Financial advisory firm profits from key shift in its sector

Financial advisory firm, Sedulo, has seen an almost 30% increase in 2022 revenues after bigger industry players shunned lower performing clients.

The firm, which was founded in Manchester in 2009 by Paul Cheetham-Karcz, hit annual revenues of £13.2m in the year to October 2022, up from £10.5m in the year up to October 2021, and £8.5m for the same time frame up to 2020.

Mr Cheetham-Karcz said this is due to major players in the financial services industry shedding clients who don’t turn over more than £100m per year, leaving a gap for Sedulo to bring on “significant partners ahead of businesses that look at such clients as simply a number”.

He added: “This year, we’ve grown our own revenues by around 28%, entered the accountancy top 75 and are now in the Mid-Tier Power Index, while also appointing a new management team, establishing ourselves in Liverpool and growing our presence in London, too.

“However, because we work from the office as a relationship-based business, the culture we created pre-COVID was drastically diluted and we came into 2022 needing a complete culture rebuild. Couple that with the 28% growth we’ve experienced and that has posed a real challenge, but one which we are negotiating successfully.”

Despite challenges posed by a full return to the firm’s working-in-the-office model post-COVID-19, staffing levels have grown by 10% across its premises in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and London.

Mr Cheetham-Karcz believes Sedulo, which has a three-year plan to double in size and revenue, is “modernising the finance industry”.

He said: “In 2016, we introduced hospitality hubs in our offices – we were the first to do that and now it’s the norm. And we’re continuing to modernise the industry, even now, with our Be The Standard leadership club which I do with Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield.

“That’s a benefit our clients can tap into and we’ve had talks from the likes of Alistair Campbell, Karren Brady, JD Sports executive chair Peter Cowgill, David Haye and Eddie Hearn.

“We flew a selection of our clients to Iceland for a reflection and goal-setting retreat this year, too, and last week our Sedulo Group annual trip returned where I took all the staff to Spain, so they could get to know each other.

“This is the first full year where we’ve been able to bring back everything that I think gives us a point of difference compared to our competitors – it’s what sets Sedulo apart from the rest of the financial industry.”