Last week should have seen the team gather around the Christmas Tree in the shadow of the stunning Lincoln Cathedral. Instead of a migration of financial planners and the client team from the far flung corners of the UK, including London, North Yorkshire, Durham, Birmingham, Leicester, Cornwall and of course, Lincoln, COVID put pay to the annual celebrations for a second successive year.
Rather than zooming to Lincoln, again we had to just make do with Zoom!
This year, the afternoon festive agenda included the usual gratitude for the year past and anticipation for the plans of the year to come, innovations to the client experience (details to be announced soon) and enhancements to our employee benefits.
The highlight of every meeting is the much loved âclient storiesâ section where we share the impact of our work with you our clients throughout this year. This helps all members of the team understand how their important role fits into the overall picture of the client journey.
This year we heard how one client took control of their expenditure, meaning that they could leave the job which brought them unhappiness, whilst others were able to gift funds to their family, making their lives easier, and at the same time having the confidence that their own financial and life plans would remain robust and fulfilling. These stories add meaning to completing forms, processing transactions and writing reports â itâs the reason we do what we do.
Of course, no December event would be complete without some festivities, and after a short break where we were treated to 1992 footage of Ianâs appearance on Eastenders, the team returned, some in all their festive splendour, for a Seriously Come Dancing murder mystery. Despite accusations being levelled at Lorna Daytime (Karen), ultimately, the murderer was identified as Angel de Flores (Ellie) following some superb character assimilation by all concerned.
It wasnât quite the Christmas party we had anticipated, and thanks to the very kind flexibility of The White Hart in Lincoln, we plan to meet up in April, when fingers crossed, the pandemic will have eased, and life will be approaching another new normal.
Meanwhile, as we all stay put in our own corners in the UK, weâd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a positive New Year. Our offices will all be closed from Christmas Eve until 4th January, and we look forward to catching up with you in 2022.
