At Warwick Mann International we pride ourselves in trying to give the best possible service to our clients around the world. This involves trying to visit as many as we can each year in some locations that can be off the beaten track.
Here is a summary of one such visit recently done by Phill Ridgway:
"The Latin American Heads Conference is an annual gathering of all the senior staff at all the (mainly) British international schools in the region. We attend each year and meet a lot of school heads, one of which has been Brian Allen who heads up the British School in Caracas. So, in November 2010 we scheduled a visit to the school with the blessing of Brian and Deputy head Keith Bailey both of whom, so it turns out, have been vigorously recommending our services to their staff whenever they have been seeking help or advice.
I think it must be said that the help which I received in organizing the trip from Steve Parrott and Erika Lazarro was second to none. From organizing an after-school talk through to my airport pick-up and drop-off as well as daily collection to and from school in order to ensure my safety and security and to make me feel like a very welcome guest, which I was! Everyone made me feel so very, very welcome and it is also great to get to see a new city and country but from all I read Caracas was not perhaps the first choice on most people's holiday destination list. Well, the school organized my hotel, which I might add was also very nice and in a very safe part of the city along with the school which is at the edge of the city next to some beautiful mountains and scenery.
Time at the school was 4 days and in that time I have never, ever had my calendar so full so I started to ask why. Staff tell me that no-one has been there for, some say, 10 to 12 years in order to provide access to quality financial advice. These staff are unable to access the traditional advice they get at home so offshore financial planning as an expatriate is what most of them need and we were able to help. We provided advice from retirement planning to travel insurance and from investments and savings solutions right through to National Insurance and UK general tax guidance.
It is always humbling when I can be of so much help to so many people. We always ensure that we visit the schools we work with on an annual basis so as to provide continuity and face to face meeting for our clients. The rest of the year everything is done electronically which works extremely well in this modern day age of the internet, and yes, even the odd fax is still transmitted. So, overall, it was a wonderful experience with top class hospitality that any guest would be more than pleased with. Our relationship will build from here and we have a lot of very happy new clients who now have a goto person and company. for all their financial planning needs."