Old Mill announces three new Partners

Chartered Financial Planners Jon Orchard and Julia Banwell, who are both part of the Wealth Management team and Stephen Martin, who is Director of Tax, are the latest to be promoted, bringing the total number of Partners in the firm to 22.

In November 2021, Old Mill announced ambitious plans to double in size by 2026 and moved from an LLP to Ltd structure creating a much simpler business model and making it easier to introduce new Partners.

At the time, the firm confirmed an initial list of 19 partners, but said its intention was to create opportunities for more people to become Partners in the near future; Jon, Julia and Stephen are the first to successfully apply under the new structure.

Jon, a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, and Certified Financial Planner has more than 20 years’ experience in financial planning. Speaking about his promotion, Jon -who at 39 is Old Mill’s youngest Partner – said: 

“I feel honoured to have the opportunity to join the partner group and wish to use this as a catalyst to further promote the financial planning profession and the opportunities available for those who work in it.”

Julia joined Old Mill in 1997 and specialises within the rural sector as she has a great deal of professional and personal experience in the area; with her husband she runs a beef farm, Livery Yard and Solar Site.

“I wanted to be a Partner as I really want to help shape the business in the future,” said Julia. “We have such a great team, and I’m really excited for the future.”

Stephen – a tax specialist with expertise in Research and Development, Mergers and Acquisitions and share schemes – joined the firm as a Director of Tax in March 2021, to raise the profile of Old Mill’s tax team and help the firm realise its ambitious growth plans.

Since he joined, he has been instrumental in putting Old Mill’s ‘recruit, retain and promote’ strategy into practice – the tax team has grown from 20 to 30 – with five important promotions – this year alone.

“I am really proud to be joining the partner group at this incredibly exciting time,” said Stephen, “and I am looking forward to helping the firm to achieve its growth ambitions.”

To become a Partner, candidates have to meet a number of key criteria, including embodying and acting as a champion for the Old Mill values and behaviours, bringing ambition, energy and integrity to their own roles, helping create an environment where everyone feels part of a thriving business and demonstrating the motivation and desire to deliver the five-year growth plan with a clear focus on commerciality.

Kevin Whitmarsh, CEO of Old Mill said: “Jon, Julia and Stephen have all distinguished themselves through their ability to inspire those around them. Their hard work and commitment to quality are shown by the impact they have made on our clients, colleagues, and communities in which we operate.

“Furthermore, all three have demonstrated excellent commercial drive, and that is one of the key reasons for the restructure – so that people like Jon, Julia and Stephen – who help drive growth and work hard to embody the Old Mill values are able to progress more quickly.

Mr Whitmarsh concludes: “By valuing and rewarding our staff as we do, we are able to not only attract top talent, but also retain it, which is why we are well on the way to achieving the ambitious growth plans we set out last year to double in size and become the fastest growing practice in the region.”

If you want to find out more about a career at Old Mill visit https://careers.om.uk/