Client Testimonials

Alan Layzell

“A positive experience:” that is how Alan Layzell describes working with Birchwood Investment Management.

Alan, from Leighton Buzzard, was first introduced to Birchwood in April 2008, when he was made redundant from Hewlett Packard. He had worked at the company for 23 years, in roles including customer engineering, field supervision and latterly as a sales analyst.

As part of the company’s support package for employees in Alan’s position, it offered a resettlement programme of seminars and talks on relevant topics – such as setting up a business and different aspects of finding a new job – which also included a presentation by Birchwood’s Trevor Simms on financial issues.

Alan decided he did not wish to find another full-time job but wanted to invest the sum he received as part of his redundancy package to supplement his earnings from a part-time post to “bridge the gap” for the few years before he reached retirement age.

He said: “I needed an income from investments but it was an area that I had no expertise in at all. Trevor came across as someone who knew what he was talking about, which he obviously does, so I arranged a one-to-one meeting and we talked in depth.”

Following that meeting, Trevor and his team set up an investment portfolio for Alan which now generates the extra income he was seeking while he works part-time as a delivery driver for Waitrose.

In the time Alan has worked with Birchwood, he has found the team helpful and the information it provides to clients useful and was happy to recommend the firm to a former colleague who was made redundant a few months after he had left Hewlett Packard.

Alan sums up: “Trevor was the right person in the right place at the right time. It has been a positive experience dealing with Birchwood.”