A prominent Congleton company has changed its name, for the first time in its 24-year history.

Franklyn Financial Management Ltd has shortened its name to simply 'Franklyn'.

The new name offers an easier-to-remember and friendlier approach to wealth management and financial planning.

The rebranding comes at a celebratory time for the independent Congleton business, as next year will mark their quarter-century in business.

The revamp comes with a new mantra: 'For financial planning that's as unique as you.'. (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Congleton Nub News)

Franklyn has always been a holistic wealth management firm, meaning that they can offer support in most areas of finance, but these were promoted under separate trading names such as Franklyn For Mortgages and Franklyn Foreign Money, despite it being the same business.

Now, the company's different services are under one name, making it more accessible and less confusing for everyone. They are already all at the same Congleton office and have branches in Alsager, Sandbach, Crewe, and Newcastle-under-Lyme, so the simplification made perfect sense for a rebrand for the firm's future.

Andrew Chatterton, Managing Director and Chartered Financial Planner at Franklyn said: "We're rebranding for a number of reasons, with one of them being because everything we did was under the letters 'F-F-M', and it started to become confusing," he said.

The Directors of Franklyn, with the support of the wider team, decided to rebrand as a way to future proof the business (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Congleton Nub News)

"It was getting quite tricky to keep getting everything to fit the 'F-F-M' acronym as we expanded our services."

Franklyn's new brand means that there is total consistency across all their offering and services, and is driven by their values, taking care of clients through a relentless focus on care, quality, professionalism, intergenerational education, and giving back to the local community.

"For me, this business is about the team. Half the business in Franklyn own shares in the company, a lot of people don't know that," explained Andrew.

"This business is for them and their future. And while I'm not going anywhere, the key thing is I can't be there in 20 to 30 years looking after them and their children's pension pots.

"So for me, we had to do something different. There are now almost 50 people in the team. If you look at our business plan, that team will look like 75 in 36 months, and of course, that scale doesn't sound big if you are a manufacturing company, but in professional services in our sector that is above average [which is usually five employees].

"So, it is really important we look at our business differently with another lens. We engaged with a top-class Greater Manchester marketing agency called A Story Called and asked our team and clients their views on us as a business.

"And with that data what we decided to do was to change the name and prepare for the future.

"This is a business of a community of people with the same passion. This is Franklyn. This is my staff's company - and the rebrand reflects that.

"We've come a long way in 24 years, now we are preparing for the future, focused around you."

The Franklyn rebrand, revolving around the word 'you', also refers to the client.

"What we do as wealth managers are giving advice to people not for the short term but for the next fifty to seventy years," Andrew added.

"It is a concept a lot of our clients will understand, but if you're not a client it can seem confusing. It is hard to get across to people because [wealth management] is something intangible.

"The secret of the success of the last 24 years is that it is really important to enjoy the journey.

"There is so much negativity out there. And secondly, you have to give back. But that is what we live by.

"Our annual charity calendar includes our Summer Swing Golf Day, our Winter Waltz Gala Dinner [which raised about £200,000 for local charities last year], and the Franklyn Football Match.

"Over the years we have managed to raise over £1.5 million for charity and we will continue to do this for years to come."

Franklyn also run their own Education Programme which sees them supporting schools in the local area with employability skills, careers advice, and delivering financial education sessions.

Last year they launched their own children's book called Franklyn – No Ordinary Fox, which is where their mascot Franklyn Fox comes from.

As a lot of their business is managing wealth for kids' futures, particularly after their loved ones have gone, Franklyn have a mascot called Franklyn Fox which teaches children as young as Year 3 the perks of financial planning. (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Congleton Nub News)

At its core, the book teaches children the importance of saving for their future without actually talking about money, and the business visits schools in the community to deliver special Franklyn Fox sessions where they give out a free book to every child they meet.

"As well as our charity events, we will also continue to grow our Education and Community Partner Programme and as we get bigger, we should give back more," concluded Andrew.

"Thank you to everyone for your support over the years, and we look forward to a new era for Franklyn."

The relaunch was marked with an event at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, as Stoke City have been partners with the Congleton firm. for the last five years. (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Congleton Nub News)