Paula McMullan

My name is Paula McMullan. I’ve been working with Citygate for a good 15 years now, particularly with Guy Skinner.

I was primarily looking for advice on my retirement fund, retirement planning and long-term financial planning.

I consider myself to be very lucky, because I met Guy when he was training and working with a different wealth management outfit and I really enjoyed working with him. His approach was very different from the person who was actually in charge of my portfolio.

I valued not just his financial advice, but also the fact that he really got to know me, and I could tell that he cared; there was a huge difference between the way that he talked to me and the way that his colleagues did. So, as soon as he set up Citygate, that was it, I wanted to go with him and luckily, he took me with him.

I chose Citygate and, perhaps even more importantly, I choose to stay with them because I know that I may not have the biggest portfolio, or the client that needs Guy’s help as much because everything’s nice and sorted out now, but I always get the sense that Guy is interested, that he’s looking out for me and has my best interests at heart.

Most recently, Guy has introduced us to his new modelling software. This has been such an eye-opener for my husband and I because we have assets of different classes – we’ve got real estate, pensions, a few stocks and shares knocking about – and this model that Guy is now using plots out where our money’s coming in, where it’s going out, and how much we’re going to need and when.

Working with Citygate means that my family’s financial future is sorted and I have no doubts now that we will have the money that we want at the time that we want it to live the life in our later years that we have been dreaming of. That’s all down to Citygate.

The three words that I would use to describe Citygate are: “experts”, they really know their stuff; “authentic”, what you see is what you get and they are genuine, trustworthy people; and, finally, “down-to-earth”, although that might be three extra words!

What I love about working with Citygate, and working with Guy in particular, is that I’m treated like an individual. Guy takes a real interest in getting to know me. We’ve known each other for 15 years, and so I know his story, he knows mine. He knows what’s important to me, what I’m interested in and he understands where I want my life to go and what I want to do with my business. And so, when he’s advising me, he’s got all of that background and that perspective, so what he suggests I pretty much always say, “Yeah, where do I sign?”. This is because I trust him implicitly.

I would absolutely recommend Citygate, and I do actively. I’m a career coach and a lot of my clients are struggling and stuck in their careers because they haven’t thought through their finances. So, it’s absolutely essential that they get good advice and I immediately suggest that they speak with Guy or one of his team, and I know that they will be taken care of. I’m putting my reputation on the line, but I have absolutely no hesitation in doing that because I know how good Guy is.