I’m delighted to share that Helen O’Neill has joined NextWealth as a non-executive director.

When I set up NextWealth eight years ago I was incredibly lucky that my friend and mentor, Peter Mann, agreed to join as chairman. Peter’s experience in wealth management and business leadership has been invaluable. He’s challenged me, kept me honest and helped me build an amazing team. Helen’s experience in operations and investment solutions complements Peter’s background in financial advice and platforms perfectly.

As we enter the next phase of growth for the business, it felt like the right moment to strengthen our Board with someone who brings deep operational expertise. Helen brings that in spades along with sound judgement, a genuine understanding of what it takes to scale a business and oodles of knowledge of investment solutions.  

Helen is widely respected across financial services. Many will know her from her time at Tatton, where she joined in 2013 as Head of Compliance before becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2017. During her tenure she led operations through a period of significant growth, helping to build the infrastructure, culture and discipline needed to support a fast-growing wealth manager. She stepped away from Tatton in 2024, leaving behind a business that had matured considerably during her time there. 

Alongside her executive roles, Helen has worked in an advisory capacity with a number of organisations including PIMFA, HALO Invest and Whitman Asset Management. That breadth of experience across regulation, operations and growth will be hugely valuable to NextWealth.

Importantly, Helen is also mentoring Hannah Gillespie, our head of operations. Helen is working with Hannah to support and develop our operations team as we continue to invest in the foundations that underpin everything we do. Many of you will know that process and operations are weak points for me. Business leaders need to hire people with the skills they lack. Helen and Hannah are the yin to my yang. 

Helen’s appointment comes with other changes at NextWealth. Hannah and Emma Napier (Consulting Director at NextWealth) sit with me on the management team. They join me at board meetings along with Peter, Helen and Zachary Quinn, our accountant and fractional Finance Director. As part of these changes, I’ve promoted myself to CEO. 

NextWealth has grown revenue and clients every year since launch and has become a trusted partner to firms looking for insight into the UK wealth management market. We’re proud of that progress and ambitious about what comes next. As I set out in last week’s NextWealth newsletter, our focus for 2026 is organic growth in wealth management. We are looking at how firms are building supply of advice and demand for the services our industry has to offer. There is so much opportunity for our industry to help people who need help with their finances. 

Helen’s appointment is about building for the future. Her decades of experience will help us make better decisions, continue to grow in a thoughtful way and deliver evidence-based insight on the wealth management market.

I’m thrilled to welcome Helen to the Board and very much look forward to working with her over the coming years.

Heather