Gary Forster - Chief Executive Officer

Gary has been working within financial services for the last 25 years. His early career spanned periods of service with NPI, Eagle Star, Pearl Assurance and M&G. Gary specialises in strategic investment management and holistic financial planning for both individuals and corporate entities and has operated an individual advisory service for his clients currently managing assets in excess of £50 million.

Gary now specialises in providing professional investment advice for individual and corporate pension funds across a wide range of asset classes. Furthermore, he carries out bespoke trust and estate planning work to preserve capital and income requirements in the event of death or illness. 

Steve Hunt - Managing Director

Stephen Hunt has been in the pensions and annuity business for nearly 30 years.  He has managed some of the largest pension funds in the UK and has looked after the individual pension arrangements of some of the UK's most senior managers. He has held senior positions within major companies including: EBC Mercer Fraser, Reed International, The Dixons Group, Varity Holdings and Pearl Assurance.

In 2004 Stephen set up Rockingham Retirement’s web site Annuity-Advisor.co.uk. Rockingham has now placed over £100 million in funds over the last four years and is now the largest independent Retirement Income consultants in the UK. 

Jonathan Edwards - Director & IFA

Jonathan Edwards joined Rockingham Independent in March 2005, and specialises in Income Drawdown. Jonathan believes that Rockingham have got it right by not being a “Jack of All Trades” – but a master of one – providing the best At-Retirement solutions.

Previously he worked as Business Development Manager for the Recruitment Company Blue Arrow. A great believer in providing “Pensions for all”, his main brief was to set up a Pension Scheme for the much neglected temporary work force. Jonathan also worked for 21 years as a Senior Consultant for Medical Sickness Society, providing financial advice to Doctors and Dentists.

Roland Ewins - Sales Consultant

Roland Ewins has been employed in the financial services sector since 1988 performing a variety of roles in high profile companies such as Pearl and AMP. He also worked for the Financial Ombudsman Service as an Adjudicator. Prior to joining the Rockingham Retirement Team he was a member of a Deloitte & Touche Project Team responsible for considering claims made to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

He joined the Rockingham Retirement Team in January 2007. His aim is to ensure that all clients contacting the company are given the opportunity to maximise their income in retirement.
 
 
 

  Vicky Williams – Operations Manager

Vicky Williams has worked in the UK Insurance Industry since 1995. She has administered Occupational Pension Schemes and worked in the compliance section of the pensions mis-selling project before joining Corporate Pensions.

More recently Vicky Williams has managed a Corporate pensions outsource administration team, providing top level service for an International Investment Manager. In 2006 she joined Rockingham Retirement as our Administration Manager but has now advanced to become our Operations Manager.
 
 
 

Laura Goodman - PR and Marketing

Laura joined Rockingham Retirement in 2006 after working for twenty years in the software services industry as an Account Manager and Director. She worked alongside companies such as Microsoft and Symantec, in the UK as well as in Europe and the United States.

She believes Rockingham Retirement is the future in the way that people will search for the best retirement income for themselves and not rely on their current provider to furnish them with an annuity product that could be detrimental to them.

She says ”Only by continuing to campaign for the OMO and raise the awareness of the general public can we ensure that they allow themselves the freedom of choice and shop around for their annuity”.

Sarah Barcis – Senior Client Relationship Administrator

Sarah joined Rockingham Retirement in 2006. Sarah started off in a basic role, opening post, scanning documents etc.

Over the years Sarah has received ongoing training in pension administration which has allowed her to progress to the role of Senior Client Relationship Administrator.

Sarah enjoys the convivial working atmosphere at Rockingham, and loves the fact that they offer an award-winning customer service to their clients with such a personal touch, which the clients really appreciate.

Sara Cole - IFA Administration

Sara Jones has worked in the Financial Services sector since 1997.  She has worked within several different areas of the Pensions Industry; dealing with the administration of Occupational Pensions schemes, working as part of the Pensions mis-selling project and in Corporate Pensions to administer group and individual Stakeholder policies. Sara was a 3rd party administrator for an International Investment Manager before joining Rockingham Retirement in July 2007, where she manages the SIPP and IFA administration.

Sara is thoroughly enjoying her time here and enjoys being part of a Company that is 100% committed to giving the highest level in Customer Service.

 

Karen Batchelor - Drawdown Consultant

Karen joined the company in 2004 to work with Stephen Hunt to become the 2nd employee of the company. She has seen the company grow from its very modest beginnings into the largest Independent Retirement Brokerage in the UK. She has worked in all areas of the business and is now leads the Income Drawdown Team.

Karen has many years of pensions experience with Standard Life, where she set up Group Money Purchase Schemes, Executive Pension Plans, Section 32 policies and Personal Pensions. At Pearl Assurance she worked as a team leader for many areas of the Pensions Review team, including the reinstatement of many people back into the NHS pension scheme, who had wrongly been advised to leave the scheme.

 

Jill Ockenden – Administration Manager 

Jill has worked in the Pension Industry since September 2001, working for a large financial organisation prior to joining Rockingham. Her previous roles included administration of a Pension mis-selling project, in Group and Corporate Pensions administration and management and 3rd party administration and operating complaint procedures. Jill joined Rockingham Independent in October 2007, and has now progressed on to Administration Manager.

Jill says she enjoys working for Rockingham and prides herself on her ability to provide excellent customer service. She believes that everyone here at Rockingham goes that extra mile to reassure our clients that they have made the right decision in choosing us to administer their pensions.