Paddy Sault BSc (Hons) Dip PFS Cert CII (MP)
Operations Director |  IFA

07908 032 153  |  01275 855 233
paddy@washington-square.co.uk

I live in Somerset with my partner Vikki and our young son. I have a degree in Biological Sciences as well as a Postgraduate Certificate In Education (PGCE). I have worked in financial services for over 32 years as an adviser and people manager with experience of managing change and evolving cultures. I have been fortunate enough to achieve various awards across several different roles and companies.

Despite working in key roles for long periods, my experience encompasses Bancassurance, Tied and Independent sectors at adviser and management levels. This gives me a strong perspective on the industry and how it continues to evolve.

I am a huge customer advocate and have led major projects in the past, improving client outcomes and experiences. At Washington Square we want to ensure that our clients are at the absolute core of what we do, and we are always evolving the way we engage with our customers. We are fortunate to be part of an industry which offers a lifelong partnership and makes a real difference.

Outside of Financial Services, I have been actively involved in local radio for many years and have organised and run radio stations in and around the South West at all levels from recruitment to licensing and station management. Most recently I was involved with Radio WOMAD in Wiltshire, but other credits include Radio Caroline and Caroline Rocks FM which won the Venue magazine Top Banana Award for Best Entertainment in Bristol for 2004. I was proud to be a director of the iconic Bristol Community Festival (Ashton Court Festival) in the 1990s and early 2000s.

For over 25 years I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in the organisation of fire and safety stewarding for various areas of Glastonbury Festival. In that time, I have provided and managed steward teams across the Unfairground, Lost Vagueness, Shangri-La, Block 9, Common, Glasto Latino, Arcadia, Cinema, Cabaret, Theatre & Circus areas and covered hundreds of venues and locations. My mandate has included recruiting, training and organising stewards and their deployment and operation in these areas, pre, during and post festival.

A fantastic part of working at Glastonbury is that it has enabled me to raise over £50,000 for charities in the South West, including Childrensworld and Mendip Cave Rescue.

Andy King BA (Hons) Dip PFS Cert CII (MP)
Financial Director |  IFA

07887 538 542  |  01275 855 233
andy@washington-square.co.uk

I am 60 and live with my wife and two secondary school age children in North Bristol.

I have a degree in Business Studies and a Diploma in Financial Planning. I have worked in Financial Services for over 20 years, with the last eight years as an Independent Financial Adviser. My aim is to help our clients make the best, most effective, use of their resources to improve their financial position and, ultimately, their quality of life.

Other than trying to “save the planet” (I am a determined recycler), my main interest is rock music – I love going to gigs and I am delighted that our children have so much fun at music festivals. I also enjoy watching football and international rugby.

Until I started working with Paddy I had entertained a rather unfocused aspiration to re-train within the field of renewable energy. However, it dawned on me that, rather than re-training, I could be more productive at effecting positive change through enabling clients to invest their monies in ways that reflect their own ethical priorities and preferences.  Paddy and I hatched a plan to create such an organisation, and Washington Square was born, at least in theory.

Since Paddy and I acquired the ownership of Prangle Financial Prangle from Roger in May 2017, I was acutely aware of our responsibility for looking after Roger’s clients with the same level of dedication and care as he had shown. It has been a bit of a bumpy ride to be honest, not least because of Roger’s sad, untimely passing.

I want our clients to feel good about how their capital is invested such that they can feel proud of the way they have used their hard earned money to protect and improve their financial security whilst encouraging positive change through their investments.

It is of paramount importance to us that we help to facilitate an evolution in our industry and on our planet.

Vikki Fear CeMAP

07507 234 621  |  01275 855 233
vikki@washington-square.co.uk

I have been in the financial service industry for over 20 years, I have worked in banks and building societies in different roles from the counter to Branch Manager.  I left banking to work in building societies because of their ethics and during this time I trained to be a Mortgage Adviser.

I had success as a Branch Manager in several positions, but I was looking for a role which enabled me to be more in contact with customers on a one-to-one basis so I decided to study and further develop my career. I love being a Mortgage and Protection Adviser as I get to help people with their homes, whether that be buying your first home or your perfect family home and helping you protect it.

I started to work for Andy and Paddy over four years ago after leaving Wales with my partner, who is Paddy! And our young son.

I am a bit of a “fairness” warrior. I was part of the ‘Mothers Rise Up’ march against climate change in London in 2020. Since having my son, the environment, climate change and our war on plastic have become more important to me than ever and our responsibility to leave the next generation a better world. I am an advocate in helping reduce the use of single-use plastics.

I have been the Treasurer for the PTA at my son’s school for several years and actively help organise fund-raising events and other activities.

Our Journey

Paddy and Andy first met when Paddy was brought into Andy’s previous employer as the Head of Financial Consulting. Andy had come from a paraplanning background and worked in supporting small groups of advisers whereas Paddy had been an Independent Financial Adviser prior to working for big organisations Aviva and Legal & General, looking after teams of financial advisers in their building society partnership operations. Both had strong views on what they liked to see and do in terms of the advice journey and their clients. They recognised many mutual interests and views and started looking into setting up their own organisation which reflected these views and values.

Their shared interests in music, festivals, enjoyment of the outside environmental and a fair society,  coupled with shared experiences in the financial services industry, motivated them to create an ethical brand which reflects the type of people they are and how they would like to do business. They decided right away that this would be called Washington Square.

Roger Prangle was a former adviser colleague of Andy’s who had his own IFA operation but was coming towards retirement age. Roger was very busy and wanted ideally to reduce his working hours. Together a plan was made for Andy & Paddy to buy the business and continue to look after his clients in the way he had set out.

Sadly Roger received a cancer diagnosis which crystallised the plans but tragically prevented him from continuing working in the business as he had planned. Roger died in August 2017, just three months after concluding the succession of Prangle Financial Planning Ltd to Paddy & Andy.

Andy & Paddy have worked hard to evolve the business in the intervening years and Washington Square Ltd. was incorporated out of Prangle Financial Planning on May 5th 2020, the result of five years of planning and preparation.