Omnium Wealth Management Services UK

Andy Skilton

The Bourne Group of Companies

Director

Andy started his career in accounting in the late 1970s by taking articles with Brewers. In 1982 he qualified and took the unusual step of staying with Brewers, achieving Partner status in 1988. In 1990, Andy and a former business partner bought the Cranleigh office of Brewers, which has continued to operate independently ever since.

Throughout his career, working primarily with the privately-owned business sector, Andy has concentrated on the needs and desires of clients, always seeking to help them define, develop and achieve their business goals.

In 2002, Andy and his business partner John Hughes, set up Clarity Consulting to complement the services already offered by Brewers. Clarity is a business development consultancy focusing on providing advice and strategic planning to owner-managed businesses. Clarity enables Andy to put to use all of the experience and expertise he’s acquired through helping businesses over the years.

Andy currently fulfils the roles of Director of the Bourne Group, Managing Partner of Brewers, Director of Clarity and is a shareholder in and Director of Omnium Capital.

John Hughes

The Bourne Group of Companies

Chairman

John trained with BDO Stoy Hayward and has remained in practice throughout his career. After spending almost 10 years in two practices in the West End of London, he joined Brewers Chartered Accountants in 1999 as a tax consultant, making salaried partner in 2001 and equity partner in 2002.

In the same year, John established Web Financial Services (now Omnium Capital) and continues to fulfil the role of Chief Executive.

In 2006 he was instrumental in bringing together his various business interests under the banner of the Bourne Group of Companies. John is now Chairman of the Bourne Group with responsibility for its commercial direction. As well as this and the role he fulfils in Omnium, he is Tax Partner of Brewers and Director of Clarity Consulting

Ross Butters

Omnium Wealth Management

Managing Director

Ross has been in the financial services industry since graduating from Sheffield University in 1986. Before becoming a financial planner Ross worked for NatWest as a Senior Investment Manager, advising clients on investments, wills and tax and trust planning.

As Managing Director, he has overall operational responsibility for Omnium Capital but also looks after many and varied clients. Ross is not only Omnium’s resident trust specialist but also specialises in investments and pensions and is increasingly called upon to advise on estate planning.

Oliver Chick

Omnium Wealth Management

Investment Director

Oliver joined Omnium as a Senior Adviser in 2005 and now holds the position of Investment Director. The previous four years were spent working for a firm of financial advisers in the City of London and prior to that running his own independent financial advice firm in Notting Hill, west London.

Oliver has a dual role within the business, advising a wide range of private clients on their financial affairs and chairing the Investment Committee that oversees the firm’s investment proposition.

Oliver is qualified to advise on the full range of investment, protection and pension products and advises clients on tax and trust issues.

Mark Hodson

Omnium Employee Benefits

Associate Director

Following a long career with Scottish Widows, latterly as Director of Employee Benefits, Mark joined The Bourne Group in 2009 as Senior Adviser on employee benefits at Omnium and was promoted to Associate Director in 2012.

Mark’s primary role is to develop the expanding corporate client bank of the Group and deliver a full range of specialist employee benefits advice.

Mark is authorised to advise on the full range of corporate products including all types of pension schemes, group healthcare, group life assurance and long-term sickness absence insurance.

He has been able to assist a number of organisations to offer a wide range of employee benefits at a reasonable cost and thus aid in both the recruitment and retention of high quality employees.

Mark is a regular seminar speaker as well as writing for various professional publications.

Mark Sayers

Omnium Wealth Management

Chartered Financial Planner

Mark’s career in financial services began in the banking sector, following which he moved into financial advice and wealth management, working in London firms for more than a decade. During this time he became a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, one of the highest financial planning qualifications available to an adviser.

In 2019, Mark joined the financial planning team at Omnium Wealth to provide our clients with the full range of investment, protection and pension advice, with a particular specialism in at retirement and long-term care planning.

Maria Lawrence

Omnium Wealth Management

Operations Manager

Maria has over 25 years’ experience in financial services; prior to joining Omnium in 2004, Maria was a senior administrator for an investment management company, working in the specialised area of Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS), where she was responsible for client liaison for the technical team.

Since 2004 Maria’s role at Omnium has developed and expanded as the business has grown. She was directly involved in refining and implementing our groundbreaking client wealth management proposition.

In her role as Operations Manager, Maria is responsible for oversight across our operational systems, by creating robust processes and policies. A key part of her role is to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of our service to clients. Maria also heads up a solid Administration Team and assists with the recruitment and placement of new staff and their training requirements.

Denis Kavanagh

Omnium Wealth Management

Financial Planner

Denis’s career in financial services extends over 35 years. Having previously worked for various Building Societies as a District Manager he qualified as a financial adviser in 1998.

He has been with the Bourne group from the very beginning and was promoted to Associate Director of Omnium in 2005.

Denis is authorised to advise on investments, protection, pensions, mortgages, equity release and lifetime care and has a varied portfolio of clients.

Lynn Adams

Omnium Employee Benefits

Administrator

Lynn has 30 years’ experience working in the financial services industry, primarily working for independent financial advisers.

She has been with Omnium since its start in 2002 and is now a Senior Administrator in Omnium Benefits. Her role is to support the financial planners dealing with the company’s corporate clients. Her expertise includes pensions, group risk benefits and group private medical insurance.

Richard Allen

Omnium Wealth Management

Financial Planner

Richard started his career in financial services in 2008, at possibly the most trying time for the industry, working in the City of London for some of the UK’s largest bancassurers.

After a successful start to his career Richard decided to challenge himself further and moved to a private family wealth firm in St James’s, London, providing independent holistic advice.

After moving out of central London to the English countryside in January 2015, Richard joined Omnium as a financial planner.

Melanie Baxter

Omnium Wealth Management

Paraplanner

Melanie has worked in the financial services industry since graduating from university with an honours degree in Business Studies. For the first decade of her career, she worked at leading global investment banks in London.

At the same time, Melanie undertook training to become a solicitor, qualifying with the College of Law and completing her legal training with a multinational law firm.

In 2015, following a career break to raise her family, Melanie made a return to the financial industry as an administrator. She went on to gain the Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA) qualification in 2018, joining Omnium Wealth Management as a paraplanner in 2019.

In her role at Omnium, Melanie is responsible for a number on non-client facing tasks, including research, analysis on a range of providers and investments and report writing across all areas of financial planning.

Samantha Butters

Omnium Wealth Management

Compliance Officer

After qualifying as a solicitor in 1993, Samantha went on to work for 15 years in various London and Surrey-based legal firms.

In 2010, Samantha decided on a change of career and began working with Omnium (formerly Web Financial Services) as a compliance consultant. In 2012 she gained the Chartered Institute of Insurers Financial Services Regulation and Ethics qualification and became Omnium’s full-time Compliance Manager in May 2013.

Samantha recently secured the FCA’s Compliance Oversight permission giving her overall responsibility for Omnium’s compliance.

Karen Cornwell

Omnium Wealth Management

Administrator

Karen joined Omnium in 2008 and brought with her many years of experience in a variety of administration and client services roles.

She is a key member of our excellent administration team and is often the first point of contact for our clients in relation to the day-to-day administration of their portfolios.

Karen’s role is varied and involves dealing with client correspondence in addition to providing support to the financial planners, ensuring they have all they need to provide an excellent service to clients.

Jane Dickinson Green

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Accounts Manager

Jane trained and qualified with KPMG in London where she spent 10 years. Key responsibilities during that period included supervising large teams, liaising directly with boards and culminated in being the audit manager responsible for the worldwide audit of Diageo. Clients there were varied and included Natwest, Standard Chartered, P&O and Burger King.

During her time at KPMG the diversity of clients and work, including a secondment to forensic accounting, helped her develop the skills necessary to understand clients’ needs and ensure that they are managed in a proactive manner.

Following having a family Jane decided to continue her career in a local practice and joined Brewers in 2003. Her focus has been principally on auditing and she is responsible for fast-growth, high-tech and well-established clients. She is passionate about ensuring that best practice is shared amongst her clients and is knowledgeable about key developments in the sector.

Janet Dlugokecka

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Tax Manager

Janet joined Brewers in 1974 as a trainee accountant and initially worked across all departments gaining a thorough grounding in the varied work of an accountant in practice.

Janet developed a special interest in personal taxation, so that over time this has become her primary focus. She now specialises in personal and trust tax compliance and advice.

Toby Eves

Omnium Wealth Management

Chartered Financial Planner

Toby has worked in financial services since he left school in 1979, including time at Friends Life where he completed his Associateship of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) examinations in 1985.

In 1992 Toby was one of the first advisers to become an Associate of the Personal Finance Society (PFS). He subsequently enjoyed a wide variety of roles, before joining Omnium in 2013 where he advises his varied portfolio of clients on their investments and pensions

Nick Facey

Omnium Wealth Management

Administrator

Nick joined Omnium in 2007 and brought with him many years of experience previously working for a large life and pensions company.

Nick is part of the crucial administration team and provides expert support to the financial planners ensuring that they have all they need to be able to deliver a first-class service to our clients.

Vicky Franklin

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Management Accountant

After university, Vicky obtained valuable experience in both the public and private sectors, most recently in the pharmaceutical industry. Working within a small accounts team for multiple SMEs has enabled Vicky to gain experience in a range of accounting roles and developed her business acumen.

She is currently working towards her ACCA qualification and is hoping to complete this over the next few years.

In 2017, Vicky joined Brewers and has taken on numerous clients from sole traders to limited companies. Within her varied role she provides services such as management accounts, bookkeeping and ensuring VAT returns are completed.

Jane Frearson

Omnium Wealth Management

Financial Planner

Jane has been in the financial services industry since 1988 and joined OmniumWealth in 2015. Over the years she has grown her client bank through referrals and has many clients who have stayed loyal since the beginning.

Jane advises both individual and corporate clients on all aspects of financial planning.

David Hall

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Associate

David joined Brewers as a trainee in 1969 and qualified as a Certified Accountant in 1977.

Currently David manages a portfolio of small business and personal taxation clients. These cover a wide range of business sectors and include sole traders, partnerships and companies.

David provides assistance and advice to many individuals in respect of personal taxation compliance and planning.

Rebecca Hughes

The Bourne Group of Companies

Marketing Manager

Rebecca worked for 10 years as a client manager in the design industry in London and Surrey with a specific focus on branding. Latterly, her career included overseeing the rebrand of the entire Bourne Group of Companies, prior to joining the Group as its Marketing Manager in 2007.

She is responsible for all marketing, advertising and PR activities of the Group and acts as brand guardian to ensure the businesses are always consistently and appropriately presented.

Rebecca is also involved in business development work for the Group, coordinating various new business initiatives such as seminars and lead generation and helping with the creation of tender documents and proposals for prospective clients.

Carolyn Keats

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Tax Services Senior

Carolyn is a long-standing team member having originally joined Brewers in 1986. She now performs a dual role completing personal tax returns and also managing all aspects of payroll and compliance.

Martyn Key

Omnium Wealth Management

Administrator

Martyn has many years of experience working in various customer service and administration roles for financial advisers, private banking and a pension annuity company.

Martyn joined Omnium Wealth in 2016 and is an integral part of the administration team providing support to our Financial Planners, helping with enquiries and ensuring they are fully prepared.

Lyn Mitchell

Omnium Wealth Management

Administrator

Lyn has worked in the financial services industry for many years in a secretarial and administrative role. She joined Bryant Kesek Financial Services (BKFS) in 2001 and moved to Omnium in 2012 when it acquired BKFS.

Lyn is part of the Administration Team at Omnium Wealth Management and Omnium Employee Benefits providing essential support to the advisers.

Lindsay Neale

Omnium Wealth Management

Paraplanner

Lindsay began working in the Financial Services sector in 1987 and spent 19 years working within a large life and pensions company moving up from Administrator to Team Leader.

Lindsay joined Omnium in 2006 as a Senior Administrator and, since then, her role has developed and expanded so that she is now responsible for paraplanning.

She is responsible for a number of non-client facing tasks including research and analysis on a range of providers and investments and report writing to support the financial planners.

Jonathan Skilton

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Accountant

Jonathan joined Brewers in March 2011 after several years working within industry, gaining experience and an extensive background in purchase ledger, sales ledger and accounts assistant positions.

He has a degree in Business Management and is studying towards his ACCA qualifications. Jonathan performs a range of technical functions including audit, statutory accounts preparation and submission, Corporation Tax computation, preparation and electronic submission, management account preparation and company secretarial services for clients.

On the non-technical side Jonathan maintains and administrates a number of accounting, company secretarial and virtual document storage systems.

Meytal Smyth

Omnium Wealth Management

Senior Paraplanner

Meytal has worked in financial services since 2006 and began working in the UK financial services industry when she relocated here in 2015.

Within her first 12 months in the UK, Meytal successfully completed the PFS Diploma Level 4 in Regulated Financial Planning, as well as the CeMAP qualification.

Meytal previously worked as a paraplanner for two medium-sized IFAs before joining Omnium Wealth Management in 2019 as a senior paraplanner. Her role involves research, analysis and report writing to support the Managing Director.

Meytal’s current ambition is to reach Chartered Financial Planner status, with four more exams to sit to achieve her goal.

Jo Taylor

Omnium Wealth Management

Financial Controller

Jo originally joined the Bourne Group in 1989 as a trainee accountant at Brewers. After qualifying in 1995, she continued working for Brewers and, during her time there, worked in both the Audit and Management Accounts teams.

In 2018, Jo became Financial Controller of Omnium Capital. Her primary responsibilities are operational budgeting, financial reporting and credit control, along with statutory reporting to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Sarah Watkins

Brewers Chartered Accountants

Accounts Manager

Sarah’s entire schooling was based around the accounting industry ending with a BA (Hons) degree course in Accounts and Finance at university. She has subsequently gained more than 20 years’ audit and accounting experience in small private practices, developing exposure to a broad range of clients.

Sarah qualified at Brewers under ACCA and with more than 10 years’ post-qualification experience she has specialised in audit sectors such as solicitors, overseas groups and charities while also maintaining a wide spectrum of UK sector audit and general compliance clients.