Our founders

Founded in 2009 in by Simon Fisher in Canterbury, the firm built solid foundations by delivering first class wealth management advice. As part of both their growth strategy and succession planning, the firm wanted to be part of a larger group to become fully resourced and better able to offer the full range of services to clients and chose Skerritts as being the best choice to both safeguard clients’ financial future and develop the service offering.

Founded in 2007 by Christopher Pritchard in Ascot, Berkshire with the inspiration for the firm’s name coming from the book ‘Fooled by Randomness: The Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets’. Through their financial planning approach, they sought to reduce the impact a ‘black swan’ event could have on their clients’ financial ambition, instead offering tailored financial recommendations allowing clients to achieve their financial goals.

Founded in London, 1993 by Sheriar Bradbury, the firm specialised in personal planning and business planning, thereby helping clients with customised and quality advice. The company had 48 acquisitions before being acquired by Skerritts in 2022.

Founded in 1997 by John Chadwick in North Wales, the firm understood from the start the importance of forming a close relationship with their clients to be able to serve such a diverse portfolio of clientele and deliver the highest standard of customer service.

As the firm expanded, the firm relocated to The Steam Mill in Chester, where the team still operates today as Shackleton.

Founded in 1980, Ellis Bates began its life in Harrogate and grew rapidly throughout Yorkshire, the North-East and then into London, after opening a London office to better service clients in the South.

Post Covid, they introduced a nationwide video-based service to enable an even more accessible financial advice service.

The mantra of being here to enhance people’s lives by delivering peace of mind, enabling financial freedom and helping clients achieve their goals is embodied in their approach of always putting the client first and what they want to achieve with their money at the very heart of everything.

Founded in 2003 in Kent, Conrad Whittingham, Director helped to build the firm into a successful business based on offering excellent client servicing and had been looking to forward plan on how to be able to offer an even higher level and breadth of service. The decision was therefore made to be part of a larger group, with the extra resources and benefits to clients that this would bring and was acquired by Skerritts in 2023, as like-minded partner to invest in and grow the business going forward.

The firm was founded in the 1980s by Geoffrey Craig as a consultancy for architects and related professionals. Over time, it expanded to serve a wide range of clients from various backgrounds.

Geoffrey’s passing in 2017 marked the end of an era, but the firm continued to build on the foundations he laid.

Founded by husband and wife, Paul & Pauline Harrold, Norfolk-based HFP quickly grew a reputation for exceptional customer service. After being joined by partners, Neil Warne and Robyn Lovatt in 1993 and 2001 respectively, the firm grew to open a new office in Norwich and acquire Clarkson Gray Financial Planning Limited in 2020.

Initially a division of Irwin Mitchell, IMAM joined Shackleton in 2025.

Founded in 1949 by John Keevil & Co the firm was proud to have delivered wealth management services for their clients for more than 50 years, advising 4 generations of the same family in some cases.

In 1986, the firm expanded to bring on board Patrick McIntosh, who expanded the firm further and in 1989 merged with Ward Gibson Williams and in 2012 joined the elite by earning Chartered status, which further strengthened its devotion to delivering incredible customer service for its clients.

Founded in 2005 by Neil Mercier in Horsham, West Sussex, the firm specialised in a very personalised, bespoke understanding approach to their clients, resulting in exceptional customer service and the financial advice.
Built on the underlying principles of honesty, integrity, reliability and value, these values fit perfectly when the firm was acquired by Shackleton in 2023.

Established in 2003 by Patrick Kennedy in Richmond, Surrey, PK was founded with the vision of combining financial planning services with accountancy expertise. The goal was to become the region’s most trusted provider of personalised financial solutions, crafted to meet each client’s unique needs while delivering outstanding service to long-term clients.

PK Financial Planning and PK Wealth were developed in partnership with Martin Crawley-Boevey, a founding Partner, and Patrick Kennedy. PK Group was founded on a distinct set of values which has guided the firm throughout its growth journey.

Offering a wide range of services—from regulatory compliance and strategic problem-solving to sophisticated financial structuring—the firm provides comprehensive solutions tailored to its clients.

Founded in 2003 in Petersfield, Hampshire, Geoff Reed, Director helped to build the firm with a focus on tailored financial advice. When looking at how the financial services market was evolving, the firm made the decision to be part of a larger group, to be able to offer extra benefits and resources for colleagues and clients. Skerritts were the stand-out partner with clear alignment of vision and values and growth strategy.

Founded in 2014 in Eastbourne by Guy Ovenden, the firm quickly built a strong presence throughout East Sussex offering tailored financial planning around wealth management, inheritance and estate succession, pension planning, retirement and tax planning.

The firm recognised the additional benefits a larger group could offer their clients and seeing a clear value alignment joined Shackleton in 2022.

Founded in 1985 by Mary Marsh and Jeffrey Deans in Glasgow, Save & Invest quickly expanded to include investment shops in Manchester and Edinburgh with individuals with little or no financial experience being able to walk in and receive friendly expert advice. In the decades that followed, the team continued to innovate and commit to offering accessible, independent, high-quality advice, with clients showing incredible loyalty and choosing to stay with the firm for years, an achievement that shows the importance of putting the client first.

Shorts has been providing professional advice in Chesterfield since the business was formed in 1890 by Samuel Edward Short. Chris Chambers and Simon Hollin expanded the financial services business from 1997, which became one of the first to achieve “best in class” Chartered status. The business grew to one of the most prominent IFAs in the region, delivering high quality, independent, holistic advice to individuals, businesses, and trustees.

Following in 1990 when Richard Skerritt founded Skerritts from his home office. In the years that followed, the business earned a reputation with clients for the quality and strength of its service offering and went from strength to strength.