Accession

What Accession does

Accession is a UK-based financial advisory firm operating as a Partner Practice within the St. James's Place Wealth Management Partnership. The legal entity is Oundle Wealth Management Ltd, registered in England & Wales, founded in 2012, and headquartered at Oundle, Peterborough. The firm employs approximately 13 people, including three Chartered Financial Planner advisers (Emma Wilcock, Richard Jones, Joe Moricca), a Head of Operations (Mark Hawksford), and support staff. Accession specialises in providing face-to-face wealth management advice to farmers, farming families, and rural businesses across nine English counties (Bedford, Buckingham, Cambridge, Leicester, Lincoln, Northampton, Oxford, Rutland, Warwick).

The firm delivers four integrated core services: investment planning, protection planning, retirement planning, and inheritance tax planning. As an Appointed Representative of St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (FCA-authorised), Accession distributes SJP's wealth management products — most prominently the Polaris fund range — under SJP's regulatory framework, advice guarantee, and Partnership remuneration structure. The firm holds the Chartered Financial Planner title (CII), all advisers carry VouchedFor Top Rated Adviser status (2025 and 2026), and Joe Moricca was awarded Fellowship of the Personal Finance Society in late 2025.

Revenue is generated through personalised financial advisory fees (disclosed up-front and tailored to client needs) and wealth management product income via the SJP Partnership model. There is no proprietary technology platform; the business relies on high-touch, face-to-face advisory relationships, referrals, content marketing (blog, e-briefing newsletter), community engagement (Young Farmers, Oundle Rugby Club, Oundle Cricket Club), and digital channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Ads, VouchedFor). The firm's competitive position rests on deep vertical specialisation in agricultural financial planning, particularly inheritance tax, succession planning, and agricultural property relief, where regulatory changes are creating strong demand.

Name

Accession

Legal name

Oundle Wealth Management Ltd

Website

https://accessionfp.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Accession is a UK-based financial advisory firm providing face-to-face wealth management — investment, protection, retirement, and inheritance tax planning — to farmers and rural businesses across nine English counties, operating as a Partner Practice of St. James's Place Wealth Management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oundle, Peterborough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Financial Advisory Fees: Fees charged for comprehensive financial planning services including investment planning, protection planning, retirement planning, and inheritance tax planning. Before proceeding, advisers provide a full breakdown of charges personalized to the client's needs and fully transparent.
2. Wealth Management Products: As an Appointed Representative of St. James's Place, the firm provides access to SJP's wealth management products and services, earning revenue through the St. James's Place Partnership structure.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Accession is a UK-based financial advisory firm (trading as Accession FP, legal entity Oundle Wealth Management Ltd) that delivers face-to-face, chartered financial planning services to farmers, farming families, and rural businesses. Its core offering comprises four integrated planning disciplines—Investment Planning, Protection Planning, Retirement Planning, and Inheritance Tax Planning—delivered through long-term, trust-based client relationships under the St. James's Place Partnership framework.

Product overview

Accession is a financial advisory firm offering a unified suite of wealth management services centered on face-to-face financial planning. The core service portfolio comprises four integrated planning disciplines: Investment Planning, Protection Planning, Retirement Planning, and Inheritance Tax Planning. These services are delivered as part of a comprehensive Financial Planning service that also encompasses goal planning, financial forecasting, and tax planning. The firm works alongside St. James's Place Wealth Management, utilizing their investment products including Polaris Funds for client portfolios. Accession specializes in serving farmers and rural businesses, providing sector-specific expertise in succession planning, agricultural property relief, and rural financial challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investment Planning Expert investment planning tailored to the specific needs of farmers and rural business owners, helping clients grow wealth or protect business assets through aligned investment strategies.
• Protection Planning Bespoke protection advice including life insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection tailored to the unique risks faced by rural businesses and farming families.
• Retirement Planning Comprehensive retirement planning for farmers and rural business owners including pension planning, maximising tax reliefs, and strategies for a comfortable retirement.
• Inheritance Tax Planning Tailored inheritance tax strategies to help preserve and transfer wealth to future generations, particularly important for passing on farms and rural businesses.
• Financial Planning Service A comprehensive financial planning service covering complete financial situations, goal planning, financial forecasting, disaster planning, budgeting, emergency funds, and tax planning tailored to individual client needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• All three advisers achieved Top Rated status on VouchedFor with 4.5+ scores in 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• FlagstoneminorOthersFlagstone is recommended to clients for cash savings management. Accession provides clients with access to Flagstone's cash savings platform through the SJP client portal for maximizing cash savings.
• Metro BankminorOthersMetro Bank is referenced as a client login option for existing clients through the SJP client portal, allowing clients to access their Metro Bank accounts.
• Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Young FarmersminorOthersLocal charity supported by Accession as part of their corporate social responsibility program. The firm also sponsors Oundle Rugby Club and Oundle Cricket Club.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Evelyn Partners: Evelyn Partners (formerly Tilney) is one of the UK's largest integrated wealth management and professional services groups, providing financial planning, investment management, and tax services to HNW individuals. Comparable as a broader UK wealth platform serving similar client needs (investment, retirement, IHT planning) with significantly greater scale and a multi-product offering.
• Schroders Personal Wealth: Schroders Personal Wealth is the UK retail wealth venture combining Schroders' investment expertise with Lloyds Banking Group's distribution, providing financial planning and investment services to mass affluent and HNW clients. Comparable as a UK wealth provider offering financial planning, retirement, and investment services with substantially greater scale and brand reach than Accession.
• Rathbones Group: Rathbones is one of the UK's largest discretionary wealth managers (£100bn+ AUM) offering investment management and advisory services to private clients. Comparable to Accession as a broader UK wealth manager that overlaps on private client advisory and investment planning, though far larger and operating across all client segments rather than specializing in agriculture.
• St. James's Place: St. James's Place is Accession's principal partner and the UK's largest wealth manager (over £100bn AUM), operating the Partnership structure under which Accession is an Appointed Representative. SJP provides regulatory backing, product platform, and the advice guarantee that underpins Accession's offerings; it is comparable as the parent wealth ecosystem of which Accession is a specialist node.
• Brown Shipley: Brown Shipley is a UK private bank and wealth manager (owned by Quintet) serving HNW individuals, families, and entrepreneurs with investment management and financial planning. Comparable as a UK private wealth provider with overlapping IHT, retirement, and investment planning capabilities, though operating at substantially larger scale and without Accession's agricultural specialization.
• Brewin Dolphin: Brewin Dolphin (now part of RBC) is a UK wealth manager providing discretionary investment management and financial planning to private clients and intermediaries. Comparable as a broader UK wealth manager with overlapping investment, retirement, and IHT planning capabilities, though far larger and not agricultural-specialized.
• Quilter: Quilter is a major UK wealth management group operating a platform and adviser network serving retail and HNW clients with investment, retirement, and protection products. Comparable to Accession as a UK wealth provider with overlapping retirement and investment planning services, though materially larger and offering open-architecture versus SJP-restricted products.

Direct peers

• Weatherbys: Weatherbys is a UK private bank with deep historical roots in the agricultural and rural community, providing banking, lending, and wealth management services to farming clients. Comparable to Accession as a similarly sized, rural-focused financial services firm with strong farming heritage and client base in the UK countryside.

Others

• Carter Jonas: Carter Jonas is a UK property consultancy with a strong rural and agricultural practice covering farms, estates, and rural businesses across the English regions overlapping with Accession's footprint. Comparable as an adjacent professional services firm serving the same farming and rural family client base, focused on property valuation, sales, and rural business consultancy rather than wealth management.
• Knight Frank: Knight Frank is a global property consultancy with a dedicated Rural Property division serving agricultural estates, farming families, and rural landowners across the UK. Comparable to Accession as a complementary service provider serving the same farming and rural business client base, though focused on property transactions and estates rather than financial advisory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/?v=4PaXrpBgCO4
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/accession-financial-planning

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Accession