Our client group focus in this issue turns to our offices in the North of England. Dylan Williams, managing partner, talks about Coutts varied business in the region.
Dylan is based in our Manchester office and has headed up the North region since the start of the year having previously run the North West region before its expansion. Dylan joined Coutts on the graduate scheme in 1998 and became a private banker in 2001. He looked after some of the North West's most successful entrepreneurs and sportsmen, providing them with the full range of wealth management services prior to moving to a regional headship in 2008.
"We have offices in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield with 37 private bankers operating out of them," says Dylan. These are offices and not full scale branches, however, Dylan is keen to point out that Coutts is a wealth manager and while banking is a service that Coutts offers it is only one strand of an extensive proposition. "Regionally, we have always positioned ourselves as a wealth manager and we have been able to deliver these services locally through our bankers. Our bankers benefit from the expertise of our global investment teams and are able to utilise these skills to provide our clients with the appropriate wealth management services."
A quick look at the client base reveals a broad spectrum of clients from across the different sectors. As Dylan explains, "Our Manchester and Leeds offices have a strong professional community and we are able to leverage expertise from the Coutts professionals proposition to help them manage their wealth. The largest client base, unsurprisingly, is entrepreneurs. This includes clients who have sold their business, those that are still building their business and those that are serial entrepreneurs. The bankers are able to leverage the intellectual capital of the central entrepreneurs team as well as their own professional networks to ensure these clients are advised appropriately."
Following on from last issue's look at our Sports & Entertainment client group, Dylan advises that with nine premiership football clubs in the region, professional footballers also feature within their clientele. "We have bankers who are specialists in this field as it is important that they have a full understanding of the sector, the lifecycle of the individuals, and are able to work with a network of advisers to deliver for both UK and foreign players," adds Dylan.
Client events are held from time to time, the most recent being the successful Coutts International Polo weekend that was held at Chester Racecourse at the beginning of June. As Dylan says, "It's good to meet with clients socially and I think that they enjoy the networking opportunities that such events offer."
With such a diverse clientele across a wide area, Dylan and his team spend a lot of time on the road. "We need to be very flexible and ready to meet with our clients wherever it is convenient for them at whatever time suits them. As a consequence, I would say that only about one in 10 client meetings are actually held in our offices," says Dylan. "But this is what our clients expect, especially when they lead such busy lives themselves. They also know that the local offices have a strong support network, which is there to support them while the bankers are on the road."
If you have a client based in this region who you think would benefit from the wealth management service that we offer, please speak with your Coutts contact.
