Getting to know Tony Larkins

In conversation with the Village Bystander, Tony Larkins reflects on his personal journey and the evolution of Beacon Wealth Management. He shares insights into the firm’s impact on both our clients and the local community. 

My working work life started at 16 as the post boy for a company in Stevenage where I was born and raised. Fortunately, I received a couple of quick promotions, as £18 per week wasn’t a lot in the 70s. I quickly decided I wanted to become an Accountant, but leaving school at 16 with very few qualifications meant that I needed to attend day release and evening classes for Three years before starting the actual accountancy exams, which then meant many further years of evening classes. During my years of study, I progressed from an Accounts Assistant through to a Group Accountant. Finally, after my least enjoyable job at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, I changed careers and became a Financial Adviser (I like numbers). This was initially with Windsor Life, then Canada Life, who acquired the advisers. Then in 2001, I became a founding partner of the AIM-listed Lighthouse Group. At this time, I opened an office in Kimbolton High Street with a business partner whom I bought out soon after when he succumbed to a terminal illness.

After outgrowing the offices, I acquired and modified the Old Chapel in Kimbolton and moved the practice to there, where we enjoy far more space and plenty of parking. Long before this I had left the Lighthouse Group and became Beacon Wealth Management. My wife, who owns 50% of the company, has also ceased turning up (actually she only turned up for 3 months in the early days before deciding we didn’t work well together. Clearly the right decision as we have now been married over 40 years.) My daughter was, however, with us running the Marketing. Following her cancer she now just offers advice if required. Our son also joined 4 years ago and is now the Office/Operations Manager, and the plan is that he will eventually take over as MD.

During this time, I continued with studying, becoming a Chartered Financial Adviser, a Chartered Fellow in Investments and a Chartered Fellow in Management. I also became STEP qualified (a qualification many solicitors look to attain) and became a qualified Life coach. Apparently, this puts me in the top 1% for qualified advisers. This also allowed me to enjoy the privilege of becoming a Prince’s Trust mentor.

Over the 23 years of growing Beacon the company became a Group and now owns a property portfolio, and The Royal Oak pub in Hail Weston. Beacon has a very good team and quite a few have been with me over 10 years and the majority over 5 years. We are still expanding, albeit I hope slowly. The team has helped Beacon achieve many accolades. We were Cambridgeshire’s first Chartered practice, won many Hunts Post awards and a Regional Chamber of Commerce award. We have also been listed in the top 100 advisers every year since 2013, and obtained a number of investment accolades. 

My wish to start giving back followed my winning Business Person of the Year and I started by becoming the regional president for the Personal Finance Society and then for the Institute of Financial Planning. This I believed led me to my inclusions in Who’s Who and being included in both a parliamentary pension review and a cross party political campaign for Making Britain Better.  

Now as Beacon has become financially stronger, we have been able to support events like the St. Neots Festival and Kimbolton Fireworks, as well as helping a number of local charities such as HCCN, Moggerhanger Hospice, Angels and several others. Beacon progressed in status being awarded Discretionary investment permissions over 10 years ago, something many wealth managers still find difficult to obtain, and means our inhouse investment team are able to run our own portfolios. Our Employee Benefits department has also grown after it also won an achievement award. Beacon still advises new clients, and prefers to have long term relationships with clients rather than just offer a quick fix.  

I love my role, and although delegate many things to others who are now far better than me, I have no intention of stopping. I recently went to a three-day week, but "stopping” will not happen for at least another decade. 

During the life of Beacon, my family have also grown and both my children are now married with two children. I am starting to enjoy some me-time, which includes spending time with my grandchildren, but I also like researching my family history and the lineage of my titles as Lord of Hail Weston and Buckden Brittens. I am also a member of Kimbolton Classic Car Club which meets at the Beacon carpark (I own an MG). I have also started researching the time of the first crusade by the Knights Templars, given their close association with Hail Weston. I hope at some time in the far future to be able to share this knowledge. And as boring as it may sound, I really like pensions and investments, and have recently started giving talks on these. 

Overall, it has been an enjoyable journey, and long may it continue. 

This article originally appeared in the Village Bystander Magazine.