Partner Article

Swapping the Mediterranean for South Cheshire

After a successful career with a leading banking group, long-time businessman Neil Tipton found
happiness in professional service franchise, The Interface Financial Group.

In 2010, Neil Tipton returned from the Mediterranean to end a successful career in international finance which saw him visit all corners of the globe.

Tipton, now 56, had spent almost four decades working for Barclays Bank in the UK, the Middle East, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar and Cyprus. Starting his career with Barclays aged just 17, he progressed quickly and by the age of 35 was leading a Barclays Capital Treasury team.

“I’ve spent my entire working life at Barclays, but that doesn’t mean the work hasn’t been varied. Right from the start I knew that travel was always on the cards and I was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of some wonderful opportunities.”

After 37 years of work with the banking chain, Tipton decided to take advantage of an offer of early retirement.

“Two years ago the banks weren’t in a very good place and so when a redundancy was offered in the form of early retirement, I grabbed it with both hands. I felt it was time to return to the UK, and to begin working at a slower pace.”

So, then began his reinvention.

The Move to Franchising: “IFG seemed like the perfect fit“

Tipton knew he did not want to begin work with a new company, and was much more interested in setting up on his own. After looking into several options, he decided to register with a career transition company and became interested in the world of franchising.

[Text Box: Neil Tipton, Interface Financial Group franchisee] “Owning a franchise had always been at the back of my mind, but I didn’t really know how to get started. The career transition company put me in touch with several different organisations and The Interface Financial Group (IFG) seemed like the perfect fit.”

There were several reasons why he liked the IFG business concept.

“The IFG franchise appealed to me for many reasons. Having a background in finance, I have seen first-hand that many companies are struggling to find the support they need from banks and other traditional sources, and so I saw a real gap in the market for the service that IFG is offering.”

The group caters exclusively to SMEs and purchases invoices at a discount, with no long-term commitments and no monthly minimums. This means businesses are able to use the service as a one-off when they need additional working capital quickly.

“I was also extremely interested in the flexibility that comes with an IFG franchise. The freedom of working from home is fantastic, especially when it comes after so many years of working intense six days weeks,”

Life Now

Following an extensive training period, Tipton now operates his own IFG franchise from his home in South Cheshire.

“Life as a franchisee is certainly very different to what I’m used to, but the support I’ve had has been excellent, from the initial training to the ongoing backing from senior staff. It’s been a busy 18 months in which I’ve spent a lot of time developing relationships with businesses in the area but I am now beginning to reap the benefits.

“As I mentioned earlier, the flexible nature of IFG means that I can take on as much or as little work as I feel comfortable with. In the future I see myself taking advantage of the work life balance and reducing my work load to part-time hours before eventually easing into retirement.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rewired PR .