic clients continue to provide us with excellent feedback, recognising the quality and care that define our work.

As a team, we have upheld our commitment to keeping clients happy as well as the team thriving and the business growing steadily.

Looking Ahead

With new people joining the team, award wins to celebrate, plenty of learning and a growing list of amazing clients, 2025 has been a bit of a whirlwind in the best possible way. It’s been a year full of progress, laughs, teamwork and those little moments that remind us why we love what we do.

As we head into 2026, we’re excited to keep the momentum going by supporting IFAs so they can do their best work, giving clients an experience that genuinely makes their day easier and creating time for themselves. This will be done by continuing to build a team that has fun, works hard and lifts each other up, whilst maintaining a commitment to the exceptional standards at our core.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. Here’s to a brilliant 2026 with more wins, more good energy, and more chances to do what we do best together.