Mearns & Company is one of six advisory businesses that collected a coveted Gold Standard award at a ceremony in the House of Commons on 26th November 2015.

This is the sixth time that Mearns & Company has been awarded the Gold Standard for Independent Financial Advice.

The judges commented that Mearns & Company ‘exhibits a major commitment to client care’ and commended the company’s ‘client centric approach with best practice at its heart’.

Now in their 13th year, the awards are designed to identify financial services companies that have strong structures and procedures in place and are going above and beyond standard business practices.

The judging panel confirmed that the firms that met the standard showcased an ability and willingness to go beyond standard practice in fulfilling customers’ needs and expectations.

The Gold Standard Awards not only take account of a company’s capability to conduct business, but assess standards of service, financial strength, fair value and trust, as well elements such as culture and social responsibility.

As the financial services sector in the UK continues to evolve, a Gold Standard award offers an increasingly important measure of whether a company is playing its part towards a more sustainable financial services sector by going above and beyond standard practice.

Commenting on the awards, Deborah Benn, Chair of the Judging Panel said:

“Achieving a more sustainable financial services sector is in the best interests of companies and consumers alike. Assessing a wide range of factors is a good way to develop a picture of whether a company is achieving sustainable growth that puts the client at the heart of its processes. This year’s crop of Gold Standard Award achievers has passed a rigorous and wide ranging assessment of their capabilities to go above and beyond standard practices to meet these demands and deserve to be commended for their efforts.”

To achieve a Gold Standard Award, companies have to complete a rigorous questionnaire designed to assess progress in four pillars – capability, service, fair value and trust. The fifth pillar, financial strength is assessed by AKG. Entries are assessed by an independent panel of judges. Only those companies demonstrating that they are going above and beyond standard procedures in order to meet the high levels of excellence set are in a position to be considered for the award.