Simon Lake (far left) is welcomed to Thomas Westcott’s Plymouth office by deputy managing partner Shona Godefroy and two of the firm’s Plymouth-based partners Keith Clay and Peter Webb.

Leading financial adviser joins Thomas Westcott

The financial planning team at leading independent chartered accountants Thomas Westcott has been bolstered by the arrival of Chartered Financial Planner Simon Lake.

Based in Thomas Westcott’s Plymouth office, Simon brings over a decade’s experience providing high level advice and guidance to individuals and institutions throughout the South West.

Before joining Thomas Westcott, Simon spent 13 years at Plymouth-based Sound Financial Management and, at the age of 38, is already one of the city’s most accomplished financial advisers.

“The time was right for a fresh start and Thomas Westcott’s financial planning team was the perfect challenge for the next stage of my career,” he said.

“Not only does the firm have an excellent reputation for delivering outstanding services, it is also renowned for developing its own people, and I am relishing the opportunity to show my new colleagues what I can do to help our clients achieve their long-term financial planning needs.”

After attending Plymouth College married father of two Simon, who is also a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, studied law at Kingston University in London and worked for several legal firms in the capital before returning to the South West in 2003 to take up a career in financial services.

A committed outdoorsman who combines hill walking with mountaineering, Simon’s professional areas of specialism include:

Tax, pension and investment planning with business owners (including SSAS and SIPP schemes)
Advising senior public sector workers on their pension scheme membership and overall financial planning
Working with solicitors, trustees and attorneys in the tax planning and investment arena
Helping companies with their employee benefit packages

“There are lots of changes happening in the industry at the moment and I’m very pleased to have joined a firm that is forward-thinking and with such a large geographical reach,” he continued.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of Thomas Westcott,” he added.

Iain Andrews, partner in charge of the financial planning team at Thomas Westcott, said: “We’ve built our offering over several years now, hand-picking the region’s most talented advisers to provide top-level guidance to our many clients.

“Simon is extremely knowledgeable and experienced and will, I am sure, fulfil his potential here and prove an invaluable asset for our team and the firm overall.”