‘In my experience, if you give up your time, to encourage or mentor someone, you generally get something back in return. Even if it's just the sense of fulfilment from knowing you've helped somebody. It builds confidence and trust between people, in the long run.’

That’s Keri Breadner, an immediately friendly woman and Trustee Director at Stonehage Fleming. I was meeting her and Client Services Director, Tessa Burrows (equally welcoming), for a chat about the work Stonehage Fleming does to bolster women in business for this year’s International Women’s Day. (8th March in case you needed reminding, seeing as Apple removed it from its calendars).

The theme for International Women’s Day 2026 is Give to Gain – an ethos with deep roots in the culture at Stonehage Fleming. It is something the company proactively embodies through initiatives like its trainee and mentoring programmes, which Keri and Tessa have been involved with for the last decade.

‘The programmes have definitely shown the growth you can get from people when you put in the time and mentorship,’ Tessa says. ‘Some of the young people that start our trainee programme lack confidence initially, so it’s on us to help them feel comfortable and build up the trust and rapport that they need to feel confident in themselves and in the work they are doing. It has been really fulfilling to see new talent grow over the years. The majority of trainees remain working with us today and some are at the stage where they are taking on their own people management roles and team leadership – so it’s great to see that come full circle.’

Keri has a similar role to Tessa and has mentored a large team of individuals over the last ten years, helping her to develop her own leadership skills and perpetuating the Give to Gain culture.

‘It's lovely that people feel that they can come to us and know that we will fight their corner. As a result, we’ve ended up with a fantastically strong team in which collaboration is central,’ Keri tells me.

In a world of ‘quick-fix’ solutions that often end up being unsustainable and send companies back to the same starting point, Tessa and Keri are proof that being patient and investing real, quality time into people sets everyone up to succeed in the long run.

‘We’re at the point now where Keri and I have invested so much into the teams and their growth that we've been able to take a step back, confident in the skills of all those people we have helped mentor. It is very satisfying to see other managers coming through, giving them the opportunity to start their own mentoring journey and watch new teams develop and grow. It also trickles down into how we work with our clients. We dedicate the same quality time to developing client relationships and making sure the people working with them provide the right ‘fit’. It’s partly why we have such enduring client relationships, many of which have lasted over 20 or 30 years.’

One of the key things Tessa has found inspiring at Stonehage Fleming is the strong female presence on the company board.

‘I started here as a senior administrator in 2012. Since then, the strong female leadership has advocated for growth amongst all the staff. It really helped my self-motivation and professional development.’

‘It's a very female-oriented office. Always has been.’ Keri adds. ‘That's where advocacy plays a big role. We all support and encourage each other. We make sure everyone is heard and that we avoid unnecessary competition between us. We share our successes, and that collaboration doesn't just help the individuals, it helps the business as a whole.’

Diversity and representation are important in every industry. If you can’t see someone similar to you in certain roles, it can be difficult to believe that it could happen. It’s something Keri and Tessa are very aware of, making sure that they can be seen and heard so other women can follow in their footsteps.

‘Historically, there’s been a perception in business that while strong males occupy many of the senior leadership roles, females do the more ‘administrative’ tasks. In our office, that's just not the case. So, I think it is important for me and Keri to openly say: “We have worked hard and our position reflects it.” We don’t want new employees to come in and think that there are any possible limitations on their success. They can absolutely get out of the role what they put into it.’

As a millennial, growing up I often saw fewer women in mostly male-dominated industries. Instead of having each other’s backs, women were often encouraged to compete with one another. It is refreshing therefore to see how times have changed, not only in regard to female representation in business but also in how women look out for and support each other.

‘That “me versus you” atmosphere has never been the case here, even before we became Stonehage Fleming. It's a breath of fresh air being in that kind of environment,’ Keri tells me.

‘And that's why you're promoted here – based on your personal success,’ Tessa adds. ‘We don't promote simply because there's a vacant position. If you are deserving of that recognition, then it gets recognised, which is great. There are many businesses that don't necessarily do things that way.’

High staff turnover can be something of a red flag in terms of the corporate health of a business. At Stonehage Fleming, longevity of service is not unusual, something of which Keri and Tessa are rightly proud.

‘We value our trainee programme in the Isle of Man office. It has had a big impact on employee retention as many of those who we have trained remain with the company today,’ Tessa tells me.

But the effort this takes is not to be underestimated, as Keri says.

‘It's hard work. You have to put in a lot of time and effort to nurture staff, not just in their day-to-day roles but also in terms of their professional development too. With Tessa and I both having obtained our chartered secretarial/governance professional qualifications, we’ve been able to show that hard work and dedication equal fantastic results. We are proactive about supporting our team and training our staff according to their needs and their own career goals. Together, we have grown a fantastic team of which we are really proud.’