Practical Compliance Support for Financial Advice Firms
Compliance • Quality Assurance • Training & Competence • Governance
Helping financial advice firms strengthen their regulatory processes, support adviser competence and evidence good client outcomes — without making compliance more complicated than it needs to be.
I’m Jo Cratchley, an experienced Compliance, Quality Assurance and Training & Competence consultant with over 30 years' experience in UK financial services.
Through Cratchley Compliance, I provide independent, practical support to financial advice firms that need additional expertise, resource or simply another experienced pair of eyes.
Whether you need ongoing T&C or QA support, an independent compliance audit, help strengthening your systems and controls, or assistance with a specific regulatory project, I can provide flexible support tailored to your business.
Experienced. Independent. Pragmatic.
How can I help
Regulatory requirements are important, but they also need to work in the real world.
My approach is to understand your business, identify where regulatory or operational risks may exist and help you put proportionate, workable solutions in place.
Support can be provided on an ongoing basis or for individual projects across these areas
How I Work
Flexible support that fits your business
Every firm is different.
Some clients engage me to provide ongoing Training & Competence or Quality Assurance support. Others need an independent annual compliance audit, help with a particular regulatory issue or some additional experienced resource for a specific project.
I work directly with business owners, senior managers, compliance teams and advisers, adapting my approach to the size, structure and needs of the firm.
My role isn't to add unnecessary layers of compliance.
It is to help you:
Understand where your regulatory and operational risks are
Evidence what you are already doing well
Identify gaps before they become bigger problems
Strengthen adviser competence and oversight
Improve the quality of management information
Put practical and proportionate improvements in place
Demonstrate a clear focus on good client outcomes
Above all, I believe compliance should support a good advice business — not prevent people from getting on with running one.
Why Cratchley Compliance?
Experience from both sides of the desk
With more than 30 years in financial services, my experience spans financial advice, paraplanning, compliance, quality assurance, supervision and Training & Competence.
That breadth of experience means I understand regulatory requirements, but I also understand the practical realities of advising clients and running an advice business.
I bring an independent perspective, challenge where challenge is needed and work collaboratively with firms to find solutions that are proportionate and workable.
You won't receive a generic compliance package or an unnecessarily complicated framework.
You'll deal directly with me.
Need Another Pair of Experienced Compliance Eyes?
You may know exactly what support you need.
Or you may simply have a nagging feeling that an area of the business could be working better.
Either way, I'm always happy to have an initial conversation.
Whether it's ongoing T&C or QA support, an independent compliance review, a specific project or simply a second opinion, we can talk through what you need and whether Cratchley Compliance is the right fit.
Jo Cratchley
Cratchley Compliance
07478 635443
jo@cratchleycompliance.solutions
Additional Services
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A good T&C framework should do more than demonstrate regulatory compliance. It should provide meaningful evidence that advisers remain competent, supported and capable of delivering good client outcomes.
I can support firms with:
T&C scheme design, implementation and review
Adviser competence assessments
Adviser 1:1 and development meetings
Live client meeting observations and role-play assessments
Skills and knowledge assessments
CPD oversight and development planning
Supervision arrangements for new or developing advisers
Review of QA and file review outcomes as part of competence monitoring
Adviser KPI and management information
Competence evidence and record keeping
Support for firms reviewing or strengthening their existing T&C arrangements
The level of support can be tailored to your existing structure, with clear responsibilities agreed between Cratchley Compliance and the firm's senior management and compliance functions.
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Independent quality assurance provides valuable insight into both the suitability of individual recommendations and the wider effectiveness of a firm's advice processes.
I provide risk-based pre- and post-sale file reviews across a broad range of financial planning and protection business.
My QA support can include:
Pre- and post-sale file reviews
New business and ongoing advice reviews
Annual review assessments
Higher-risk and complex case reviews
Thematic reviews
Consumer Duty outcome assessment
Identification and reporting of remedial actions
Root cause and trend analysis
QA framework and methodology reviews
File review checklist design
QA management information and reporting
My approach is constructive rather than simply identifying faults. Good QA should help firms understand why an issue has arisen, whether it is isolated or systemic, and what can reasonably be done to improve future outcomes.ion
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Sometimes a firm needs an independent view of whether its compliance arrangements are actually working as intended.
I can provide proportionate compliance assurance and monitoring support, including:
Annual compliance audits
Compliance monitoring reviews
Systems and controls assessments
Consumer Duty reviews
Policy and procedure reviews
Regulatory gap analysis
Advice process reviews
Review and development of compliance registers
Governance framework assessments
Compliance action plans and follow-up reviews
The aim is not to create unnecessary paperwork. It is to help you identify genuine regulatory risks, recognise what is already working well and establish clear, manageable actions where improvements are required.
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Having policies and procedures is one thing. Being able to demonstrate that they are working effectively is another.
I work with firms to improve the information and processes that sit behind good governance and regulatory oversight.
This can include:
T&C and QA management information
Adviser KPI frameworks
New business and ongoing service registers
Consumer Duty evidence and reporting
Risk and trend analysis
Management and Board reporting
Back-office and advice process reviews
Review of regulatory record keeping
Governance and oversight frameworks
Where existing processes have become overly complicated or inefficient, I can also help streamline them so that they provide useful management information without creating unnecessary administration.
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Not every compliance requirement needs an ongoing arrangement.
I can also provide independent support for specific projects or periods of additional workload, including:
Business acquisition due diligence
Client bank and file sampling exercises
Regulatory remediation projects
Errors and omissions investigations
Complaint investigations
Root cause analysis
Process remediation
Policy and procedure development
Ad-hoc compliance and QA projects
Where appropriate, findings can be presented in a concise written report with clear observations, risk areas and recommended actions.
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