Dan Middle

Dan is a keen sportsman and looks after his portfolio of clients as well as sitting on the Financial Planning board, he also heads up the Wealth Management teams in Wells and Melksham.

Charlotte Corr

Passionate about horses and financial planning, Charlotte is a financial planner based in our Yeovil office.

Liz Thorner

Keen artist, exercise enthusiast and mum to four-year-old twins, Liz is a financial planner working closely alongside Simon Cole in the Yeovil office.

Dan: I always knew about Old Mill and living locally I knew of their strong reputation, however it was several years before I ended up working here. I started my career on a Management Development Programme at NatWest and after six years with them I took 18 months out to travel the world before returning to London where I worked for the Private Bank, Coutts. Life in the City was great fun, but being born and bred in Somerset, I knew I wanted to head back to the South West, so joined the Medical Insurance Agency before I found my place at Old Mill in 2003.

Charlotte: I joined Old Mill 10 years ago after my Gran introduced me to her financial planner and Head of Wealth Management, Paula Hodge. Now working with a number of clients, I’ve worked my way up to a role I’m completely passionate about as I continue to build relationships and achieve great outcomes for my clients.

Liz: I started at Old Mill in 2003 working alongside Simon Cole as his Client Manager. I knew I wanted to work here because of the opportunity to expand on the knowledge I had already acquired in previous employment and continue to study towards technical qualifications and advance my career in financial planning.

Dan: I remember the sound words of advice from John Jackson (founder of the business) when I first joined Old Mill, was that it would take the first three years of my time here to build up my client base and he wasn’t wrong. Working with such supportive colleagues (and wonderful clients) through the years has made my experience at Old Mill a really positive one and I still sit beside many of those who featured in our financial planning meetings back in 2003, which highlights what a great place it is to work.

Charlotte: I started at Old Mill as an administrator and have worked my way up through a number of roles, gaining an excellent breadth of knowledge and experience across the Wealth Management, Rural, OMB and Later Life teams, initially providing technical support to financial planners and building trusted relationships with clients and colleagues alike before I found my footing as a financial planner.

Liz: When I joined Old Mill 17 and a half years ago, I was studying towards my diploma qualification but in January 2009 my brother passed away aged 30, from skin cancer. Old Mill were incredibly kind and supportive to me during this time and I was extremely grateful to have such an empathetic employer. We have a ‘lovely to work with’ ethos at Old Mill and that is certainly true, in fact probably one of the reasons I have worked here so long! After my brother’s death I took a break from studying to focus on other areas of my life and married my husband Chris in September 2010. Shortly afterwards I began to refocus on studying towards my Chartered status which I happily achieved in 2014. Just two years later we welcomed our twins Curtis and Sophia into the world where I took 18 months off work returning in September 2017, re-joining Simon as his paraplanner before moving into a financial planning role soon after.

Photos. Clockwise from top left. Charlotte with best friend Rosie and sister Emma. Liz with her son Curtis. Dan with his dog.

Dan: Client relationships are so rewarding and knowing you are helping an individual, couple or family is hugely satisfying and being part of their life journey is such a privilege. Getting to know about them and their lives is very fulfilling, and over time developing and maintaining strong relationships, which often extend to getting to know their families too is wonderful.As part of my role, I manage the financial planning teams in Wells and Melksham, and there are many synergies between this and working with clients, it’s all about the relationship. It’s extremely fulfilling seeing colleagues progress through the business, helping to nurture their talent and see them develop in their own way.

Charlotte: There are so many inspiring people who I work closely alongside, Paula Hodge, Sally Harrison and Carolyn Matravers to name a few are powerful role models who I’ve always looked up to and now I do what they do which is incredible. The most rewarding part about financial planning is being able to bring a client’s wealth to life by allowing them to realise their wealth ambitions. Getting to know people and building relationships, understanding what our clients want to achieve through their life events and their goals, and then working out how their funds can support the rest of their lives with a robust financial plan is such a rewarding part of financial planning.

Liz: I agree with Dan and Charlotte that helping clients achieve their life goals and financial objectives is what it’s all about. It can be really satisfying when you are able to tell a client that they can retire at 55 when they had previously thought they’d have to work to age 65 before they could give up work. I have always enjoyed working with numbers and detail, which is why I enjoy the challenge of putting together a really good financial plan. It’s really rewarding for both me and for a client to put them on the right path whilst building a rapport as I get to know them and their families.

Photos. Dan with his daughters on the beach. Liz with her daughter Sophia.

Dan: Anyone that knows me will know I have a love of sport, having played football for many years, now that love has turned to golf which keeps me active as well as visits to the gym two or three times a week. Our girls will be sitting their GCSE’s and A-levels next year and we have a dog, Pobbles (a wild spaniel!) who has definitely been our incentive to keep active in lockdown! Holidays are really important to us and if it wasn’t for 2020 we would normally have been holidaying abroad. I have also missed a couple of golfing holidays thrown in with friends. In the UK we try and get away in our campervan, with Croyde and Constantine being our favourite destinations, body boarding will always make an appearance.

Charlotte: My horse, Frank takes up most of my free time, and in the summer I ride out most days, and if I’m not with Frank then my two dogs, Nelly and Tilly keep me busy walking them twice a day. In any normal year, I spend a lot of time with friends, travelling and there was always something social happening at a weekend pre-lockdown. The last year has very much taught me to relax and take the time to switch off.

Liz: As a mum to twins, they keep me active! I must have walked miles listening to audio books when they were babies trying to get them to sleep! Now they’re four we love to explore new places and around where we live in Shepton Mallet. I manage to escape to the gym now and again for some me-time but if I had more time, I’d love to pick back up my love for painting and drawing.

Recruitment efforts continue and we are always looking to recruit great people. If Old Mill sounds right for you, why not check out careers.om.uk.