ONE of Cirencester's biggest employers says dramatic cuts are needed.

Financial advice company St. James's Place said that it has a goal to make annual savings of £100 million by 2027.

The business, which is headquartered in Cirencester, was founded in 1991 and began trading in 1992.

SJP, whose Cirencester base is located in Tetbury Road, said that it has an ambition between now and the end of 2026 to deliver an addressable cost base reduction programme which will reach full run-rate savings by 2027 of £100 million pre-tax, or 15 per cent per annum.

The target came as SJP released its half-year results for the six months ended June 30, 2024.

In a report on the results, Mark FitzPatrick, SJP chief executive, said: “We have an ambition to reduce our addressable cost base by around £100 million per annum before tax.

“We will have completed the work to achieve these cost savings by the end of 2026, with one-off costs to achieve of approximately £80 million.

“This means that up to 2030, we estimate cumulative savings, net of costs to achieve, of approaching £500 million.”

SJP’s half-year results saw record funds under management of £181.9 billion, up from £168.2 billion as of December 31, 2023.

International Financial Reporting Standards profit after tax was up from £161.7 million in 2023 to £165.1 million.

There was also a net 3 per cent client base increase to 988,000 (as of December 31, this was 958,000).

However, the underlying post-tax cash result was £205.2 million, compared to £207.1 million in 2023.

Retention of client funds was also 94.6 per cent, in comparison to 95.6 per cent in 2023.

There were additionally net inflows of £1.9 billion, compared to £3.4 billion in 2023.

“For all our qualities as a business, we have a lot of hard work ahead of us over the next 24 months to strengthen our core and execute our existing programmes of work, helping us to become a more efficient and effective business,” FitzPatrick said.

“From a strong base, we can capture the structural market opportunities ahead of us and drive growth over the long term.

“As we look to the future, we are ambitious and have a clear direction of travel towards achieving sustained success.

“I am confident that the approach set out following our business review will enable us to achieve annual funds under management growth in the mid to high single digits over time.”