The firm has doubled the number of brokers within its business from 100 to 200 in the past year. This makes it the third year in a row that the firm has doubled in size annually.
Access FS has put this growth down to its academy which brings new people into the sector. Its academy is run every month with up to 15 people attending each one. Phillips will have the responsibility of managing the academy programme and structuring the ongoing mentoring of newly qualified brokers.
The academy is designed to help advisers become self-employed with the skills to generate their own business and grow a brokerage.
Access FS wants to reach over 1,000 advisers in the next three years and its founder Karl Wilkinson has set an aim to train 100 brokers this year.
Phillips will also work with the firm’s senior management to provide advisers with training and support for their mortgage and protection business. This will start with training on all protection products and how to advise on them. They will then be taught about mortgage sales and each adviser will gain their CeMAP 1, 2 and 3.
Access: Numbers of advisers joining ‘surpassed expectation’
The firm has also doubled the number of its head office staff, brought in administrative support and paraplanning for its advisers.
Phillips has over two decades of experience in the sector with previous employers including Simply Academy and Countrywide.
Wilkinson said: “Peter’s role will be invaluable for our expansion plans as we look to meet the demand of our academy signups.
“We are thrilled to reach the 200 milestone, the number of advisers wanting to join Access this year surpassed expectation. We are ambitious and expect to have 300 advisers by the end of this year, while laying the groundwork to achieve 1,000 advisers over the next three years.”
He added: “Protection is a priority – all advisers start their journey with us focusing on protection.
“The gap for other protection products such as critical illness and income support is even wider, so we are bringing in bright young people and training them to be excellent in both protection and mortgage sales, to ensure people always receive the best advice not only for their mortgage but across the suite of protection and insurance products too.”
