My Local Life- Gary Cretton
Our Local Life this month is Gary Cretton who works at the highly established KDW Financial Planning.
Find out a bit more about Gary and the work he does:
Since I finished education, I went in to the Financial Services and have been a Financial Adviser for 22 years now. I began with the Co-operative Insurance Society, and also worked for Santander and Barclays, however I have always had the clients interest at heart and chose to take the risky step to become an Independent Financial Adviser seven years ago and am now regulated through KDW. I provide advice for everything from Investments, Inheritance Tax Planning and Protection, and I am also a specialist In Pension Planning with the advanced qualification to provide advice on all types of Pensions including Defined Benefit (Final Salary schemes). I have continued to build my client base over the years, planning their needs and goals to meet all the varied situations that life can throw at you. All clients are reviewed and managed by me on a regular basis to help meet their needs at the outset and throughout their life.
Where do you live? I have lived in the quiet village of Litlington for 5 years now.
What’s your favourite local place to eat? Yuva Fine Fusion in Kneesworth! The food is just fantastic and varied and the staff are always friendly.
The last book you read? Origin By Dan Brown. That was on holiday in the summer – I don’t get much time to read non-‘financial’ literature! Most of my reading on a day to day basis will be the Times Newspaper, and financial magazines and stock market reports!
What makes you happy? Spending time with family and friends, catching up and relaxing with an occasional glass of wine.
What do you love about your work? Building relationships with clients – I have some as good family friends who joined me as a customer years ago. Also, being independent, allows me to work for the client in the client’s best interest, unlike when working for a large corporate institution meeting the company’s goals.
What is your favourite way to spend a Saturday? I like to spend time with my family – usually taking the dog on a long walk on the Heath, Wimpole or Ashwell. A perfect Saturday would also include a game of golf on a sunny day.
What is your favourite time of year? I love the time of year and the build up to Christmas with my girls has always been exciting, even though they are getting older now. Definitely Christmas!
How do you keep fit? I play golf whenever I can – I am a member at Royston Golf Club. I run a couple of times a week and also plenty of walks with the dog.
What inspirational quote sums you up? ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts’ Winston Churchill. This sums up many stages of my life.
KDW are independent financial planners, renowned for our excellent customer service and valued client relationships.
As independent financial advisers we are not tied to any particular product or company which means that we access the entirefinancial market to find a solution that will meet our client’s financial requirements. Any advice that we offer our clients is unbiased and truly independent.
Ken Wright established KDW in 1978 with the simple objective of providing independent financial advice that clients could trust. This has continued to be integral to the way in which we operate; our proven track record of looking after generations of families, advising them from their first mortgage and life assurance policy to their pension and inheritance tax planning, is a testament to our success.
Since our beginnings 40 years ago the business has grown significantly; we now have alongside our St Albans head office, offices in London, Hemel Hempstead and Cambridge. The growth of the business has seen our team evolve from just 3 staff members to over 35, all of whom are experts in their field.
