Fairstone delivers 33% revenue uplift and growth on every front

Fairstone Group has published its latest annual report, highlighting a 33% year-on-year increase in revenue, while simultaneously outlining its vision to drive the business forward to 2030.

The more expansive strategy detailed in the published accounts builds on the Group’s significant revenue shift, reaching £114m annualised in the last quarter of 2022, up from £86m on the same period in 2021.

In addition to the lift in fee income, Fairstone has also announced growth in every single one of its key areas – including client numbers, advisers, recurring income, gross margin, profits and FUM.

Fairstone has used the latest annual report to announce its new mission statement, to be the most trusted wealth management firm in the UK and Ireland, which is reinforced by an updated ten-point strategy that serves as a roadmap to deliver sustainable long-term growth.

The group’s strategy is the culmination of an eight-month plan to lay the foundations for significant future expansion. This includes a move to a new head office, once the HQ of Nike UK, located in Sunderland’s Doxford International Business Park, and is strengthened by a series of additions to the Executive, IT, M&A and Compliance teams, together with a major investment in client and adviser platform technology.

Fairstone CEO Lee Hartley said:

“I’m exceptionally proud to be able to say that we have generated growth on every single front. More than that, driving this level of year-on-year improvement in our fee income, especially considering the scale that we were already operating at, really is a demonstration of our momentum. Clearly, this level of growth needs to be supported and we have invested an additional £4.1m in our resource base to ensure that we have the people to underpin the progress.

Results of this type simply cannot be achieved unless you are consistently delivering great outcomes for clients – and that’s why all of our colleagues need to be congratulated for the superb work they continue to do. Seeing repeat advice levels of 94% and a client satisfaction score of 98% adds an overlay to our financial performance that makes our results even more impressive.”

One of the numbers that the company draws attention to in the annual report is a client attrition rate of just 2.4%. Importantly, this number includes those clients who have passed away or have exited as a function of divorce – removing these factors from the analysis shows a pre- and post-acquisition client retention rate which is close to 100%.

Hartley continued:

“What does setting ourselves the task of being ‘the most trusted’ actually mean in reality? For Fairstone it means that clients will trust us with a broader spectrum of their wealth advisory needs, it also describes a relationship where even more of our clients will feel confident in recommending Fairstone to their friends, colleagues, and wider family. Above and beyond these dynamics, a strong relationship built upon trust and transparency will encourage a greater number of clients to entrust us with the financial planning requirements of their children and grandchildren. So, a mission statement of this form has far more purpose than simply saying ‘we want to be number one’……I think all of these trust elements are reflected in our exceptional client retention rate”

Fairstone Chairman, David Hickey added:

“2022 was a turbulent time for financial markets however, I am pleased to report that Fairstone continued to thrive, growing client numbers, advisers, revenues and EBITDA respectively, showing significant growth in every aspect of the Group’s activities.

“This has created substantial forward motion which has been carried into 2023. We now move into a new era for the business and our job is to create the conditions to progress even further as we accelerate at pace over the coming years.”