Doing Business Sustainably – feat. Paradigm Norton

The purpose of our series “Doing Business Sustainably” is to feature experts, thought leaders and influencers within Sustainability. We capture and share their expertise. Peer to peer, whilst educating businesses and enabling the next generation of professionals.

As part of this, we caught up with Barry Horner, Founder and CEO of Paradigm Norton. Paradigm Norton are one of the largest truly independent financial planning companies in England, an employee-owned and Certified B Corporation.

Ania @ ADLIB: Could you please introduce yourself and your company?

Barry Horner: I’m Barry Horner, founder and CEO of Paradigm Norton.
Paradigm Norton are a purpose driven, multi award winning, Chartered and Accredited Financial Planning firm. We are particularly honoured to be the Personal Finance Society (PFS) Chartered Financial Planning Firm of the Year for 2020/21. We help our clients identify the life they want to live and then work with them to build a life and financial plan to get there.

Ania @ ADLIB: Can you share the story behind the origin of the company and what its mission is?

Barry Horner:

Established nearly 20 years ago (in 2001), our aim was to change the paradigm around money, to recognise that money is just a means to an end. Now, a firm of 70, with offices in Bristol, London and Torquay, we continue to build the global financial planning profession. Our financial planning services include investment management, tax planning, using the expertise of our in-house tax team and philanthropy.

Our mission is to impact the lives of our clients, for good, for ever. Our four values are the pillars upon which we continue to grow our business:
• People Matter
• Set the bar high
• Actions speak louder than words
• Build for the future

These values set the culture of our business and led us to taking the decision to become Employee Owned in April 2019. Our team members are all referred to as partners.

Ania @ ADLIB: What has been your inspiration to work within Sustainability and what is your take on the importance of Doing Business Sustainably?

Barry Horner: Paradigm Norton have always been pioneers in the ‘for good’ and sustainability space. We founded the Paradigm Norton Trust in 2007. We chose to become a Certified B Corp in September 2019 for a number of reasons:

• To codify the ‘PN Way’, that is, our culture and values, and embed the legacy of our founders.
• To imprint our People, Planet, Profit thinking into everything we do as we become part of the circular economy.
• To hold ourselves accountable to using our business as a force for good.
• To be transparent in the achievement of our sustainable goals.
• To attract and retain the best purpose driven talent.
• To attract purpose driven clients.
• To do the right thing.

Ania @ ADLIB: Could you share any challenges, barriers or preconceptions that you’ve come across and had to overcome regarding Sustainability?

Barry Horner: We are at the start of our journey. We may have scored enough points on the BCorp Business Impact Assessment to achieve our accreditation, but we are challenging ourselves to do more. We are reviewing all aspects of our business to include our mission statement, our carbon footprint and impact on the environment, diversity, our relationships with our suppliers, how we interact with our community and our investment strategy.

Ania @ ADLIB: Would you be able to share some of the wisdom you have gathered around doing business sustainably?

Barry Horner: The world is reaching a tipping point in the fight against climate change and climate injustice. We believe that we all can, and should, play a part in reversing the most damaging impacts of our behaviour on our people and planet. No longer can we conveniently ignore what we see around us. Once you know, you know. Discerning clients and future recruits know this too. The time to act is now. As a firm of financial planners, we are in a privileged position to help our partners, our clients and our supply chain become a force for good together.

Thank You for sharing!