Next-Up has been named the winner of the Excellence in Client Solutions category at The Professional Services Management Excellence Awards 2025.
Now in its 22nd year, the awards celebrate outstanding leadership and management amongst professional services firms worldwide.
Next-Up received this recognition for its pioneering work in supporting partners in their approach to retirement planning within professional firms, successfully normalising crucial conversations, enhancing client retention, and improving team succession processes.
Next-Up’s innovative approach transforms partner retirement from a potential loss into a strategic opportunity, creating ongoing value for firms, a positive legacy for partners, and benefits for the broader society. The initiative supports positive exits, enhances brand reputation, delivers tangible health benefits, and improves succession planning.
Victoria Tomlinson, Founder and Chief Executive at Next-Up, said:
We are deeply honoured to receive this recognition. This award validates our commitment to reimagining retirement transitions in professional services. Our approach ensures that decades of expertise and relationships aren’t lost but instead leveraged to create lasting value for firms and their retiring partners alike.
The judges particularly noted Next-Up’s holistic methodology, which addresses both the business challenges and human elements of partner transitions through workshops, resulting in measurable improvements in client retention and team development. Trevor Hatton, associate of Next-Up and a key facilitator of the firm’s workshops, attended the ceremony and collected the award on behalf of the team.
Next-Up say they remain committed to driving positive change in how professional services firms approach partner retirement, turning what was once viewed as an inevitable challenge into a strategic advantage.
