About us
Our founder, Guy Myles, shares his story of how Flying Colours came to be, and what our bright future looks like.
Welcome to Flying Colours
My story
In 2000, I co-founded Octopus Investments which went on to become a market leader in asset management with over 50,000 customers. Today, Octopus is also well known for its off-shoot business, Octopus Energy, an award-winning energy supplier.
Octopus grew successfully by working with financial advisers. For many years, I was responsible for building the relationships and helping design the investment products we offered to them. Working closely with advisers, it became obvious to me how valuable advice is, but frustratingly, this is not widely recognised.
The gap between the reality and perception of advice is the widest I’ve seen in any profession. High quality advice should pay for itself easily and improve your chances of achieving your financial goals.
But most people still see it as an unnecessary cost or even a source of risk itself. Sadly, the advice profession itself is responsible for this. Many advisers maintain high ethical and technical standards, but there have been a number of mis-selling scandals linked to advice firms, which has undermined trust in financial advisers.
I could see a clear opportunity to create a new business which would deliver high quality advice and customer service through a team of passionate and capable people.
Flying Colours
Alongside two colleagues from Octopus, I founded Flying Colours in 2014 with a clear mission: to provide access to quality financial advice that helps people to understand their financial objectives and provide them with a plan to enjoy a brighter financial future.
We wanted to learn from our experience at Octopus to develop a new way of providing financial advice. A way that puts you, the client, at the centre of what we do and delivers genuine value for money. We’ve achieved this by developing a strong culture which focuses on building lasting relationships with you.
We’ve recruited highly skilled experts who are as passionate as we are about delivering our mission. Our experienced independent financial advisers are supported by a skilled operational team, and all of us are dedicated to helping you fully understand and achieve your financial goals.
We’ve invested heavily in technology by employing a team of in-house developers to create our own back-office systems. These enable us to work more efficiently so that our people can focus on what they do best: getting to know you and creating a financial plan that will help you achieve your goals.
Good investment management is the backbone of any effective financial plan, so we also have experienced investment professionals on hand to support our advisers.
Looking ahead
After years of testing, evaluating, and adapting, I’m confident that we’ve found the best strategy and operational model to achieve our mission. By working with lots of different clients, we’ve learned what we do well, where we need to bring in external expertise, and where we bring the most value.
Most importantly, we’ve found the most effective way to combine our technical expertise with our relationship-building skills. We’ll continue to invest in our people and technology to deliver exceptional financial advice, and that’s my personal promise to you.
If you like what you’ve seen so far, and you’d like to join Flying Colours, either as a client or a member of the team, please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
Group Executive Chairman, Flying Colours
We had such a great experience working with Liv! Navigating our financial arrangements initially felt overwhelming, but Liv made the whole process feel much more manageable. He was kind, clear, and incredibly patient throughout, always taking the time to explain our options in a way that really made sense to us. Thanks to his support, we felt informed and confident in the decisions we were making. We’re really grateful for his guidance and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.
We have been dealing with Flying Colours for many years now. They have sorted my pension payments and investments with great skill. Looking at the growth of our plans it is clear that we have made the right choice going with them. Our Financial Adviser Billy Ambler is always on hand to help with our questions and is always there to guide us, which he does impeccably. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to our closest family and friends.
Great advice having been referred to Flying Colours via the Money Advice Service, during lockdown in 2020. Advised on consolidating personal pensions, and on an Annuity, right up to my retirement this month. Very friendly and knowledgeable team.
John Munton's guidance and advice helped me to exceed my financial goals and I have been able to retire nearly 4 years earlier than I expected. Over the years we have developed a very good rapport and I trust him and his advice completely. Even after my retirement, John tied up all loose ends and was there to help and signpost me when I needed it. He has left the door open to ask for help should I need to. This reduces the stress of coping without proper financial or money management knowledge that I may need later in life.
I have been a client of Flying Colours for more than 8 years. They have consistently exceeded my expectations with their help and advice, and have provided an excellent level of service. Billy is thorough, very generous with his time and has a super level of empathy with his clients. With the help of Flying Colours I am confident that my pension and financial arrangements are now robust and I am confident that my future years are financially secure.
I cannot tell you how much it has meant to have Russell Bruce’s advice. I no longer worry that I’m not doing enough to feel financially secure and confident about the future, and that has made a huge difference for me. I find him very easy to talk to; he has a lovely professional, friendly manner. I’ve already recommended him to a family member.
Liviu has provided us with invaluable help regarding our pensions and how to best plan for our retirement. He has always made time to explain our options and fully answer any concerns we had. He has always gone the extra mile to ensure we were comfortable with the decisions we made and was endlessly patient.
I asked Billy outright, if Flying Colours would make us that fee back in the first 12 months of managing our pensions. He told me it would and I’m happy to say he was right. We’ve got to know him really well and we completely trust the advice he gives us; advice which, over the years, has covered way more than just our pension.
I had several meetings with Fred to discuss my medium‑ to long‑term goals, my appetite for risk, the kind of retirement I would like and at what age. We then walked through my current finances in detail, and Fred presented the gap between where I am now and where I would like to be, and proposed some changes that could help me achieve my goals in future.
Russ guided me through the process of assessing current and future demands on my finances and the selection of appropriate pension investments. Throughout the process Russ has been very patient and explained clearly different options with their risk/benefit profiles. I have found his manner very supportive.
From the initial meeting, George was able to understand my concerns and present options for how I could move forward. At no point did I feel any pressure, and I felt from the outset that I wanted to establish a long‑term relationship with George.
Ross gave me a lot of very useful information. He explains everything in a clear and concise way and doesn’t fill your head with jargon you may not understand. He keeps it plain and simple. Ross helped me understand how I could claim back overpaid tax and money I had been paying for a service with a previous pension adviser that shouldn’t have been charged.
I’ve been a client of Flying Colours for almost 10 years and it’s proved to be one of the best financial decisions I’ve made. The advice, care and detail given to me has always been fantastic both from my adviser Billy and the whole FC team. I have recommended their services multiple times before and wouldn’t hesitate again! A brilliant company!
Tom expertly guided me through the complex and time-consuming process associated with consolidating several company pensions. Tom has also provided advice on a number of other financial benefits I was previously unaware of.
Liv patiently understood our circumstances and conducted the due diligence required to provide very transparent and exceptionally professional advice. He struck a great balance on long‑term investments, pensions, insurance and retirement. I found Liv very knowledgeable, confident, and personable.
Chris took the time to understand our goals, provided clear explanations of approaches and a thoughtful, well-structured follow up note. Chris' approachable nature and attention to detail was first class. Following our interactions we now have a much clearer understanding of the relevant aspects to our estate planning.
Liviu provided clear, thoughtful pension advice and took the time to explain everything in a way that actually made sense, without any pressure or confusion. I felt like he genuinely cared about helping me make the best long-term decision, not just offering generic guidance. His professionalism, knowledge, and approachable style made the whole process much easier and more reassuring. I now feel far more confident about my pension planning thanks to his support.
Luca encouraged me to take a step back and look at the bigger picture – how much risk am I prepared to take, how much income do I really need for my day‑to‑day expenditures, what are my plans for retirement. Luca worked through all the steps of the process at my pace, patiently explaining all the jargon as we progressed.
I’ve been absolutely delighted with the advice and support I’ve received from Maxine Clarke. She took the time to understand my goals, explained my options clearly, and helped structure my retirement plans. I now feel fully informed, supported, and confident about my financial future.
Chris has provided peace of mind enabling us to now retire early. He has taken the time to get to know and understand us, helping us to develop and adapt our strategy. We have an open and transparent relationship with him which builds trust. He is personable and tailors solutions to our needs.