Consultancy That Works for IFAs

by | Oct 25, 2025 | For Clients

Recently, I was on the way to meet a new client and was walking through Paddington Station with my colleague Matthew, when a familiar face strode past. He suddenly turned, gave me a thumbs up and shouted, “Earning more, working less!” before disappearing down into the Underground.

Matthew and I laughed, because in a single sentence, that former client summed up what he’d asked us to do and also what most advisers tell us they really want from our services.

At Harrison Spence, we have been providing consultancy to IFAs and other retail financial services businesses for over 14 years. Our role is simple: to bring an external perspective, offer candid advice, and help you navigate the ever-growing pressures of regulation, structural change, and client expectations.

I’ll be honest. it isn’t always easy to convince advisers that consultancy is worth their time or money. The two most common responses I hear are:

  1. “I’ve tried it before, and it didn’t work.”
  2. “I don’t see how it applies to me.”

In practice, consultancy is whatever you need it to be, from a one-off project to an ongoing partnership. Over the years, these are some of the areas where we have helped advisers:

  • Generating more income while reducing time spent on non-core tasks.
  • Reviewing systems, processes, and marketing plans.
  • Improving client communication (especially important since Consumer Duty)
  • Assessing the skills and capabilities needed to grow a business.
  • Succession planning, including identifying internal talent.
  • Managing time effectively between short-term revenue, long-term growth, and operations.
  • Reviewing business structures to ensure their will be no issues in the event of a sale

Unlike some consultancy businesses, we don’t just hand over a report and leave. IN fact, we rarely give a report unless the client insists. We will actually help and guide you with any implementation, so our improvement suggestions don’t end up gathering dust in a drawer.

If you’d like to explore how consultancy might support your business, whether that’s earning more, working less, or simply creating more certainty about the future, we’d be happy to talk.