Appointed representative
This firm does not hold FCA authorisation of its own, and acts under a principal firm, which is legally responsible for its regulated business.
- Appointed for 29 years
- Protected through the principal
- No FCA actions
- Active company since 2012
- Accounts filed up to 30 April 2025
Responsible principal firm
Openwork Limited Reference number: 408285 View firm →What does this mean?
- An appointed representative (AR) can carry out regulated financial services, but is not directly authorised by the FCA. A principal firm holds the authorisation and is legally responsible for the AR's conduct.
- Dowling Financial Planning (DFP) Limited (FRN 193352) is an AR of Openwork Limited (FRN 408285). When you use Dowling Financial Planning (DFP)'s services, the FCA authorisation sits with the principal firm.
- Example: if you take financial advice from Dowling Financial Planning (DFP), complaints and compensation usually follow the same rules as dealing with the principal, but this depends on the product and your circumstances.
- Before you proceed, confirm contact details match the official FCA register for both firms. Scammers sometimes clone legitimate AR names and FRNs but use fake phone numbers and websites.
Website, phone number and address
Compare these against whatever you were given. Scammers clone real firm names and reference numbers but use their own phone number and website, so a detail that does not match the register is the clearest warning sign there is.
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No website on the FCA register
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Phone number
-
Address
Suite 2, 3 Lower Crescent, Belfast, BT7 1NR, United Kingdom
In the full report: 2 background checks
- What kind of line 028 9072 7880 is
- Who else gives the postcode BT7 1NR
Other names (1)
If you were contacted under any of these names, it is this firm.
- Dowling Savage Practice Former name: A name it was registered under before.
FCA permissions and consumer protection
- Protection through the principal firmProtection works through Openwork Limited, the principal firm responsible for this firm's regulated activity. FSCS cover and the Financial Ombudsman Service apply as they would to the principal.
- Complaints Ombudsman, freeYou can refer a complaint about this firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, whichever activity it relates to.
FCA disciplinary action and complaints
No FCA disciplinary action.
The Financial Ombudsman Service only publishes complaint figures for firms with 30 or more new complaints in six months, so there are none here for this firm.
Companies House record
The company behind the firm: its status, age, registered office and directors.
- Company number
- NI614775 (opens Companies House in a new tab)
- Company status
- Active
- Company type
- Private limited company
- Incorporated
- 3 October 2012 (14 years old)
- Registered office
- 3 Lower Crescent, Belfast, BT7 1NR, Northern Ireland
- Nature of business
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- Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation not elsewhere classified (SIC 66190)
Directors and company secretaries
| Name | Role | Born | Appointed | Other companies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dermot Anthony John Dowling | Director | Aug 1959 | 3 Oct 2012 | 2 other companies |
| Thomas James Dowling | Director | May 1994 | 3 Sep 2025 | None |
| Nora Dowling | Secretary | Not published | 3 Oct 2012 | – |
Other companies run by these 2 directors
A firm is run by people, and their other companies are their track record: what they built, what closed, and anything that failed. It is the check most people never think to make.
- other companies
- 2
- still active
- 2
In the full report: all 2 companies, named
- What each company does, and whether it is still trading
- Which of these 2 directors sit on each board, and since when
- Any that went into liquidation or administration
Filed accounts and finances
Net assets
£1.57m
+19% from £1.32m
Cash at bank
£220k
+64% from £134k
Employees (average)
10
Same as 10
Owed within a year
£234k
+33% from £177k
Assets and liabilities
In the full report: all 6 years of accounts
- Every year from 2020 to 2025
- The chart, over every year
- Every filed figure, year by year
About these figures
- Turnover
- Money taken from sales in the year, before any costs.
- Profit before tax
- What was left after the year’s costs, before corporation tax. A minus figure is a loss.
- Net assets, or total equity
- Everything the company owns minus everything it owes. A minus figure means it owes more than it owns.
- Total assets and total liabilities
- Everything the company owns, and everything it owes, on the last day of the year. The gap between them is its net assets.
- Cash at bank
- Money in the company’s accounts on the last day of the year.
- Owed within a year, owed after a year
- Debts and bills due in the next twelve months, and those due later.
There is no turnover or profit: small companies do not have to publish them.
Accounts filed at Companies House for company NI614775. Every figure is as filed, apart from total assets and total liabilities, which are added up from filed figures. Nothing is estimated.
Key dates in its history
Dowling Financial Planning (DFP)’s history from the FCA register and Companies House, newest first.
2025
3 September 2025
- Thomas James Dowling appointed as a director
Companies House
2016
6 April 2016
- Dermot Dowling gained significant control
Companies House
2013
16 January 2013
- Changed its registered name from "Dowling Savage Practice"
FCA register
2012
3 October 2012
- Incorporated at Companies House
- Dermot Anthony John Dowling appointed as a director
Companies House
1997
1 July 1997
- Became an appointed representative
FCA register
Director appointments and resignations, and trading names, appear under All events.
Firms like Dowling Financial Planning (DFP)
Other firms of the same type (financial adviser), nearest first.
In Belfast
Firms are listed by type and location, best known first. Being listed is not a recommendation: check any firm before you deal with it.
Get the full report on Dowling Financial Planning (DFP)
Everything on this page, plus everything locked above, in one dated PDF you can keep, file or send on.
- 2 other companies its directors have run, named
- 2 background checks on its contact details
- 6 years of accounts, charted
- All 6 events in its history
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Frequently asked questions about this firm
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Sources and links
- Its entry on the FCA register register.fca.org.uk
- Its Companies House record gov.uk
- Complaints the Financial Ombudsman Service can help with financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Report a scam to the FCA fca.org.uk