Leeds-based The Private Office has scooped the Personal Finance Society’s Chartered Financial Planning Firm of the Year.

The company beat off stiff competition to win the coveted award last night at the PFS Festival of Financial Planning.

Actress and comedian Sally Phillips presented the awards during a ceremony at the Festival being held this week at Birmingham’s NEC.

Nearly 3,000 people are attending the two-day festival.

Judges said the The Private Office won due in part to its approach to attracting fresh talent to the profession, with the firm's trainee adviser academy creating 25 new qualified Financial Planners. 

The judges also praised the firm for committing to gift 25% of the organisation’s future value to Restore Our Planet, a charity that invests in the protection and restoration of Britain's natural habitat.

Stuart Phillips, CEO of The Private Office, said: “We are proud to have won this award, which validates the trust clients place in us when they present their life’s work and savings and ask us to look after their family.”

The Chartered Financial Planner of the Year was won by Hazel Bowen, director and Chartered Financial Planner at Coutts. She impressed judges with her “client-centric approach, financial education work and the way she has challenged perceptions of socio-economic mobility” in the profession.

She said: “I will use this award to inspire others who come from a working-class background or didn’t go to university to consider a career in the profession, and speak about what Financial Planning really means. Financial Planning isn’t about numbers or selling insurance. People aren’t interested in investment returns so much as what they can achieve with their lives and this is what Financial Planning is all about". 

The winners were:

• Chartered Financial Planner of the Year - Hazel Bowen, Director and Chartered Financial Planner at Coutts
• Chartered Financial Planning Firm of the Year - The Private Office
• Paraplanner of the Year - Marlena Eltringham, Paraplanner at BRI Wealth Management
• Mortgage & Protection Advice Specialist of the Year - Yasir Al-Din, Chartered Financial Planner at Palm Financial Services Independent Financial Adviser 
• My Personal Finance Skills Education Champion of the Year - Daniel Williams
• Investment Advice Specialist of the Year - Andrew Day, Chartered Financial Planner and the founder of Depledge Strategic Wealth Management Ltd 
• Retirement & Later Life Advice Specialist of the Year - Ailsa Thomas, Chartered Financial Planner and Director of Springfield Financial Services
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion - Allard Whiteley Associates

Shortlisted entrants were invited to complete a hypothetical case study related to their specialism. All case studies were independently authored and judged by technical specialists, Technical Connection.

Mark Hutchinson, membership director of the Personal Finance Society, said: “The Personal Finance Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals and firms who strive to deliver exceptional consumer outcomes within the financial planning profession.”

“The Personal Finance Society is proud to shine the Birmingham NEC’s spotlight on those who have excelled in meeting their clients’ needs, committed to continuous improvement, and gone above and beyond to raise public trust in the financial planning profession.”

The PFS also announced the winners of its Personal Finance Society Media Awards 2022 at the event. 

Financial advisers voted The Telegraph and the i Newspaper their joint winners of the National Newspaper Personal Finance Section.

The other winners were:

National Newspaper Personal Finance Journalist Winner – Claer Barrett, Financial Times 

Runner-up - Marc Shoffman, The i Newspaper

Highly Commended - Jeff Prestridge, Mail on Sunday

National Newspaper Personal Finance Newcomer Winner – Rachel Mortimer, The Daily Telegraph

Personal Finance Consumer Champion Winner - Jeff Prestridge, Mail on Sunday 

Highly Commended: Katie Morley, The Telegraph

Trade Press Personal Finance Journalist Winner - Simoney Kyriakou, Editor, FT Adviser 

Highly Commended: Kevin O’Donnell, Editor, Financial Planning Today