Iceni Financial Advisers

Since being founded in 2012, Joe has steadily grown Iceni, now with a team of 11 people and 150 years of collective experience. “The thing that sets Iceni apart is our size,” he said. “We’re large enough to have access to a full compliance suite and modern software and facilities, but small enough so that when you pick the phone up, you know who you’re talking to.”

In 2023, Joe was presented with the opportunity of growing his business by acquiring the client books of two competitors, both of whom wanted to retire.

“They were struggling with the regulatory burden that being a financial services company can bring,” Joe explained. “And it just seemed like a really good fit. They were also independent, so their clients were used to a similar level of service that our existing clients already experience – we can just offer that little bit more. It's a bit of a compliment that they would sell to us.”

Joe found Allica Bank by searching online and sent us a message through our website. Within just a couple of days a meeting had been arranged with his new relationship manager, Matt West, to discuss the prospect of a £340,000 loan to make the purchases.

When Matt and the Allica underwriting team looked at Iceni’s books they saw a strong business performance and good evidence of profitability with Joe, an experienced independent financial adviser, at the helm.

“Allica Bank was quite different to a lot of the high street banks. The interest rates were very similar, but we're purchasing goodwill, which is an intangible asset – not like a lorry or a truck. Allica had to have a lot of trust in us to lend us the money,” said Joe.

Matt saw a way to do this using the UK government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) – an initiative designed to help banks lend to more businesses by reducing the risk. (Find out more about the Recovery Loan Scheme.)

“We took them from initial enquiry to credit-backed offer inside 10 days, which for this type of lending in the market is very good going. It's something I was really proud and pleased to support Iceni with,” Matt explained. “They're a well-supported business. Joe is exceptionally experienced, both as a business leader and a financial adviser, which is ideal when you're looking at lending some money without the security of property.”

The key here, Joe said, was the support of his relationship manager. “We were really pleased with the result and how Allica have helped. If you were dealing with a call centre or 20 different people who were just reading notes and trying to help, I don't think it would've happened.”

“Having a one-to-one relationship with your bank manager is great,” Joe stressed. “Matt was great. He’s really easy to speak to. Always returned my calls. Made sure everything moved along and got the deal pushed over the line.”