Shepherds Friendly have been helping families plan for financial security since 1826, but in a video that is currently appearing on the Daily Telegraph’s Business Club web pages, Chief Executive Geoffrey Spencer and senior executives spelled out how a fundamental reorganisation and change in business structure has set the society on a path designed to meet the changing needs of today’s consumer and their financial planning requirements.
Established as a mutual friendly society, Shepherds traditional strengths lay in a district structure based around the UK, but a switch to a more centralised business base over the past decade has enabled the Society to retain its core values while developing the ONE MEMBER-ONE VOTE ethos that underpins its business philosophy and adopting a more expansive approach to growth.
The Society has developed an increasingly solid platform on which to build its business, but has retained a flexibility of approach that has allowed it to seek out and act upon new market opportunities as they are identified.
Significant new products have been added to the portfolio and the increase in new business has been outstanding in recent years.
However Shepherds still view customer service as a major priority and continue to offer very much a personal and individual service to its members or policy holders, which they believe gives them a considerable advantage over the larger, more impersonal financial organisations in the marketplace.
In recognition of the changes in the structure of financial services in the UK, Shepherds have also developed a much higher profile among independent financial advisers (IFA’s) in order to broaden their market penetration and are actively seeking new avenues of business or joint ventures to ensure that the dramatic growth of recent years is maintained.
The Daily Telegraph Business Club video can be viewed at:
