THE launch of a new Mayfair office by a Wrexham financial firm has been led by a promising young rugby player whose playing career was cut short by injury.
Gwyn Edwards, 26, of Wrexham, has tackled a different challenge and opened a central London base for Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management Ltd as part of the company’s ambitious expansion plans.
The financial advice specialists, based in Regent Street, announced the successful takeover of Ellett Wealth Management, in Oswestry, earlier in the year.
The additional opening of the West End office, which was celebrated with around 60 guests at a champagne reception at the BMW showroom on Park Lane, is part of a long-term Hadlow Edwards strategy to grow their thriving business which employs an 11-strong team with eight specialist financial advisors.
The news comes as the company has just marked its 15th anniversary, having been set up by joint directors Warren Hadlow and Gwyn’s father Medwyn Edwards in 2000.
Gwyn, a Wealth Management Consultant for Hadlow Edwards who now lives in West Hampstead, won a prestigious scholarship to Llandovery College in the Carmarthenshire market town due to his prowess on the rugby field.
The former centre still plays for a local team but his dreams of a professional career were dashed after he broke both ankles while on the field.
Gwyn said: “It was just as I was finishing my A-level years at Llandovery College that I broke one ankle.”
“I got back to fitness and got a place at Loughborough University and intended to carry on and achieve my aim of a professional rugby career. But unfortunately in my first game at Loughborough, I broke the other ankle, and it meant not playing rugby for the entire first year of university.”
“I knew after that, there would be too much catching up to do and I would always have weaknesses in both ankles which wouldn’t help so I decided to take life in a different direction.”
After a spell of living and working in New Zealand with two friends, Gwyn decided to forge a career in the same industry as his father.
His father’s firm is a Practice in the FTSE 100 Company St. James’s Place Wealth Management, which is one of the UK’s largest wealth management organisations and looks after client funds in excess of £62 bn.
Gwyn went temporarily to work at another St. James’s Place organisation before taking on responsibility for Hadlow Edwards’ new London base which the company decided to open because of increasing client numbers in the capital and south east region.
Gwyn said: “Around 90 per cent of the clients I look after are based in London and the south east so it really does make sense for us to have a presence here.
“We have always offered a first-class service but our new location means we are able to reach our clients quicker and easier which can often be important if a client needs urgent help with their financial affairs.
“It will also help us to grow our referrals which it how the business has really developed. Hadlow Edwards is a very well-run company and has been extremely successful with its roots firmly in Wrexham.
“We feel proud of the fact that the company has thrived in the town and is now expanding into the city of London which is obviously one of the finance capitals of the world. It’s a very exciting time.”
His father Medwyn, Hadlow Edwards Director, based at the firm’s Wrexham headquarters, said: “The launch went extremely well on a number of levels. There was a lot of good will amongst our guests towards Gwyn and Hadlow Edwards.
“People were keen to come and support us, find out more about what we had planned and to wish us well. We felt it was one of the best events we have ever done
“Since the business started and over the last 15 years, we have gathered quite a lot of clients in London and the south east through recommendation.
“When Gwyn joined us, it allowed us to seriously start thinking about us having a presence down there to look after those clients from a much closer location and to expand what we can offer to more people.
“New clients to our London office can expect the same thing as those we look after from the Wrexham office – great service, great advice and great investment management.
“As a Wrexham resident, it is brilliant to be able to say that we still continue to manage everything from Wrexham and this is still the heart of the business but we have branched out to have an office in London too. It’s exciting to have it that way round and we are very proud of that fact.”
For more information about Hadlow Edwards go to www.hadlowedwards.co.uk
