Redmayne Bentley’s history has been somewhat of a family affair, with members of the Loudon family involved in its running for more than a century. Here, David Loudon, now a non-executive director, shares memories of his time with the business and reflects on the 150
th anniversary and the changes he’s seen in the sector.
This article was taken from the Winter 2026 edition of 1875. To subscribe to our investment publications, please visit www.redmayne.co.uk/publications
1: Can you tell us a bit about your and your family’s history at Redmayne Bentley?
My grandad, Gavin Loudon, joined John Redmayne & Co as the office boy just after the First World War. He stayed with the firm for the rest of his career until his eventual retirement in the mid-1980s. He was a partner for many years and drove the formation of Redmayne Bentley through the merger with two other Leeds stockbrokers (FW Bentley and J Grainger) in 1965, at a time when The London Stock Exchange was trying to improve the resilience of member firms by increasing their size and resources. I did holiday work during his time as Senior Partner. There were about a dozen members of staff then, most of whom worked in the general office, where I was. I noticed a catering sized can of Nescafé by the kettle from which we were all allowed a cup of coffee mid-morning. I enjoyed that, and one day when my grandad was out of the office, I fancied a second cup so offered to make one for everyone else. There were 100% acceptances and I only found out later that there was a strict 'one coffee a day' policy!
My dad, Keith Loudon, qualified as a chartered accountant but joined Redmayne Bentley and became a stockbroker in the late 1950s. As well as being responsible for building the firm in its current form, he was also prominent in Leeds City Council and was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1993. I grew up with my dad and grandad working in the firm and remember helping my dad sort client statements when he brought them home in evenings and at weekends. After school, I left Leeds for university in Manchester and after that worked in London for several years. Later, I did an MBA and later returned to Leeds and joined Redmayne Bentley in 1993. At that time, our office was in Albion Street, and the Partners were my dad, Allan Collins and Bob Howe. There were about 30 staff in total and eight offices. There were only three departments - Dealing, Settlement and Investments - no compliance, marketing, HR, etc. I started off in Dealing but gradually got involved in all those 'new' areas and became a Partner in 1995.
We saw great growth in the number of trades, colleagues and offices in the following years as the stock market boomed and slumped through the 'Dot.com' boom, the demutualisation of building societies etc and the Financial Crisis of 2008 and more recent times. Regulation, of course, was perhaps the biggest growth area alongside of the gradual move of clients from execution-only to managed and discretionary services and wider financial planning.
2: What does the 150th anniversary mean to you personally?
With my father and grandfather’s roles as context, I'm very proud of how the firm has grown and endured over such a long period. I was first involved, although very much as a side story, over 50 years ago with my grandad involved for 50 years before that, and with my dad providing a massive and instrumental bridge between us as the industry started serious growth, formalisation and maturing. Change in the last few decades has been relentless and very few organisations have been able to survive, let alone prosper.
Critical to our success has always been our colleagues and our focus on our clients. My grandad may have been strict in his 'one coffee a day' rule, but it was still free to staff, and that in itself reflected his progressive ideas which still underpin the way we try and work with and support all our colleagues to this day.
3: If you could go back and witness one pivotal moment in financial history, what would it be and why?
The 1986 'Big Bang' deregulation of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was just a few years before I was involved properly in the business - although a handful of our current colleagues were just starting out at that time.
I'd have liked to have seen that first-hand because it fundamentally transformed the UK's financial markets, moving the City of London toward its current position as a leading international financial centre. It led to the introduction of several major changes:
- Electronic Trading: Traditional face-to-face trading was replaced by screen-based, computerised trading, significantly increasing speed and efficiency. Truly electronic dealing for retail brokers like us didn't come for several more years, but it did mean we no longer needed a 'London Agent' to make our trades on the LSE trading floor and could deal directly with jobbers/market makers by phone.
- Negotiated Commissions: Fixed minimum brokerage commissions were abolished in favour of negotiated rates, which drastically increased competition and lowered transaction costs for investors. We started being able to offer reduced commissions to clients who traded often and/or in high values. Most clients were unaffected, although the privatisations (British Gas, BT, British Airways, water and electric companies) soon came along where we offered reduced commissions and attracted new clients from all over the country. Many of these stayed with us for years, opening Personal Equity Plans (the forerunner to ISAs).
- Increased Activity: The changes resulted in a massive increase in trading volume and market capitalisation. The biggest change for our sector of the market was that owning shares suddenly became something 'ordinary' people did - encouraged by the privatisations brought in by the Thatcher government.
- Growth of Investment Banking: Old, traditional firms were largely absorbed by large, integrated investment banks, which led to the modern structure of the City's financial sector and the rise of the bonus culture. A biproduct of this led to the growth of our branch network. Small stockbrokers with personal relationships with loyal clients were swallowed up by big institutions. We never 'sold out' in this way but others who did, soon found their new bosses didn't understand their businesses and found it increasingly hard to help their clients. They started to look for a firm they could work with who did understand the business and would give them the freedom to manage their clients in ways they always had. Regulation was beginning to change, but we had a good reputation for controlling our business in tune with the traditional stock exchange culture of "my word is my bond". We started with new offices in areas including London, Glasgow, Henley and Harrogate.
4: Which historical events—such as market crashes, regulatory changes, technology, or other innovations—do you think have had the most profound impact on our industry?
Several are mentioned above. It's easy to focus on the booms, but we can probably learn more from the crashes and their aftermaths. These are often painful and even traumatic and they're particularly important to keep in the back of your mind during the good days. But also remember, that markets can often recover quickly from the downs.
5: What piece of advice would you give to the next generation of investors?
Modern investment management is much more disciplined than it ever used to be. This helps protect firms, markets and individuals from some of the worst possible outcomes. Individuals need to remember that long-term performance is the most important and to keep their long-term goals under review without getting obsessed with the short-term view.
6: Finally, what’s a tradition that has stood the test of time at Redmayne Bentley?
The motto of the Stock Exchange was always "My word is my bond." At its simplest this harked back to physical trading on the old Stock Exchange 'floor' when commitments were made to buy and sell shares on the shake of a hand and were paid for hours or weeks later when the prevailing price may have moved substantially. The integrity of any market depends on all parties following through on the commitments they make, even if prices move against them. This type of integrity is important in all parts of life. If we say we will do something, we will. No ifs or buts.