New Model Profile: Riding the wave of change, with Peter McGahan

Peter McGahan has a fantastic sea view from his home in Mawgan Porth, situated between Newquay and Padstow on the North Cornish coast, on top of a hill looking straight out to sea.

But where the British are stereotyped for their dislike of weather, McGahan says he embraces each season. ‘It’s wonderful. I am typically up first thing in the morning down with the springer spaniel, whacking a ball with a tennis racket, and it doesn’t matter whether its wind, rain or sun.’

On the way to this interview he dropped his children off in the small village school and he mentions a lovely scenario ‘where every one of the teachers gather on the village green on Boxing Day. The married men play the single men, 30-a-side, just killing each other. Then straight into the pub afterwards.’

His house is 22 miles from Worldwide Financial Planning’s Truro head office, a Georgian terrace in Lemon Street, and on this occasion it took 26 minutes to get in, even with tricky traffic. Another office in Wadebridge, much closer to his home, captures the immediate catchment area of Rock, which he says has become one of the most expensive places to live.

McGahan believes that specialist investment advisers are few and far between in the southwest, and he is determined to seek out all potential clients who need planning. ‘We wanted to capture those people because they are very wealthy and don’t want to be travelling back to London. And one by one we’ve been picking them all up.’

His networking through membership of the sailing club is part of the strategy, he says.

Worldwide established a presence in the centre of Truro back in 2002 when an opportunity arose where a couple of advisers from Truro, working in the same office, were looking to leave their existing firm.

‘They approached us and said a firm like ours should be in Truro and if we left this office they would struggle to keep the office going.’

The office now contains 13 staff, including six advisers, occupying 1,800 square feet. ‘That was the catapult of our success from there onwards because it was very important that we were in Truro and also Wadebridge.’

Worldwide also has a Southampton office and will be in Northern Ireland shortly, where McGahan has looked at offices recently having already established a few clients there.