LEYBURN can now boast one of the few father and daughter financial advisory teams in the country.

Mrs Wendy Johnston became a partner in her father's Yoredale Insurance Services in March this year and has just been accepted as a fully qualified financial adviser by the Personal Investment Authority.

She received her financial certificate from the authority in March 1999 and has since started an advanced level course of studies with them.

Her father, Mr Terry Alsop, commented on how well they worked together and so made a good team with the other staff, Mrs Sally Dent from West Burton, Mrs Judith Cockerill from Middleham, and Miss Vicki Lancaster from Thoralby.

Mrs Dent, Mrs Cockerill and Miss Lancaster deal with the general insurance business, which includes travel, homes and buildings, small businesses and motor vehicles.

Mr Alsop and his daughter handle the assurance side of the business, making sure that their clients have the right kind of cover and investments. Being independent financial advisers, they can provide information on a wide range of companies.

As a young mother, Mrs Johnston feels she can relate more to those of her own generation.

She began her career in finance when she left the Wensleydale School and joined Barclays Bank, working at their Hawes, Richmond and Bedale branches. After her marriage she and her husband, John, moved to London, where she was the loans officer at Barclays in Kingsway, Holborn.

Her first pregnancy brought them back to the dales. "We didn't want to raise our children in London and we had two sets of grandparents here," said Mrs Johnston.

It was her mother who encouraged her to start work at Yoredale Insurance Services seven years ago, once her second child, Sophie, was two years old. Mrs Val Alsop offered to care for Sophie and Oliver while her daughter worked part-time.

"Without my mum I would not have gone back to work so soon," said Mrs Johnston. Thanks to her mother she has now taken on a pioneering role in the financial advisory business which is still, she said, fairly male orientated.

"In our industry there aren't many father and daughter teams," her father added