For our final meeting of 2014 in November, Surrey branch welcomed Chris Piper, the South East and Central Agent for the Bank of England, reports branch co-chairman Keith Churchouse CFPCM. Chris gave delegates a useful economic update from the Bank which was a very interesting perspective. We also shared views and opinions from the audience on the economic climate and recent legislation, which may affect some of the future data particularly in light of the recent pension changes and increased flexibility.

The presentation was particularly relevant as the Bank of England had recently issued their Inflation Report for November 2014. Full copies of this were available to the attendees, along with a slide presentation on particular points of interest.

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With the Bank base rate remaining low, the effects on those individuals and businesses seeking income from their investments was one topic which carried significant relevance. Another hot topic was the feedback on the effects of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) on the ability of individuals to re-finance their home loans.

This was an excellent end to our 2014 events calendar and I would like to thank the Guildford office of Charles Stanley for their support for this branch and for their support over the last years.

We now look forward to an engaging agenda for 2015. You'll find full details in the branch programme issued within this copy of Financial Planner. As well as having some great speakers, we'll be continuing our theme of including a "what's working for me" slot in each agenda, where an IFP member shares best practice. We start on 3 February welcoming Mark Loosmore of IRESS, talking about using technology to improve our client service as well as how we can drive greater efficiency through using technology within our businesses. We'd love to see you there.