Mazars comes out on top at MM awards

Mazars Financial Planning had a successful evening at the 13th annual Money Management Financial Planner Awards at The Dorchester Hotel, winning three of the 10 awards, along with three runner up places.

Attending Financial Adviser's sister publication awards, the firm, which is wholly owned by the UK office of international accountancy firm Mazars, had six individuals on the final shortlist of 17.

Paul Willans, chief executive at Mazars, said: "I am absolutely delighted with our finalists' success, all of whom have worked extremely hard over the last year. Their outstanding achievement reflects both the effort that each individual put into their submission and their outstanding ability as professional financial planners."

Mike Turner and David Baker, from Mazars' Oxford office, and Stuart Hart, from the London office, were individual category winners, and Lorraine Olley, from Oxford, Ian MacKinnon and Sorangi Shah, both London, were announced as runners-up.

Mr Willans said: "The awards' rigorous case study and judging process tests both applicants' technical and applied client skills, and it is to our planners', as well as our training and support teams’, credit that six out of 17 of this year's finalists are from Mazars. Indeed, one of our finalists is a graduate trainee, who only left university last year.

"We are committed to the provision of true financial planning - that is advice, rather than product sales - and our fee-based financial planners maintain the same professional ethos and high standards as our accountants and other tax practitioners. It is this commitment to excellence as standards that enables our planners to perform consistently well, both at these awards and in day-to-day practice."