Meet the Team
Honest, Independent Advice
We pride ourselves on delivering a simple approach to financial planning in a complex market.
We consistently provide honest, independent advice our clients can trust.
Our Values
Our values underpin everything about Lazenby’s Financial Services. We pride ourselves in being ‘customer focused’ and making sure the client is at the heart of everything we do. We as a team are ‘in it together’, every decision we make is for the benefit of the client and we feel it to be so important to be always open and honest. We deliver on promises to our clients and are always solution focused; we work together as a team brilliantly in ‘getting it done’ for our clients accurately and on time.
Additionally, we as a business are always coming up with ideas for ‘giving back’ to our partner charity which is Martin House Children’s Hospice.
I’m here to give advice on your investments and pensions so they work hard for you and to give you the trust and security your life savings deserve, after all you’ve worked hard to earn this money so it makes sense that it works hard for you.
I started Lazenby’s so I could give advice free of provider, bank and large company influence. At Lazenby’s our existing clients are as important as new clients and get seen at least once a year, and that’s written into our agreement with them.
I don’t talk products I give advice about what your money is to be used for now and in the future, when do you want to retire, what will you do, what’s the number you need to retire in comfort? What’s the point of investing your hard earned cash if you’re not sure of your goal or time frame.
As an expert in investment advice, having invested millions of pounds since I set up Lazenby’s Financial Services, I’m a trusted experienced pair of hands for your money and your aspirations. I use my experience of over 20 years managing money with hundreds of clients alongside cutting edge advice software to plan your financial future for you and your family.
The value of pension and investments and the income they produce can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested.
While working full time I completed a Business Management Degree as a mature student, and I have used this new knowledge in my business dealings. In my youth I ran a family fitness business for some years, and that was very successful, but as I got older, I went into children’s services as I was passionate about looking after the most vulnerable children where I lived.
I’ve been in business and in local government all my working life. I spent many years in children’s services, looking after the most vulnerable families you could imagine, in the most deprived areas. This has helped me see the importance of having a nest egg and some ‘just in case money’, when you see what living under the breadline is like and the impact on family life, you develop a strong appreciation for protecting your family’s wealth and health.
I then trained as a mortgage broker, and for several years provided mortgage advice. This was great because I was helping people get a new home, especially first-time buyers. I’ve been a Director with Lazenbys now for over five years and I’m now a full time Operations Director.
The role involves the day to day running of the business, so such things as ensuring our service providers offer the business what it needs to be able to provide the excellent service we offer our clients. I’m responsible for our practice management system, Intelligent Office, and other back-office support systems as well as managing the back-office team and marketing support. I’m here to support the customer facing part of the business by ensuring everything runs smoothly, so our clients know that things in are good hands from beginning to end of the advice process.
Russell spent 25 years as a Defendant Personal Injury Solicitor; 12 of those were in house with Royal SunAlliance Insurance as a Team Leader. After redundancy in 2016 he retrained as a Financial Adviser and joined Lazenby’s in January 2024.
Russell is married with 2 grown children, lives in Hebden Bridge and enjoys walking, gardening, playing acoustic guitar, music, visiting our country’s great pubs and venturing off in his campervan.
He aims to make a difference to our clients’ lives and specialises in advising on Protection, Pensions, Investments, Retirement Planning and Inheritance Tax planning.
I’ve worked in financial services for many years now and have a wide range of experiences working for different organisations. Alan & Dee have welcomed me in to the Lazenby family business to provide support to the advice team and to communicate with our clients.
As a mother and a family orientated person, I appreciate working in a tight knit team and you can rely on me to be efficient and always polite when dealing with your enquiries. My name is Bhavna but I prefer to go by the name Sonya, so please feel free to call me if you need any help dealing with Lazenby’s Financial Services.
I started as an administrator in financial services and progressed into Paraplanning. Having worked as a Paraplanner for 15+ years I have gained great knowledge and experience in supporting Advisers to deliver high quality, competent financial advice, suitable to a client’s needs, from research to report writing.
This could be investments, retirement planning, protection, estate planning. I joined the Lazenby’s family team to increase my knowledge further as Alan is a high calibre IFA who deals with many high net worth clients with very complex needs, from offshore investment income and growth plans to using Alternate Investment Markets schemes for mitigating Inheritance tax. I am pleased to have joined Lazenby’s to provide the technical support in delivering this level of technical advice and this has helped develop me further in my Paraplanning career.
The other reason I joined Lazenby’s from the Corporate world, is the way we all work closely together, everyone is always available to help each other, here I’m not just another employee, I feel that I’m integral to the running of the business and the service we deliver our clients. I am an all-round team player and you can rely on me to assist in any way to give our clients a first class service where their interests come first in an efficient and confidential manner.
Dash & Dougie
Staff Morale Officers
Dash and Dougie are an important part of the Lazenby team. These loveable sausage dogs play a vital role in raising staff morale by greeting us every morning, reducing stress levels and lending a paw when needed.
There’s nothing more Dash and Dougie love than going on walks, being featured in our brochures and barking our praises.
The pair are currently having a den built for them in the interview room to relax in after a long day supporting the team.
Contact a Financial Advisor Today
Whatever independent financial planning advice you need, we promise both quality and good care – speak to an IFA in Leeds now, or drop us a line with your questions.
