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Growing North East financial planning firm launches academy

Fairstone Financial Management, one of the largest UK’s Chartered Financial Planning firms and headquartered in the North East, has announced the launch its own academy.

The Fairstone Academy is an online learning platform to support the professional development of the firm’s financial advisers.

Working in partnership with Redmill IQ, online learning provider, Boldon-based Fairstone has developed the structured training programme to support the firm’s advisers on their journey towards Chartered Adviser status.

The launch follows the company’s recent Corporate Chartered Status awarded by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and reinforces the firm’s commitment to position itself at the forefront of the financial advice sector.

Commenting on the launch, Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone Group, said: “We are delighted to launch our new Academy, which will help to ensure that advisers within Fairstone are trained and qualified to the highest standards.

“The continued professional development of our advisers is incredibly important to us, and the academy will arm them with the tools they need to ensure that we can offer a truly superior service to all our clients, nationwide.

“The Fairstone Academy will be the foundation for our business as we look ahead to a future where a large proportion of advisers attain Chartered status. This commitment to standards is one of the factors that distinguish Fairstone in a busy and competitive market.”

The academy programme is delivered via a tailored web-based technology platform that can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any PC, smart phone or tablet and from anywhere in the world.

Designed to offer a flexible learning environment, the structured learning programme allows advisers to download e-books, undertake video tuition, quizzes and timed exams as well as take part in classroom training with technical specialists. This provides a structured route to Chartered Adviser status and beyond that, to Fellowship.

Doug Barton, Director and Head of Training at Redmill IQ said: “By working in partnership with Fairstone, we have developed an educational tool which will not only add value to clients of Fairstone, but will also help advisers to increase their earning potential through the attainment of Chartered status.”