Q&A with Dominic Richmond

Dominic Richmond is Head of Financial Services at Cullimore Dutton. He is a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. Here, he talks about his passion for enabling clients to achieve their dream retirement and look after future generations.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your own background?

A: I have a background of almost 40 years working in the banking and financial services sector. Earlier in my career I held senior regional roles at Barclays and Santander before, more recently, working for a number of financial planning specialists. Over time, I have managed multiple teams, run operations, led on business development and managed the portfolios of clients.

Q: Why did you join Cullimore Dutton in 2022?

A: I had spent all my career working in purely financial services-based organisations, so was looking for a slightly different environment. Cullimore Dutton appealed to me because of the ability to provide clients with a broader range of complementary services covering private client legal services and the financial services.

From the start, I could see the potential benefits for clients of a more joined up offering where their personal legal and financial requirements could all be sorted in one place.

As a client, why would you not want to make your life as simple as possible, working with an experienced team, all with different skill sets to look after your estate, advise on property purchases, manage your investments and even, should it be necessary, act for you in the event of a divorce or other life-changing matter.

Q: Can you give a couple of examples that demonstrate the advantages of the one team approach that Cullimore Dutton brings to clients?

A: A couple of weeks ago, a long-term financial services client came into the office to see me. She brought her new partner with her who also needed advice about his financial planning. My client had first come to Cullimore Dutton over 20 years ago for a property purchase, had a good experience and was introduced to the FS team then.

On this occasion, I was also able to make an introduction to Brenda Spain, our head of Family Law, as our client’s new partner is going through a divorce and might potentially benefit from Brenda’s vast experience supporting clients through separation. It is also likely that they will need help updating their Wills, something our Wills, Trusts & Estates team can look after, and there is likely to be a mortgage requirement which we would suggest they talk to one of our preferred external partners about.

Whether I am introducing a client to colleagues in other internal teams or to an outside provider, the things I can guarantee are that I trust them to deliver the highest possible levels of client service and to work collaboratively as part of a joined-up team approach.

Another current example is the daughter of a couple who had been long-standing clients of Cullimore Dutton. The father had previously passed away and, more recently, mum had died.

Adele Bebbington-Plant, our Busi Director and Head of Private Client, had acted for the family over many years and kindly introduced me to the daughter as the estate was due to be settled with the requirement for advice around investments and various assets.

The daughter knows that she has the continuity of support from Adele but that my team can get to work creating a report with our financial planning recommendations. We were aware that the parents felt strongly about the importance of ethical investments, so this was something we have built into our planning for the daughter.

Q: What would you say were the top reasons why clients turn to the Cullimore Dutton Financial Services team for support?

A: First and foremost, like most things in life, people want to receive really good service. For me, that doesn’t just mean providing the best technical service, but also thinking about things before the client does and reading the road ahead.

Three of our advisers, myself, Gary Shield and Gareth Williams, have almost 120 years’ experience between us, but we are also growing the team with newer advisers like Chloe Graves who joined us earlier this year.

We are looking for advisers who share our ethos for delivering the best possible customer experience and building lasting relationships.

We also want people who can dovetail with Cullimore Dutton’s lawyers, collaborate and are always seeking to add value to their client relationships.

Q: How would you sum up the difference that you make to clients’ lives?

A: In simple terms, our job is to protect and enhance a client’s financial position. Every client has a bespoke financial plan that is tailored to their circumstances and their aspirations.

For some clients, there can be many different moving parts that have to be managed, while for others the plan may be more straightforward.

There are plenty of other financial advisers out there, so it’s our job to stand out, to have our points of difference. This is something we strive to do every day through our commitment to client excellence and ensuring we are doing the thinking on behalf of our clients while they get on with their lives.

I’m excited by the new Cullimore Dutton branding and the opportunity it provides for us to shout about the added value that we can collectively bring because we have exceptional lawyers and financial advisers all under the same roof in Chester.