Depledge's clients mainly consist of senior executives, business owners and entrepreneurs, who are either retired or still working.
"That's not to say we're excluding other types of clients that have either accumulated their wealth through other sources or that are aiming to accumulate their wealth through other sources, but predominantly that's where our clients sit," Lancaster says.
For Lancaster, who started advising when he was 24-years-old, lots of clients are relatively new relationships with an average age of early to mid-60s, slightly younger than the firm's overall average.
Getting clients to trust him as a young adviser was not always easy, but Lancaster considers himself as a "sensitive guy with a high level of EQ", meaning he is emotionally and socially astute.
"I often say I've got enough IQ to do this job. And for any IQ I lack, I've got the people around me to support and add value where required, but my biggest strength is my EQ and my ability to connect with people to make sure that they're heard and they feel listened to and ultimately to ensure that I understand what they want and to be able to deliver it.
"So, it's nerve-wracking meeting some of these super successful, often very wealthy people for the first time, but I have to remind myself that I have the privilege to be able to sit in that position because of how hard I've worked, because of the qualifications I've got and the experience I've built up, because I deserve to be here."
He adds: "And once you get to know these people more those nerves or any anxieties dissipate and you've then got this relationship where we're both our best hopefully and we can achieve the very best financial planning outcomes."
Lancaster did not always want to be a financial adviser, however it was not a career that was too far fetched either, as his dad is an adviser who "runs his own successful business".
"I did a few different things before ultimately settling on financial services because I realised that my skills lie with people, I can have a proper career by getting qualifications and working within high-quality firms, and it's not served my dad too badly," he says grinning.
Time will tell
Lancaster says the industry has come a long way since the 1980s in terms of qualifications and accreditations and forging long-term client relationships.
But there's some way to go still. "I seem to talk to a lot of clients who don't know what they're paying for their financial planning retainer, for their investment portfolio," he says, "and I just think when you think about the amount of money that they probably are paying that's crazy.
