Riverstone had always handled our company’s overall portfolio of pensions. The business was changing and we needed to buy a factory so we approached Mark to help us use our pensions to buy it.

It was a massive project and extremely high risk. The banks weren’t willing to help but Mark pulled off a miracle for us - as simple as that.

We build textile machines but for the banks this is just not an interesting industry any more or high profile enough. They view it as a category which is downtrodden and where everything has gone abroad, whereas we’ve actually grown into a hi-tech Formula 1 business that they wouldn’t recognise. But Mark believed in us and saw our potential.

In fact, it wasn’t just that the banks wouldn’t lend to us but much worse than that. The company that owned us had put us into liquidation and moved all the operations overseas, taking our patents and products, just leaving a shell of a company. We were struggling along without any finance.

Mark got involved and brought all our pensions together, created a SIPP to allow us to borrow money against our pensions and got us into the factory we needed to be in. We’re still there and are expanding again.

Without the foundation Mark provided us with, we wouldn’t have grown from a workforce of seven to fifty in seven years. He totally bought into what we were trying to do and rose to the challenge. Throughout our dealings with him, he’s always been friendly, studious and focused on accuracy. I know I can trust him absolutely. We were a tricky client and he was incredibly patient with us.

As the company has expanded, Mark has continued to handle our investments and even helped us to sell the business this year. He has been integral to all the negotiations - hardly your normal independent financial adviser!

I’m now gearing up to retirement in three years and following a plan with Mark to reach a position where I can retire on a reasonable income - and play more golf!

Mark’s financial expertise has allowed me to totally relax about all my investments. I don’t have to worry about that side of things on a day-to-day basis, he just take cares of it all, allowing me to get on with my life.

Mr DW, Sunderland