Grierson Dickens

What Grierson Dickens does

Grierson Dickens Limited is a fee-based Chartered Financial Planning firm headquartered in Farnham, Surrey, established in 1999 and operating under FCA register number 403259. The firm serves a small number of high-net-worth individual clients across defined life-stage personas — young families, retirees, serial entrepreneurs, SME business owners, individuals navigating divorce, and the bereaved — providing holistic advice spanning lifetime cash-flow modelling, investment advisory, debt structuring, risk and protection, estate planning, and tax planning/administration. Specialist services include social impact investing and charitable/philanthropic planning. The firm explicitly does not advise on mortgages.

The business runs on two revenue streams: usage-based hourly fees for planning and support work (Financial Planners £250-£350/hour, Support £180/hour, Administration £95/hour, with VAT applied) and a recurring annual investment management fee of up to 0.5% on invested assets, tapering to 0.25% between £2M-£4M and 0.125% above £4M. The hourly model has been in place since 2001, positioning the firm as impartial rather than product-commission-driven. On 1 March 2023, the company transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), making employees partners and custodians of the proposition.

The team comprises approximately 14 people, including five directors (James Dickens, Greg Parker, Ben Kemmish, Jo Ranger, and Olivia Jennings, appointed Director in 2025) and a structured pipeline of junior advisers and support staff working toward chartered status. Distribution is entirely direct and referral-driven, sourced from existing clients and a network of professional advisers (solicitors, accountants). The firm has no proprietary technology platforms, no app, no API, and no disclosed AI capabilities; value is delivered through chartered human expertise, integrated planning methodology, and ongoing annual review cadences. Geographic coverage spans Farnham/Surrey, London, the South East, and international clients with overseas assignments, delivered via face-to-face and video meetings.

Name

Grierson Dickens

Legal name

Grierson Dickens Limited

Website

https://griersondickens.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Grierson Dickens is a fee-based Chartered Financial Planning firm in Farnham, UK, serving a small number of high-net-worth individuals with holistic lifetime cash-flow planning, investment advisory, tax, estate, and protection advice, operating since 1999 and now structured as an Employee Ownership Trust.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Coaching & Budgeting Advisory (FSAEAAAH)

Keywords

• Financial planning services
• Investment advisory
• Estate planning
• Tax planning services
• Wealth management

Headquarters

HQ city

Farnham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Hourly Fee Services: Financial planning and advice fees charged on an hourly basis. Financial Planner hourly rates range from £250 to £350 per hour depending on experience. Financial Planning Support at £180 per hour. Administration at £95 per hour. This model has been in place since 2001 enabling genuinely impartial advice without product sales pressure.
2. Ongoing Annual Investment Fee: Annual investment management fee of up to 0.5% of invested assets. Reduces to 0.25% for funds between £2,000,000 and £4,000,000, and 0.125% for funds exceeding £4,000,000. Covers administration, performance reporting, annual rebalancing, client discussions, market monitoring, and investment philosophy development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Grierson Dickens is a fee-based Chartered Financial Planning firm offering holistic financial advisory services to individuals, families, and SME business owners. Their core offering centres on lifetime cash-flow analysis and planning, integrated with investment advisory, debt advisory, risk management, estate planning, and tax planning/administration. The firm operates on an hourly fee model (rather than commission-based) since 2001, providing genuinely impartial advice without requiring clients to invest through them.

Product overview

Grierson Dickens is a fee-based Chartered Financial Planning firm offering a holistic suite of financial advisory services. The core offering centres on lifetime cash-flow analysis and planning, integrated with investment advisory services (featuring their proprietary asset allocation models), debt advisory, risk management, estate planning, and tax planning. Their services extend to specialised areas including social impact investing and charitable giving. The firm operates on an hourly fee model (rather than commission-based), providing genuinely impartial advice without an agenda to gather assets under management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lifetime Cash-Flow Analysis and Planning

Quantifiable outcome

• Goal-aligned financial planning with annual performance reporting and progress tracking
• +1 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Professional Network of AdviserssupportingOthersGrierson Dickens maintains a broad network of trusted professional advisers including solicitors and accountants who can be recommended to clients when needed. The firm also works with other professionals to ensure clients' overall financial requirements are covered, particularly for mortgage advice which they explicitly do not provide.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EQ Investors: UK fee-based Chartered Financial Planner focused on sustainable/impact investing for HNW clients. Comparable ethos of transparent fee-only advice and Chartered planner team serving similar persona segments (wealthy families, professionals, SME owners).
• Progeny Group: Multi-disciplinary UK advisory firm offering financial planning, tax, legal and estate services to individuals and business owners. Comparable integrated, holistic planning model with similar client segments and fee-based ethos.
• Cooper Parry: UK chartered accountancy and wealth advisory firm providing financial planning and corporate advisory to HNW individuals and SME owners. Comparable target client base (SME owners, serial entrepreneurs) and holistic advisory offering.
• Smith & Pinching: Long-established East Anglia-based Chartered Financial Planning firm offering fee-based independent advice to private clients and businesses. Comparable firm size, Chartered status and regional UK independent advice positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Brewin Dolphin: Major UK wealth manager providing investment management and financial planning to private clients and intermediaries. Overlaps in investment advisory and financial planning for HNW clients but at much greater scale and via discretionary managed portfolios.
• Rathbones Group: One of the UK's largest listed wealth managers, offering investment management, financial planning and tax/trust services to private clients, charities and intermediaries. Comparable in advisory breadth but operates at materially greater scale with discretionary managed portfolios.
• St. James's Place: Largest UK wealth manager by client assets with a restricted/partnership adviser model. Competes for the same HNW and mass-affluent client base via face-to-face advisory, though its partnership model differs structurally from Grierson Dickens' employee-ownership model.
• Evelyn Partners: UK wealth management and professional services group (formed from Tilney and Smith & Williamson). Offers investment management, financial planning and tax/trust advisory to HNW individuals and families — directly overlapping services at much larger scale.
• Charles Stanley: UK wealth manager providing investment management, financial planning and intermediary services to private clients, charities and trusts. Comparable advisory scope with strong Chartered Financial Planner heritage, though materially larger AUM.
• Quilter: Major UK wealth manager with a multi-brand adviser platform (Quilter Financial Advisers / Private Client). Competes for the same mass-affluent and HNW client base via a network of restricted/intra-network financial advisers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grierson Dickens