Resilience, growth and festive cheer: Our 2025 year in review

This year has brought its share of challenges and triumphs, both for our clients and our team. From navigating uncertain markets to celebrating significant professional milestones, it's been a year that's reminded us why we love what we do.

So grab a cuppa, settle in, and let's take you through our 2025 highlights.

Market resilience in uncertain times

This year has been marked by change and uncertainty. From Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, to persistent inflation and geopolitical tensions, markets have faced considerable headwinds. Yet despite these challenges, they've proved resilient.

We recently met with Albion Strategic Consulting, our independent investment consultancy partners, to review how portfolios have performed this year. We're pleased to report that the diversified, evidence-based approach we take continues to serve our clients well, even when the headlines might suggest otherwise.

Albion brings regular challenge to our investment thinking through our six-monthly investment committee meetings, ensuring that the portfolios we recommend are always backed by rigorous analysis and academic evidence. Albion’s community of over 80 independent financial planning firms are collectively responsible for advising on more than £23bn in client assets. This partnership gives us the confidence that our recommendations truly represent our best thinking for your financial future.

Strengthening our governance

Speaking of partnerships, we're delighted to welcome Ed Falzon to our board as an adviser. Ed brings a wealth of experience from senior leadership roles including his time as Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, alongside his current board positions across multiple organisations, and he's already proving invaluable in shaping the direction and strategy of Newark Wealth.

Ed joins our board of three, and together we meet every quarter to oversee the business, challenge our thinking, and ensure we continue to deliver exceptional service to our clients. His pragmatic approach and international experience are helping us think bigger about what's possible for Newark Wealth's future.

As he puts it himself: "I'm curious. I'm always keen to learn, explore, and ask 'what if?' and 'why not?'" That spirit of curiosity aligns perfectly with our approach to financial planning.

Team achievements

This year has been exceptional for professional development within the Newark Wealth team.

Aaron Robb, our Client Services Administrator who joined us last year, has been absolutely smashing his exams. After passing his R01 and R02 earlier in the year, Aaron has now successfully completed his RO3 personal taxation exam. This achievement demonstrates Aaron's commitment to building his expertise in financial services, and we couldn't be prouder of his dedication. Well done, Aaron - onwards and upwards!

But the team’s most recent achievement was Manos Kiriakakis being selected for the MS NextGen 30 Under 30: Class of 2026. After a rigorous selection process, Manos has been chosen as one of the mortgage industry's rising stars to join this prestigious mentorship programme.

As Esther Dijkstra, MD Intermediaries at Lloyds Banking Group, said during the selection process: "There were so many incredible submissions and it's so great to see such a diverse range of candidates and talent keen to progress in the industry, so it was tough to say no to some people."

Throughout 2026, Manos will be connecting with industry mentors, attending exclusive workshops and roundtables, and developing alongside some of the brightest minds in the mortgage sector. This is a massive achievement and we're absolutely delighted to have one of our own leading the charge for the next generation of mortgage professionals.

Celebrating milestones

It wasn't all exams and accolades this year. We also celebrated some lovely personal milestones.

John Paul turned 40 in style – we surprised him with cake and nibbles in the office, because no milestone birthday should pass without proper celebration (and proper cake!).

We also welcomed our newest team member – Hank, Ellis and Manos's adorable pup - who has quickly become our unofficial office mascot.

Hank quickly mastered the art of boosting team morale, providing stress relief, and demanding regular breaks (usually involving treats and belly rubs). He's proved to be an essential part of the team, and clients absolutely love meeting him when they visit the office.

A touch of creativity

One of the things that makes Newark Wealth special is the personal touches we bring to everything we do. This year's Christmas card is a great example of this.

Ellis, our administrator who joined us with a first-class Fine Art degree, created a stunning winter scene for our clients using her watercolour skills. She used layered watercolours for the trees and white acrylic for the snowfall, adding traditional red details to capture that warm festive feeling.

It's just one of the ways we like to show our clients that we're not your typical financial planning firm. We believe in bringing creativity, personality, and genuine care to what we do.

Our Christmas celebration

Last Friday, we closed the office for our annual Christmas team day out, and what an afternoon it was!

We celebrated at The Corinthian Club in Glasgow – one of the city's most beautiful buildings with incredible architecture and history. Our plan was to showcase the stunning venue in our photos, but of course, once the fizz started flowing, those ambitions quickly went out the window!

We enjoyed a lovely meal together, lots of laughter, and later in the evening we moved on to another venue for dancing and karaoke. Special mention must go to Aaron and Heather’s rendition of Islands in the Stream – let's just say Simon Cowell won't be knocking on the door anytime soon. Perhaps not one of our finest moments, but it was one of the most fun!

These moments of connection and celebration remind us that we're more than just colleagues – we're a team that genuinely enjoys working together, and that positive energy flows through to everything we do for our clients.

Looking ahead

As we look towards 2026, we're excited about what's to come. With a strengthened board, a growing and increasingly qualified team, and continued partnership with Albion to ensure our investment approach remains world-class, we're well-positioned to serve you even better in the year ahead.

Before we sign off, we wanted to let you know about our opening hours over the festive period.

We're closed from Christmas Eve and reopening on Monday 5th January. However, we do have access to our emails and will be checking them periodically over the break, so if there's anything urgent you need, we will get back to you.

That's enough about us – we'd love to hear from you! How has 2025 treated you? What are you hoping for in 2026?

Remember that we're only ever a phone call away, whether you'd like to review your investments, discuss your mortgage options, or simply have a general catch-up about your financial plans.

And finally... have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year from all of us at Newark Wealth! 🎄