2010

Gaynor Rigby came on board as a consultant to help shape the strategy of the business.

The Equilibrium Foundation was launched, with the goal to raise £250,000 for local charities and organisations by 2020. To date, The Foundation has successfully raised over £100,000 for 50 worthy causes.

One of the favourite moments of the year was picking up the ‘Firm of the Year – The North’ at the Citywire New Model Adviser Awards. The annual awards celebrate the UK’s best financial planning firms and serve to recognise wealth management firms committed to delivering forward thinking investment advice and financial planning services. We were delighted to be recognised as delivering excellent service to our clients and have since picked up the award a further two times. To see all of our latest awards and achievements please click here.

Key events

• Gaynor Rigby joined the business
• The Equilibrium Foundation was launched
• Winner of the Firm of the Year (The North) at the Citywire New Model Adviser Awards

What else happened in this year?

In finance…

Annual UK Inflation: 3.73% CPI
Bank base rate: 0.5000% since 2009
IHT threshold: £325,000 since 2009

In the charts…

• On 15th July, former Take That member Robbie Williams announced he would rejoin the band. As a 5-piece, they released the album Progress in November, which became the 2nd fastest selling album in UK music history at the time.  

On the screen…

• After 11 years since the release of the series 2nd film, Toy Story 3 was screened in cinemas to become the highest grossing film of the year and earning numerous awards. 

Around the world…

• January 4 – Burj Khalifa in Dubai opens, setting a new record for the tallest artificial structure in the world. The tower stands at 829.8m tall.
• May 15 – Australian sailor Jessica Watson arrives back in Sydney after completing a non-stop, unassisted, round the world journey, 3 days before her 17th birthday, making her the youngest person to ever sail around the world. 

In the UK…

• February 2 – Cadbury’s as we used to know it came to an end as the company was taken over by American firm Kraft Foods.
• April 15 – An ash cloud settles over the UK following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull causing UK airspace to be closed for 6 days before passenger flights resumed.
• May 6 – The 2010 general election takes place, resulting in a hung parliament. It wasn’t until 11th May that David Cameron was confirmed as the Conservative Prime Minister, in a coalition government between his party and the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg.
• November 16 – The engagement of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is announced.