Central Southern England & Salisbury - 5 Advisors

Tim Bradford
Barchester Green Investment are delighted to acquire the mortgage expertise and experience of Tim Bradford. Tim has recently joined the team at Barchester after working for 5 years at St. James's Place.

He believes that clients should expect a quality of service and tries to alleviate the stress associated with property deals by overseeing the whole process, which includes liaising with solicitor, estate agent, lender and other connected parties.

Tim has lived all his life in the beautiful hilltop town of Shaftesbury, which is famous for Gold Hill. Gold Hill was the cobbled hill featured in the Hovis adverts, and has stunning views across the Blackmore Vale.

In his spare time, Tim is a very keen sportsman, and plays local cricket and football for Shaftesbury, representing the latter at county level. Tim also enjoys a round of golf, and belongs to the local golf society and has a handicap of 16.

Tim has also travelled extensively in South East Asia, Australia, N.Z and America.

Geoff Griffiths
Geoff Griffiths founded Barchester Green Investment in October 1985 and has been a financial adviser since 1971. Prior to that, he worked with the Army as an administrator and shorthand writer. The last two years were spent at Porton Down, which nurtured his scepticism about the military mind!

Management roles with the Britannic, Bradford and Bingley and the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group gave him a breadth of experience leading to his becoming an Independent Financial Adviser in 1984. The launch of the first ethical fund that same year led to his setting up Barchester, which is acknowledged as the longest-established ‘Green IFA' in the UK.

Married to Karen, his interests include singing, history, philosophy, religion and psychical research. He is also a member of Salisbury Amateur Operatic Society, having performed since his late teens. His wife's disability since 1987 leaves him with little time for much hobby activity. He is also a member of the Labour Party, although not an uncritical one, and Amnesty International.

Main areas of ethical concern: Human rights, Tobacco Industry and Environment.

Diane Blackman
Diane is based in Salisbury and re-joined Barchester as our specialist mortgage consultant and runs the mortgage facility at our office in Salisbury. Diane previously worked as our compliance and office manager before leaving to concentrate in other roles the financial sector in 1996. She rejoined Barchester in the summer of 2005. Mortgages are her main focus and therefore she has a great working knowledge of the current market place. This puts Diane in an excellent position to find the most suitable mortgage for you. She is experienced in the full range of residential and buy to let mortgages and has developed professional relationships with solicitors, accountants and estate agents and so offers a complete service. Diane maintains a flexible role and can offer advice over the phone, at a client's home or from the offices in Catherine Street, Salisbury

Being Independent Diane can access any lender and insurance company in the market in order to provide clients with all the information they need to secure the best mortgage with the best protection, and where possible match their ethical criteria. She is also able to advise and arrange Buildings & Contents insurance as well as insurance to protect income in the event of disability or unemployment.

As well as looking after her own clients, Diane also works with the other consultants to help their clients, too.

Bernard Lovesy
Bernard claims he spent his early career “travelling in steel” (euphemism for the Royal Navy) but we know he was actually an electronics engineer. Having served his time, he “retired” in his mid twenties and opened a restaurant in partnership with his wife, which they ran successfully for 11 years, producing two well-fed children at the same time.

On selling the restaurant at a tidy profit, he learned a harsh lesson about capital gains tax direct from Inland Revenue. Determined to pass on his experience of business (and tax) management he joined the financial services industry in 1986 with Canada Life. He became an IFA in 1992 working alongside a chartered accountant’s practice and an investment management company, providing personal investment and estate planning advice to their clients. He joined Barchester in 1995 to specialise in green and ethical investment and is our second longest serving consultant.

Andrew Faulkner 
Before joining the financial services industry, Andrew had a wide range of professional experience which he often brings to bear on his work with Barchester Green.  Forestry, management consultancy and property development all feature large on his CV.  In the latter connection he gained a good deal of awareness of the sustainable building materials sector, which connected with his earlier experience in forestry.

For a time, he was an actor and is still recognised in the street for his 1998 Yakult TV commercial!   A two-month spell in Coronation Street around the same time, as Sally Webster's divorce lawyer also raised his profile.  But, he says, this was all a long time ago, in another life. 

Married to Margaret, with a three-year-old daughter, he is particularly interested in inheritance tax planning, family and business protection as well as investment planning.

His particular focus is on the environment and human rights.