Blackstone Moregate are Independent Financial Advisors who specialise in working with individual clients, companies, accountants and solicitors to provide unique tax-driven advisory solutions and non-standard products.They cover the traditional needs such as pensions and life insurance and also undertake specialist work including inheritance tax, trust planning and special purpose syndicated investments like property based limited partnerships.

Their success relies heavily on the technical quality of their advice supported by a tax team led by Robert Maas (Former Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Tax Faculty of ICAEW) of Blackstone Franks Chartered Accountants. They give technical tax back-up on a case-by-case basis.

Their strength also lies in their relationships with their clients, and that's all about people. They have grown over the last ten years keeping many of their original clients through to today. It's all down to their team of dedicated, friendly partners:

Vijay Thakkar - Director and Inheritance Tax Planning Specialist
Founding Principal with 15 years experience in the industry as a Financial Planner. Vijay offers a one stop set of solutions for your financial planning needs. By working with professional partners across many disciplines and having access to unique products, he seeks to provide you with innovative solutions that work. Vijay believes his main responsibility to his clients is in creation, maintenance and preservation of wealth.

Richard Hopkins - Director and Pensions Specialist
Founding Principal with 10 years experience in the industry. Richard too believes in the philosophy of offering clients a one stop set of solutions for your financial planning needs and does this through his network of professional connections and his thorough understanding of your personal circumstances and requirements. Richard has worked closely for many years with Accountants and Solicitors and this enables him to add value through his understanding of the relationships between the various parties to co-ordinate the appropriate advice. Richard is a general practitioner and has a specialisation in pensions, both personal and occupational.

Mark Watson - Financial Planner and Retirement Options Specialist
BA (Hons) Business Studies. 8 years experience working in Financial Services. FPC and AFPC qualified, specialising in Pensions, retirement options, mortgages and Investments. Previously worked for JP Morgan Fleming as an Investment Adviser and Standard Life Insurance Company as an Account Manager.

Tony Russell Cert PFS - Financial Planner and Annuity Specialist
15 years experience in the industry as a Financial Consultant offering full comprehensive financial planning. Also qualified in arranging mortgages. Tony also specialises in Annuities and immediate care needs.

Dhiraj Shah FCCA - Financial Planner and Protection Specialist
A qualified Accountant with over 15 years experience in the financial services industry. Dhiraj is a general practitioner and specialises in personal and corporate protection planning for small and medium size businesses. Dhiraj is motivated to help clients achieve financial independence for themselves and their families. Dhiraj's objective is that clients should have security and peace of mind at all times, through the expected and the unexpected.

Nawal Essami - Consultant
Nawal holds a Master in Finance from INSEEC (Paris). She is fluent in French and Arabic. Before joining Blackstone Moregate, she had advised clients when working for AXA in Paris. She understands French law and especially French Inheritance Tax. This could prove very useful for advising clients who are settling down in London from Francophone and Arabic countries.

Our Accountancy Partners

Robert Maas
Robert is a tax specialist and one of the best known tax authorities in the UK. He is the former Chairman of the Technical Committee of Tax Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (a semi-autonomous part of the ICAEW). This involves him in frequent discussions with officials of the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise in relation to various tax matters. Robert has contributed articles on a wide range of tax matters to a large number of magazines and journals and is the consultant Editor to Tolleys Tax on Transaction.

Subhash Thakrar
Subhash is a Senior Partner, specialising in business consultancy, advice and corporate finance. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Member of Institute of Management, Fellow of Royal Society of Arts and holds appointments on various public and charity bodies. He is the former Chairman of the Asian Business Association, and is on the main board of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Joint author to books such as Tolleys Business Start-up Pack, The UK as a Tax Haven and others.

Lance Blackstone
Lance qualified as Chartered Accountant at Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche), Articled to Sir Douglas Morpeth. Investment banking with Manufacturers Hanover Ltd, involved in flotations, syndicated loans and new financial instruments. Lance is involved in professional practice as a tax, audit and general practitioner. His main activity however is corporate finance. He is one of the pioneers of Management Buy-Outs in the UK. The firm has negotiated and arranged financing for approximately 50 Management Buy-Outs.

Blackstone Moregate is a trading name of Blackstone Moregate Limited.
An Appointed Representative of Sesame Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
The FSA do not regulate some forms of tax and trust planning.