Mike and Lesley

How did you discover Astute?

We’ve known Gary for about 10/11 years. We met Gary through my sister, she’d had a long association with him, about 10 years ago.

How would you describe your Astute experience?

I have dealt with several members of the team with regard to doing stuff online. When I’ve needed help, they’ve been very helpful. I log on very easily and see our whole portfolio online. I just find it interesting and like to advise my husband as to what’s happening with our portfolio. Dealing with Astute has been proactive rather than reactive and very professional.

What did you do in your professional lives?

Originally, I was an estate agent in Mold for 25 years. We sold that business out to Nationwide, and then we thought, what can we do with ourselves? We certainly weren’t old enough to retire, so we looked around for a business and thought about a caravan park. We scouted the country for a caravan park and eventually found one we liked in the Northern Highlands. We tried that for a few years and then decided to move back to where we were familiar in North Wales and found another one in Bala. We spent 14 years there, at some points we thought we wish we’d done this many, many years earlier. But we still did it for 18 years altogether, until we decided it was time to retire. And it was great fun, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like work.

How would you describe your financial planner?

I would describe Gary as very approachable, very easy to understand, very easy to talk to. A pleasure to be in his company and very, very helpful. Also reassuring about our future and how our finances will pan out on his graph till we’re 100. Hopefully we’ll get there. He’s very personable and very approachable, certainly. He certainly listens to what I’ve got to say, even if it doesn’t tally with what his thoughts are.

Would you recommend Astute to someone looking to sell their business and retire?

If I was talking to somebody about to sell their business and retire, I certainly would recommend Gary and Astute. I say Gary because that’s who we deal with every time that we have a meeting. Also Astute and the people in the background as well, his team. I would definitely recommend if somebody’s looking for someone reliable, honest, and trustworthy. I would certainly recommend Gary and Astute because he’s been very good for us.

What are the highlights of your retirement?

We enjoy our retirement, we enjoy doing things together, don’t we? Meeting with friends, spending time as family, and doing our various hobbies. Your time’s your own, you can do what you like, that’s the beauty of retirement.

How do you feel about your financial future?

We intend to carry on with Gary for as long as we need him, in that there is no doubt.