Shepherds Friendly is commencing an adviser-focused initiative this week to mark the mutual society’s 200th anniversary later this year.
Although its official birthday will not take place until Christmas Day 2026, Shepherds Friendly has scheduled a year-long programme of events, aiming to strengthen its relationships with advisers and partners.
Beginning with personalised outreach and digital activity across LinkedIn and key intermediary channels, the campaign will culminate in two networking drinks receptions later this year, one in its home city of Manchester and the other in London.
The engagement initiative aims to not only acknowledge those partners that have been part of its history so far, but also to build on its recent momentum and outline its vision for the future.
The friendly society has entered into several new intermediary partnerships in recent years, including distribution agreements with SimplyBiz, Next Intelligence, Mortgage Intelligence, Paradigm and The Money Group.
Last year, it developed a new life insurance product with Octopus Legacy and began work integrating a low-code technology platform powered by Alula Technologies.
"We want to do more than just mark the milestone of our bicentennial; we also plan to celebrate our shared successes and underline Shepherds Friendly’s long-term commitment to the intermediary community," Jonathan Sandell, CEO of Shepherds Friendly, said.
He added: "We are eager to use the anniversary as an opportunity to look ahead. Though we’re one of the oldest mutual societies in the UK, we’re a future-facing organisation and our goals are very much aligned with the way society is shifting. The government is actively promoting the growth of our sector, and as our recent report on income protection revealed, the concept of mutuality is rapidly gaining traction among younger audiences."
