Karl is a Chartered Wealth Manager, Chartered FCSI, Chartered Marketer, Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Manager.

Karl Hopper-Young has 36 years experience within financial services, prior to which he served just over 6 years in the British Army.

He has an impressive amount of knowledge and experience within the financial services profession.

Initially as an adviser, having spent time in training, product development, marketing and ultimately as a senior manager responsible for a large region from Devon to East Anglia of financial advisers based in the South East of England for a large well known life office.

Karl was a fellow of the Life Insurance Association by diploma and has held various positions, including Chairman of the Management Development Association for Sussex and Surrey.
He was a founder member of the Society of Financial Advisers, for which he was an Associate and was Regional Coordinator for the South of England for several years. The Society of Financial Advisers was the financial services arm of the Chartered Insurance Institute, now the Personal Finance Society of which he is a fellow (FPFS) and in December 2005 he became a Chartered Financial Planner. He has also chaired the Institute of Financial Planning's Kent and Sussex region and is a qualified member holding the Certified Financial Planner qualification, which is an internationally recognised qualification and acknowledged as the pinnacle of financial planning and advice within the profession. Karl has spent, over the years, a considerable amount of time training within the profession and was involved in the Chartered Insurance Institute putting together the questions for the industry benchmark examination (The Financial Planning Certificate) and was heavily involved in the syllabus of H15 (Supervision and Sales Management) advanced module.

Karl is a holder of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Advanced Certificate in Mortgage advice and Practice and as such is a Certified Mortgage Specialist. In addition, he holds the Certificate in Regulated Equity Release and is actively involved in Long Term Care planning. He is also a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and holds Chartered Marketer status. In January 2011 he was awarded Chartered Manager status. Karl has considerable experience in external assessment and verifier work and has worked with a considerable number of public and private sector organisations where he has developed wide and varied management experience. He holds an MSc Marketing Degree course at Leicester University (2003) and an MSc in Financial Planning from Manchester Metropolitan University (2019). He was instrumental in obtaining Chartered Status for the Firm (June 2007).
In September 2008 Standards International certified Karl to the ISO 22222 Personal Financial Planning standard. Standards International is accredited by UKAS. The ISO 22222 standard provides an internationally agreed benchmark for personal financial services. Achieving the standard demonstrates a recognised level of competence and ethical behaviour, giving consumers confidence in the service they provide. He has also completed the Chartered Insurance Institute ISO 22222 assessors’ course.

In addition, he was Chair of The National Skills Academy – Financial Services South East Employer Board and Karl was a Director and Trustee on the National Main Board for the National Skills Academy - Financial Services where he served nine and a half years. He left as Chair of Risk Audit and Finance where he also had the privilege of working with Anthony Thomson - Founder of Metro Bank, Omar Ali - Managing Partner EY, Jane Masen – Former Director State Street, Dorian Drew – Partner Clifford Chance, Jacquline Davis - Former Director of the FCA and Craig Errington – Chief Executive Wesleyan, Andrew Fisher – Former Chair Towry among others. The National Skills Academy was established by the Financial Services Skills Council in late 2006. The Financial Services Skills Council is an independent, employer-led organisation, established in 2004 to provide strategic leadership for education, training and skills development for financial services, and more recently accountancy and finance across the UK. Karl was involved in the working group for the Financial Services Skills Council to review National Occupational Standards (NOS) for providing Financial Advice. Karl is also a member of Resolution.

Mark has 34 years experience in the accountancy and financial management field. He is an Economics Graduate of Leeds University. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1990 and after 9 years of auditing in a London practice took up senior financial management roles in the commercial sector before joining Sussex Independent.

Mark deals with a number of the compliance issues within the firm as well as the financial management and risk controls within the firm and provides clients with advice in relation to self assessment and small business accounts.

Mark was appointed a Director of the company at the beginning of 2008. Now semi-retired Mark acts as a consultant when needed.

As a younger man Mark was a keen sportsman, his sporting career peaked early when he won the Mid-Warwickshire Schools under sevens sixty yard dash. Mark is still a keen follower of sport, mainly cricket and rugby.

Steve has been in the financial services industry for over 35 years and started life at Andrews Financial Services in July 1989. He also worked for General Accident Property Services and Hambro Countrywide until the early 1990s when he joined Commercial Union Home Link trading as Agency Financial Services where he worked until 1998 and then decided the time was right to become an Independent Financial Adviser and has been with Sussex Independent ever since.
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Steve has arranged a considerable number of mortgages over the years and related insurances and has a very detailed knowledge of the mortgage market. Steve is based in Hastings and looks after offices in Battle and Rye, working alongside a leading independently owned Estate Agent, Rush Witt & Wilson.

Steve holds the Financial Planning Certificate, the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice, the Certificate in Regulated Equity Release, and the Certificate in Regulated Customer Care.

Jo has worked within the financial service industry for just over 30 years. A large part of this was at Refuge Assurance dealing with administration, accounts, policy servicing and new business, as well as supporting the District Manager at the Eastbourne branch.

Thereafter Jo moved to the Co-operative Insurance Society carrying out similar work. Jo is involved in dealing with the client database, dealing with day to day administration as well as providing Illustrations for General Insurance and supporting the Admin Function in the progression of client cases.

Jo completed her Certificate In Regulated Insurance in December 2008,her Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice in July 2009 her level 3 qualification Introduction to Securities and Investments in February 2013,FA2 Pension Administration in 2014 and CF8 Long Term in 2015. Jo is an Affiliate Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

Mike has over 17 years' experience in financial services. Previously, he spent 16½ years working in retail banking and securities & derivatives dealing in Hong Kong, and some years in Mainland China and the Middle East while working in his family garment business.

At age 17, Mike came to study in the UK for 7½ years and obtained an MSc in Business Economics and a BA (Honours) in Economics. He also holds an IFPHK Associate Financial Planner® status and is now studying towards the Level 4 Diploma here in the UK.

Mike is a Coaching Assistant in Fitness. He loves athletics, Ving Tsun, hiking, cycling and travelling. He also enjoys studying the global economy and the stock market in his spare time.

Julie has over 20 years in financial services commencing with a subsidiary of Nationwide Building Society where she remained for ten years. Progressing through various departments, during this time Julie also studied for and gained her CEMAP Level 3 certificate and passed with a merit and distinction. During her time with Nationwide she also gained experience of mortgage litigation assisting customers who had fallen behind with mortgage payments with the aim of returning them via communication and understanding to a position of financial stability. Julie has also worked as a project manager for an international development company, managing multi million-pound projects in developing countries gaining experience in budgeting, accounting on a very large scale, other cultures, mobilising consultants, forecasting and ensuring the projects remained on budget and reporting back to the board. An opportunity arose to return to a financial services role and Julie went to work for a large financial organisation, Arrow Global where she remained until a decision was made to move the office to Glasgow. This coincided with a personal move from South West London to East Sussex where Julie now looks forward to expanding her knowledge and continuing in a financial services role.

Julie also owns a tearoom which is staffed by family and local volunteers and has provided experience of running a business with budgeting, profit & loss, tax returns, margins, food & hygiene regulations and accounting along with interacting with customers to ensure a positive experience.

In her free time, Julie enjoys long walks with her little dog, trips to the coast in a converted camper van, baking and gardening. She has a dream of owning a canal boat one day.

Jess is our Apprentice Financial Planner. She is undertaking her studying with the goal of becoming a Chartered Financial Planner. She is currently working alongside the mortgages team to gain an in-depth understanding of this, absorbing as much of the industry knowledge as she can. Jess has a background in Fine Art, having achieved a First in her BA (Hons) at a small university in Canterbury. After working within the creative industry since her graduation, she changed her career path towards the financial services industry, reigniting interests studied during her A-Levels.

During her spare time, Jess loves to experiment in the kitchen, spend time with family, and enjoys Pilates.

Carla joined us as Compliance and Processes Manager bringing compliance experience across multiple industries.
She entered the world of finance in the 1990s when she worked as PA to an Independent Financial Adviser where she first developed an interest in financial regulation. Before entering the financial sector, Carla’s professional life started in commercial diving in the 1980s — first as a diver and later as a manager. In this role, she gained valuable experience in tendering for contracts, managing compliance, health and safety, and overseeing profit and loss, all of which laid the foundation for her strong compliance expertise.
Carla then expanded into administration and mortgage services within an estate agency, before returning to compliance and planning roles, this time in the railway engineering infrastructure sector. In 2005, she transitioned into the transport industry in France, initially as a Class 1 driver, where she also managed compliance. Eighteen months later, she qualified as an International Transport Manager, working across the UK and France in the recycling and construction industries, where she integrated a qualification in environmental sustainability into her compliance responsibilities.
Outside of work, Carla is passionate about exploring Britain’s rich industrial and engineering heritage, often travelling to remote parts of the UK in her caravan with her loyal dog. She also enjoys restoring classic cars and sailing boats, as well as attending live music events.

Jethro started his career nearly twenty years ago with the National Westminster Bank, mainly working in the retail banking sector. During this time, he gained knowledge of banking automation processes and was involved in the roll out of these processes into the branch network.

Wanting experience of life abroad, Jethro moved to Australia where he continued his career before returning to the UK in 2020. Following a brief period in which Jethro worked as a firefighter on his return, he returned to financial services, gaining his CeMAP Level 3 qualification with merit and distinction before working as a Mortgage and Protection Advisor. He has now joined our team as a Mortgage Administrator and Researcher and is studying for additional qualifications to further his knowledge.

Outside of work, Jethro enjoys hiking in the great outdoors and spends time in the Lake District attempting to complete all 214 Wainwrights. He also enjoys the trials and tribulations of a round of golf and, when not keeping active himself, can usually be found watching sports or in the kitchen experimenting with adapting the recipe.

I began my career in finance six years ago after obtaining a Law degree from Oxford Brookes University. Since then, I have gained valuable experience working within both local government and a prestigious accounting firm based in East Sussex, developing a strong foundation across a broad range of financial and accounting disciplines.

I have recently joined the accountancy team, where I bring a depth of knowledge combined with a fresh, modern perspective. I am committed to delivering accurate, reliable work while continuing to build my expertise within the profession.

Outside of work, I am extremely active. The gym is my hobby of choice, closely followed by football, and more recently golf—an ongoing challenge with its fair share of memorable moments.