Section 172 (1) statement

This statement is provided by the Company. All references to Group within this section relate to the Succession Holdings Limited Group (the "Group"). Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 (s.172) requires directors of a company to act in the way they consider would most likely promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its members as a whole. Directors must act in good faith and pursuant to s.172 consideration must be given to:

a) the likely consequences of any decisions in the long term,

b) the interests of the Company’s employees,

c) the need to foster the Company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others,

d) the impact of the Company’s operations on the community and the environment,

e) the desirability of the Company to maintain a reputation of high standards of business conduct, and

f) the need to act fairly, as between members of the Company.

The directors keep in close contact with investors, employees, customers, suppliers and local communities so they are aware of their views. This ensures the directors can appropriately consider their interests in decision making.

Strategy:

The directors of the Group approved a new long-term strategy at the January 2025 Board meeting. This was shared with all staff at the Group’s National Conference in Birmingham in February 2025. The strategy of the Group has implications for all stakeholders and the directors will seek feedback from investors, the senior leadership team, critical business partners and employees as it takes shape and guides business decisions over the coming year. As part of the strategy review, the Board also considered the Group’s culture including its vision and values. A strong culture, with a focus on its clients, forms an important part of the Group’s strategy and will continue to do so. The Group’s purpose is to make a meaningful and lasting impact to the lives of our clients and their families.

The Group formally engages with Aviva Life Holdings UK Limited (UKLH) through various management meetings, and attendance at parent Board meetings providing financial, commercial, regulatory, and human resources updates. Succession attended the UKLH Board meeting in October 2024.

The Board of the Company met 4 times during 2024. Details of the Company’s share capital, including the rights and obligations attached to the shares are set out in the notes to the Annual Report and Financial statements, which are filed at Companies House.

Clients:

The Group is a large national financial planning organisation operating across the country. A team of more than 250 Wealth Planners deliver high quality independent and restricted advice to more than 19,000 clients throughout the UK. The Group is committed to helping individuals, families and institutions achieve their financial goals.

Client satisfaction and feedback is paramount and of the utmost importance, and during 2024 the Group worked with Vouchedfor and Trustpilot to gather reviews and feedback directly from clients. Extremely positive feedback was received across both platforms. At the end of 2024 the Group had received over 1,800 client reviews across these platforms with an overall rating of 4.8/5, together with a Trustpilot rating of 4.7/5. Wealth Planners are made aware of all reviews received from their individual clients, so that they’re able to address any concerns directly and in a timely manner.

Clients are communicated with on a regular basis via email with a view to providing interesting, relevant updates and articles so that they remain both engaged and informed. As part of these regular communications, feedback is invited and the Trustpilot link provided. The Group's aim is to be open and transparent, and to make it easy for clients to provide swift, honest feedback.

The Group maintains separate quality and client engagement teams to ensure that clients have access to accurate and up to date information when they need it. A continuing programme of CPD and training ensures that the Group can act in the best interest of all customers.

A separate complaints team monitor all communication with clients who believe they have not been serviced correctly. Although the Group has an excellent record in this area, when the need arises the processes and systems are in place to ensure timely responses to clients and regular communication. When an agreement cannot be reached then the Group maintains contact when matters are referred to the Financial Ombudsmen Service (FOS). All staff across the Group receive training in relation to complaints handling to ensure client needs always take precedence.

Workforce:

The directors promote the success of the Company for the benefit of the shareholders as well as the employees of the wider Group. The Group aims to be the employer of choice in the Wealth Management sector.

The Group is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to a policy and practice of treating all employees and job applicants equally. The Group aims to ensure that the diversity of the communities in which it works is reflected at all levels within its workforce. The current report surrounding gender pay can be found on the Group’s website.

The Group’s policy is to consult and discuss with its workforce matters that affect their interests. The workforce not only includes employed staff but also any self-employed financial advisors. Information is given through bulletins and reports which are shared via the ‘Succession Hub’ intranet. These seek to achieve a common awareness on the part of the whole workforce of the financial and economic factors affecting the Group's performance.

The workforce is asked to communicate with the Board by taking part in biannual engagement surveys. The surveys are completed anonymously with the aim of ensuring that the workforce’s voice is heard and considered when decisions are being made. Updates were provided throughout the year by the CEO, Roger (Simon) Marsden, who produced regular (at least quarterly) video updates with guest speakers from across the Group, covering financial, commercial, regulatory, HR and social updates.

During the year, the Board partnered with Aviva, as a signatory to their Modern Slavery Statement. This sets out the steps taken to prevent modern slavery in the business and its supply chains. The Board reviewed arrangements and attest to the Modern Slavery Statement, a copy of which is published on the Succession Wealth website.

Suppliers:

The Group aims to work responsibly with its suppliers. As a Wealth Planning business, the Group controls and owns all client services and solutions and therefore the supply chain includes fund managers, investment solutions and technology providers, as well as consultants or advisors in specialist fields.

As well as suppliers of investment and insurance solutions, pension products and bespoke advice, the Group engages with many other suppliers such as business premises providers, stationery suppliers, energy providers etc. The Group operates Procurement and Third-Party policies and the business reviews all supplier contracts against these standards.

Community and Environment:

The Group launched Succession Giving in 2009 which has supported a variety of both national and local causes. Nationally, the Group supported Young Lives v Cancer in 2024 and will continue to do so into 2025. In total £41,000 was raised and given to the charity in the year. The Group changes its adopted national charity periodically based on an employee vote so that other worthwhile causes can benefit from fundraising efforts.

Regional offices also support local charities through fundraising and volunteering opportunities. Supporting local, as well as national charities, not only provides much needed support and donations, but also allows opportunities for smaller and lesser-known charities to extend their reach. An impressive £9,000 was given to charities following local fundraising efforts during 2024.

Throughout the year, everyone within the Group is encouraged to get involved with both well-known national events, such as Children In Need, Comic Relief, Christmas Jumper Day and Macmillan’s big coffee morning, as well as local volunteering activities, with all funds raised split between the national and local charities.

In addition to the above, each year in April and September the Group holds its “Communities Days”. where all colleagues can donate a working day and dedicate this time to raising funds for charity or spending time in the local community. The proceeds from each Communities Day are matched by the Group. In 2024, employees across the Group completed more than 825 volunteer hours.

Last updated: July 2025