John Longford - Financial Adviser at Northern Spire Ltd

Evening all.

If I could ask your help it would be very much appreciated. Last Sunday I ran my first ever Great North Run. I ran seconds under 2hrs 10mins, so I’ll get back there next year & go for sub 2hrs.

Saturday 14th Sept I’m back at it & doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge with the legend that is Orange John. This time I’ve dragged my wife Kate along to accompany me, cos if she wasn’t there, there’d be nobody to tell me I’m doing it wrong!

Neither of us have done a peak challenge before, so we’re excited, but know it’ll be tough.

We’re raising funds for local charity Grace House, who support local disabled children, young people and their families.

If anyone would like to support us & the charity & hoy a virtual 50p in the jar, it would be greatly appreciated.

You can do this below. Cheers!

https://ghne.enthuse.com/pf/john-longford/post/6954074

Corporate Partnerships and Business Development Lead £32,092

A full time position to develop and manage a portfolio of corporate accounts, providing exceptional supporter care and delivering successful partnerships through the Grace House Corporate Networking Group - Network for Good
To lead on the development of corporate new business, with an emphasis on new funding partners.
Meet challenging income generation targets and increase revenue year upon year.
Work closely with the Grace House Event Fundraiser.

🚨Up to 40% FUNDING for your next project! 🚨

📍 If you're a Sunderland or Durham based business looking to start a digital project, you could receive up to 40% to help with your video production, social media or design & branding requirements!

📲 Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to boost your business - get in touch and see how we can help take you to the next level. 🚀

www.ynot.agency/funding

Last week my post was as corporate as you can get. Pictures of me at a nice hotel, in in a suit on stage hosting a business briefing in front of 100 business owners.

This morning I’m getting up having a wet wipe wash, pulling on my walking boots & dusty cargo shorts to complete the last leg of our Sahara trek in Morocco.

Fantastic to meet so many great people from down south representing Julia’s House & a pleasure to walk in searing heat, watch sunsets & sleep under the stars with Orange John, Dale Shaw, Thomas Cu***ng, Matthew Cook & Thomas Harvey

We’re doing this trek to raise funds for Dragonfly Cancer Trust, a fantastic charity, there’s still time to throw a few quid in the pot & help us get to £10,000.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/northernspiresamuelphillips

It was a pleasure to host the latest business owner briefing on behalf of Northern Spire Ltd this morning.

When I say pleasure, I was right out of my comfort zone, but the opportunity to host 100 of the regions top business owners to hear five panel members speak of their experiences of growing & exiting businesses was too good to pass up.

Fantastic feedback so far, many thanks to panel members Phil Williams, Mr Neil Stephenson, Paul Fellows, Antonia Tappin ACCA & Neil Henry MInstR & also the Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf & Spa for their hospitality.

See you in 2024 for the next instalment.

Baking hot today at Close House for the Plumbase charity golf day supporting Sergio Petrucci & Red Sky Foundation. Having not swung a golf club since October, I was surprised how “not rubbish” I was & even managed to keep the same ball all the way around.

Massive shout out to Gavin Nesbitt for the invite. A great day had by all.

It’s thought the amount of money you can save into a pension might rise. All eyes on Wednesday’s Spring Budget

Budget to boost lifetime allowance for pension savings

Budget to boost lifetime allowance for pension savings Increasing the allowance in Wednesday's Budget means workers could avoid paying more on their pension.

Red Sky Foundation ball

Learn to ride classes An exciting opportunity to begin your cycling journey.

A bit of a buzz is starting to build around next week's The Mussel Club event at the Sunderland City Hall. I'm even getting quoted in local newspapers!

https://lnkd.in/eiKm_zUS

After last year's ‘What’s Happening in Sunderland’ with guest speaker Peter McIntyre we're back again with a 2023 update. This year we'll hear from Riverside Sunderland Development Director Neil Guthrie, Land & Investment Senior Manager Chris Healy MRICS and Sunderland City Hall Assistant General Manager Laura Kerry.

A fantastic take up so far, limited tickets remain, which can be reserved at https://lnkd.in/eqa8exa6

See you there

Event | The Mussel Club - What's Happening In Sunderland? After such a successful event in 2022, on Friday 3rd FebruaryThe Mussel Club will be repeating our ‘What’s Happening in Sunderland’ event. This is a unique networking event at Sunderland’s award-winning CITY HALL, giving you an insight into all the amazing development coming to Sunderland.

Christmas ’22 hasn’t been yet, but Tom Harvey is already hard at work planning events well into 2023 for The Mussel Club. He invited me along this morning to the Sunderland City Hall to put plans in place for February of next year.

For anyone who joined us at the beginning of last year, come back & enjoy the next instalment. For those that couldn’t make it, watch this space for dates where you can find out what the City of Sunderland is progressing towards.

We're inundated everyday with news stories, analysis and commentary. Some is helpful, some designed to get clicks, buy a product or get more viewers. It is important to remember that financial plans normally last years, if not decades. Particularly with investments, short snapshots of time tell us a story of what is happening in the world at that point, but isn't necessarily a reflection of your overall plan and performance.

This has made me think about myself.

How secure is your password? Look at the table below to see how long it'll take to hack your password.

Having a strong password can help you protect yourself from fraudulence and scams.

Keep an eye out, as we'll be posting some tips to consider when securing your password soon.

Thank you to the Hard Rock Cafe Newcastle for feeding me bacon sandwiches at this mornings at The Mussel Club. Another very well attended event with a great set of people

It’s the time of the year when meetings are starting when it’s still dark!

A pleasure to invited along to the Foundation of Light breakfast/networking event at Beacon of Light Sunderland this morning. Great to hear Jeff Brown & Sunderland AFC head coach Tony Mowbray speak. Caught up with loads of familiar faces & even bumped into an old friend from school, which means I’ve got an excuse to catch up for a pint soon.

📢 Innovate UK is offering small and micro-businesses a share of up to £30 million in grants alongside tailored business support! 📢

You must be able to show that you:
✅have a great idea
✅need public funding
✅have the capability to deliver the project
✅will deliver the project

🍃 Your idea must focus on either achieving net-zero or self-driven healthcare and how new technology can enable affordable, adaptable and investable innovations in these areas.

More info 👉 https://orlo.uk/6kjSe

Brilliant for the school holidays

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020, the dramatic rate at which everything changed left people feeling bewildered. It was yet another reminder that however much we try to make plans, we never know what’s just around the corner.

https://partnership.sjp.co.uk/northernspire/article/detail/sjpp/when_everything_suddenly_changes_why_protection_matters.html?partner=northernspire&utm_source=E-Briefing-Service&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Protecting_Insights&dm_i=19OP,7UW6X,7L41WR,W2WM0,1

Rise - Courses and Events View information on and book courses and events in North East England here at Rise

Networking tying in with a fantastic initiative

Event | The Mussel Club - I Am Not Ok Edit event FREE Single Admission Reserve Your Tickets Available Tickets: 173 Get Tickets View full event details Starts 20/05/22 09:30am Ends 20/05/22 12:30pm Location City Hall Sunderland Plater WaySR13AASR1 3DPGB Attending this event Attending this event link Copy link to clipboard The Mussel Club...

The process of making sure that your beneficiaries can get the best from the assets you leave behind will often begin with Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning. When you’ve spent your working life building up your assets, you’ll most likely want to protect them for the benefit of future generations.

https://partnership.sjp.co.uk/northernspire/article/detail/sjpp/keeping-in-family-smart-tax-planning.html?partner=northernspire&utm_source=E-Briefing-Service&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Tax_Year_End&dm_i=19OP,7TJUY,7L41WR,VWVIE,1

Last year I was part of team Red Sky Foundation ❤️ who ran the Sunderland 10k. Last week I was invited along to see what the funds we raised had paid for. There's now a brand new defibrillator outside of the Board Inn Pub in Sunderland.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored both myself and my teammates. And guess what?! We're running the race again 4 weeks on Sunday. So if anyone would like to contribute to the next piece of life saving equipment to be donated to the local area, please take time to sponsor us below.

https://redskyfoundation.enthuse.com/pf/john-longford-bd575-9813b

A massive thank you to Justin Turner of Orange Umbrella and Tim Mallon of Mallon:Tax for their view on yesterdays budget.

The gentleman kindly gave up their time to hold a Zoom with our Northern Spire Ltd clients and decipher what is important to our business owners and individuals. Feedback has been fantastic. We at Northern Spire will continue to help you access specialists in various fields to compliment our financial planning.

Back in the office this morning to see the newest member of the Northern Spire Ltd team. Great to see Defender Court in Sunderland now has it's very own Community Public Access Defibrillator courtesy of Red Sky Foundation ❤️

Red Sky's website states, "A victim’s chance of survival falls by around 7 to 10 percent with every minute that defibrillation is delayed. When a heart stops beating, oxygen is not being transported to the brain and other vital organs, and within four to five minutes, brain damage will start to occur without intervention."

Hopefully the defibrillator will never need to be used, but it's a great step forward that we have access to such equipment which could save a life.