Paul Verwoert

Group Managing Director

paul.verwoert@hartsfield.co.uk

Bristol Office

Professional

Paul’s career before becoming Group Managing Director at Hartsfield spanned a variety of roles across personal banking, offshore banking and offshore investments at a number of organisations including Barclays.

For the past 14 years, Paul’s professional focus has primarily been on advising private clients and small business owners. Hearing people’s stories – how they got to where they are – and being able to make a substantive contribution to where they’re heading next has been something he has always found particularly rewarding.

In 2010, Paul made the move from advising to building and managing Hartsfield Financial Services. It has grown tremendously in that time but still embodies the same founding values and core principles that were present from the start. Namely, that what matters most to clients should be what matters most to their adviser.

What matters most

What matters most to Paul about working at Hartsfield?

It’s an honour to spend so much time with such a professional group of people who all just want to do the right thing by others. That’s the key thing we look for when ‘allowing’ anyone else to join the team.

I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve created such a strong sense of family and ‘teamness’ at Hartsfield and nothing makes me happier than seeing the team and their families spending time together socially.

Some companies talk about putting the client at the heart of everything they do; other business leaders talk about looking after your staff and they’ll do the rest. All companies need to hit targets to remain in business. We’ve found that the best solution is our ‘3 C’ approach – balancing the needs of our Clients, our Colleagues and our Company. If something ticks all boxes, it’s a sound strategy.

What matters most to Paul about his specific role?

My job is to help identify what the team is most passionate about, what they do best and what they most enjoy, and to get them spending as much of their working day doing just that. People spend a massive amount of time at work, so it’s important they get to do things they enjoy and that they’re able to strike the right balance between work and outside interests.

Family always comes first, so we’ll always do whatever we can to support our people and their families whether that’s through flexible working or other support. I love the fact that we can run a successful business despite strongly believing that being able to attend a child’s school play is what matters most sometimes.

What matters most to Paul outside of work?

When you run your own business, there’s no such thing as ‘outside work’. As all business owners will tell you, your business is you, and you are your business. But it’s important to take time out and when I do, I enjoy spending time with family and friends. In an ideal world, my time outside of work would be spent having a steak lunch before watching my hometown of Bath play rugby – or England at Twickenham if I’m lucky.