The Share Centre Review

as of 09/09/2020 at 3:31 pm

Holly's View

The Share Centre has been busy sorting out its website and has made a lot of progress. It is clear and easy to use, but this simplicity shouldn’t annoy more savvy traders – there is lots of help and research available. The charging structures would benefit from simplification, but fees are fair for larger portfolios. Its own brand portfolios/funds are a bit pricey. On 17th February, Interactive Investor announced the acquisition of The Share Centre. All change!

How our ratings work

We score each provider on about 20 different criteria including cost, service, website, functionality, customer feedback and our experience of the service. All overseen by our PhD gonk!

Click here for more

Recommended For

Confident Investor

In a nutshell

Low cost for large portfolios

Interesting content

Own-brand funds pricey

Visit The Share Centre

Your Reviews

Could be more up to date information and some easy to use analysis tools.

24/10/2020

Very easy to use

17/10/2020

Very easy to use

17/10/2020
I am a small shareholder and have a couple of Share Centre ISAs They are very easy to run and so far have proved resilient They will not be top of the tree but I think reliable and that is what matters to me at the moment

16/10/2020

I am a small shareholder and have a couple of Share Centre ISAs They are very easy to run and so far have proved resilient They will not be top of the tree but I think reliable and that is what matters to me at the moment

16/10/2020

Recently I had a login problem and a call to The Share Centre was all it took. A new password was posted to me and job done. Transfer of funds was also completed efficiently.

17/04/2020
Website mostly easy to use and customer services on the phone help with any problem. Costs are good, being fixed prices.

15/04/2020

Easy to use website and low charges. Helpful staff should you need to telephone them.

08/04/2020

Brilliant customer service, like the ethos of the company, great website.

08/04/2020
Staff really helpful and easily answer any questions.

08/04/2020

Once belonging with an account, setting up an annual ISA is very easy. Will use again.

08/04/2020

Simples!

08/04/2020
Good value with charges at fixed cost not a percentage. Easy to use website for buying and selling. Very knowledgable and helpful staff.

04/03/2020

Good company with good customer service.

04/03/2020

I am a small investor and have been with The Share Centre for a few years now. Throughout this time I have always experienced efficient, reliable services which in my personal opinion represent good value for money.

26/02/2020
Convenient easy to use portal with reasonable fees (for larger portfolios).

21/02/2020

VERY PROFESSIONAL AND HELPFUL SERVICE.

19/02/2020

Fixed fees for accounts are cheap for all but the smallest investments. There are no nasty fees for anything, such as transferring a holding out. The website is mostly straightforward to use. When you need help, phoning customer service gives knowledgeable help. I can't think of any disadvantages to using the Share Centre.

19/02/2020
No comment.

12/02/2020

Emails are easy to read and understand, have given us opportunity to dip into what interests us. We are not new to investing, but passed info to friends who are and they found the text easy to follow. Have subscribed to web site for 3 years plus, see no reason to change. Good service.

06/02/2020

One of the cheapest platforms.Very helpful staff

06/02/2020
I think that they are very good on the whole, but I don't agree with everything they say.

06/02/2020

I have always found their representatives knowledgable and helpful.

06/02/2020

Share Centre are efficient, helpful and good value for money.

06/02/2020
My wife and I have used the Share Centre as our online broker for many years. They offer a straightforward, easy to use and efficient service. Whenever we have queries they are most helpful. I have pleasure in recommending them.

05/02/2020

No comment.

30/01/2020

Always friendly when you call them, good value for money. On the down side they sometimes only trade in one listing if a stock is listed on more than one exchange.

23/01/2020
No comment.

21/01/2020

Don't like the new website as much. May have better behind the scenes gizmos etc but as far as user experience is concerned much preferred the older site layout. Still, have always had a good experience in 12 years been with them and staff always helpful so will put up with website.

16/01/2020

One of the best in the market - maybe the best! Always trying to give top value & service.

15/01/2020
Excellent company to trust with your money and very easy to deal with,

15/01/2020

Good telephone support, website content is comprehensive for account holders in my view, although sometimes slow to respond.

15/01/2020

Good value for money when compared with the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown. Helpful staff. Fast ISA transfer process. However, web-site is rather dull.

09/01/2020
I have a SIPP, held for two years, poor customer experience. Examples i) Trade to buy £40k of a fund from existing cash balance took over nine days to register on my account, despite there being six trading days in between this cost me £400 due to change in price. ii) Cash contribution to SIPP £15.5k still not available in my account after eleven days and counting. Both times when raising the issue I received a vanilla response with no empathy or recognition, seems like I just need to suck it up. I will move platform as I'm disappointed with service and their lack of response.

08/01/2020

As a novice investor all the share centre are very helpful and understanding

08/01/2020

I haven't tried other providers but then again, I haven't felt it necessary. The costs might be a little high for the small investor but the service is good.

18/12/2019
The fixed prices for accounts are very good value for larger holdings. Customer Services always knowledgeable and helpful. The available range of funds is very broad. For company holdings and investment trusts there is the means to vote online in AGMs. My one quibble is that an extra monthly fee, per account, is required to receive paper copies of reports. This is possibly not the Share Centre's fault.

11/12/2019

Always very helpful whenever I contact them.

27/11/2019

No comment.

22/11/2019
Easy to use website and cheap for my SIPP.

08/11/2019

I've been using Share.com for a long time, the old web site was dated, but worked and I could trust the data. The new website is better but the data in it is incorrect in places. Very disappointed and looking to leave.

26/07/2019

£1.50 per month and £5.25 per trade is good value in my book. Buy 500 shares in the Share Centre to get your share trade fee reduced to £5.25. So I think this is also suitable for small portfolios. I do not have a SIPP or an ISA so I don't know about the pricing for them.

15/05/2019
Very good.

01/05/2019

Efficient and good value.

01/05/2019

I have been with them for over 25 years and have always had good service and would not hesitate to recommend them.

01/05/2019
Non-obtrusive but very helpful when needed. Fees are very reasonable. Hints, tips and advice on a regular basis.

01/05/2019

The site has always been easy to use, clear and concise, perfect for beginners to investing.

01/05/2019

I find them easy to deal with.

01/05/2019
It's a great website to use. It is very informative and gives clear information about the buying of shares.

01/05/2019

Very pleased with the service, both online and on the phone. Would still prefer the option to have my account signed on all day during market hours, as this forces me to use another site for live market feeds. Thank you.

01/05/2019

Very proactive site that delivers on several important levels.

01/05/2019
They are good.

01/05/2019

I have always found the service desk very knowledgeable and helpful.

01/05/2019

No comment

01/05/2019
Transfer forms need to be black/ white. Colour makes them hard to print. It should also be possible to fill them in electronically, eg onscreen, before printing them out and signing.

01/05/2019

First class service.

01/05/2019

I have found the Share Centre perfect for my investment needs, they have taken care of me for very many years.

01/05/2019
I do like their staff who always seem to be fully engaged with me when I call. I also like their answering service which says where I am in the queue for an answer.

01/05/2019

I have been with The Share Centre for many years and have always found them helpful, informative and friendly.

01/05/2019

Direct and easy to use. Customer service is excellent.

01/05/2019
Excellent service and website. However, since the redesign of the website, the mobile app and mobile website is not as user friendly. You cannot view a whole page on your screen and it is very difficult to navigate on the page - only a small corner can be viewed at a time.

01/05/2019

No comment

01/05/2019

Michael Baxter's words of wisdom are brilliant!

01/05/2019
My shares were transferred but the Share Centre keeps me informed and has help me.

01/05/2019

I'm not too keen on the current website.

01/05/2019

I am only a small investor but have found them easy to contact, efficient, and helpful.

01/05/2019
Easy to navigate website

01/05/2019

Very efficient

01/05/2019

Very easy to keep track of asset values and trade quickly.

01/05/2019
I find that whether buying or selling the staff have your needs as their priority and ensure you are happy with any decisions you make on your buy or sell purchases.

01/05/2019

Extremely efficient; inexpensive; In 12 years I've never had a problem with The Share Centre

01/05/2019

Very good service at a very reasonable cost

01/05/2019
Good value. Efficiently organised and good communications. Somewhat limited range of stocks although fully adequate for normal investors. Website is difficult to navigate due to recent changes which I consider were unnecessary. Previous website was excellent.

01/05/2019

Very professional, easy to use website and excellent customer service

01/05/2019

Very easy to use

01/05/2019
A very good company. I have been with the Share Centre for over 20 years. I have been seeing Dagmar Taylor in customer service, who l found first class.

01/05/2019

Good value.

01/05/2019

No comment

01/05/2019
The new website took some time to understand but now seems satisfactory.

01/05/2019

Extremely good value and friendly service.

01/05/2019

Never had a problem. Customer service and share dealng always easy.

01/05/2019
They offer a first class service, for occasional investors such as myself.

01/05/2019

I have never been able to get the hang of how to use it. I had funds transferred from another to this. Sadly trying to do anything with it is rather beyond me, so i am now left without assistance in something I didn't want in the first place! Just too technical unless you are a young computer literate person.

01/05/2019

The Share Centre is good at what it does.

01/05/2019
Clear, easy to navigate website with useful tools and analysis.

01/05/2019

Good overall.

01/05/2019

Very good, helpful and available.

01/05/2019
Simple and easy to use, quick response for queries, withdrawals and tax statements.

01/05/2019

Competent and somewhat expensive.

01/05/2019

Highly recommend.

01/05/2019
A very reasonable asset.

01/05/2019

Easy to use website.

01/05/2019

Recent website changes have had a negative impact.

01/05/2019
Always very helpful.

01/05/2019

A little awkward regarding signing-on when the annual changes are made.

01/05/2019

Great service, always available on the end of a phone. Website is excellent.

01/05/2019
I find the Share centre helpful and it meets most of my needs. It has improved significantly with recent improvements but has more to do in the presentation of its statistics.

01/05/2019

Share buying and selling all works OK. Customer service by email is good. I'd like 2FA considering the big amounts of money involved.

01/05/2019

Helpful, knowledgeable, freindly and polite.

01/05/2019
They do what they offer

01/05/2019

You should be able to achieve everything from the app not just share.com

01/05/2019

Brilliant until recently they changed their layout, nowhere near so good, painfully slow and tedious to navigate. Emailed to give my comments, after several days wait, only received a perfunctory acknowledgement and no proper reply to my points raised or questions asked. Disappointing. It is good value though and their customer service team are always very helpful on telephone.

01/05/2019
Generally, a good service

01/05/2019

The platform has very expensive standing charges, provide no service whatsoever, and take days to reply to concerns or account queries. The Customer Services personnel are very friendly and caring, however the complaints Dept is run by an out an out deplorable Manager who has no empathy or common dignity, he actually has a very negative view on customer complaints and needs replacing .

01/05/2019

Very easy to use.

01/05/2019
Excellent and easy to use service

01/05/2019

No comment

01/05/2019

I tried to set up a SIPP and it has been an utter nightmare. First they don't have a SIPP, they use another company to run it - Curtis Banks - which is most confusing. Then when I came to pay into it, the website said I had no accounts. Curtis Banks had to contact them to prove I did have a SIPP, but even when I rang, they denied it. I had to make an official complaint, before they found another account with a different number from the one I originally registered. Then they said they would send account number and password separately. I am still waiting...

01/04/2019
Impossible to withdraw money. Had to open a complaint with the FCA. Terrible service, not recommended.

26/01/2019

Stockbroker views / recommendatios. Good mobile app. None

19/12/2018

Loads of room to excel - both website ease of access and also on phone

30/11/2018
An awful company! The admin at this company is just shocking. In my case, I updated my address by phone and they had my phone number on file which hadn't changed for over 25 years. Yet they failed to contact me by phone, email or letter regarding bills adding up or fines. They failed to call me for any monies owed after I lost a pregnancy and moved, even though I provided a new address and they had my existing phone number. Really my mind was not on chasing up ShareCentre bills, my focus was on getting through the next day! A simple phone call could have resolved all these issues.

19/11/2018

Transferred a large amount of shares into this platform, process was easy and my fees were paid. I now buy shares every few months, process is simple and information on the platform is easy to access. Holding 500 shares in Share plc gives a trading discount, and I love their flat monthly fee.

09/05/2018

Simple website but very basic.

30/01/2018
You cannot easily see your book cost for each of your investments and their associated profit or loss. They have said their website will be corrected / improved by next summer (latest) - if not I shall leave.

30/01/2018

I use this product to buy ad-hoc share issues like Royal Mail. Cheap for this purpose.

26/09/2017

Very easy service.

26/09/2017
Took nearly 6 months to complete the transfer of my Portfolio from previous provider. Either did not reply to my email enquiries about what was happening or took weeks. Acknowledge poor service in review conducted by Transfer Section Manager, in which I was offered compensation. However, he then did not respond to my follow up email or subsequent phone calls asking him to call me. Eventually made a second complaint about poor service and was promised a call back from Compliance Dept within 2 days. Currently 5 days since making second complaint and still no contact.

18/08/2017

Excellent low cost price to buy shares, including international e.g. US and China. Poor website experience.

04/07/2017

Good if you want to build a portfolio of shares or investment trusts. Less good for funds.

04/07/2017
I use it as a comparator. It is OK but not in the same league as Hargreaves Lansdown. They take no notice of my regular response to their surveys that some key figures on the website are difficult to read - white on light green when they could easily be black.

04/07/2017

Low cost, good research and efficient service.

04/07/2017

Low charges. Would like wider research for investment trusts.

04/07/2017
Clear accessible account information, and advice. Regular emails and newsletters. Mobile app needs some improvement.

04/07/2017

They are informative and give you lots of information.

04/07/2017

For the services that I use, it functions perfectly well. I am not a very active user of the site, but it does what I expect of it. No more, no less. Their customer service has been good. For me, it is fine for the services I use.

04/07/2017
Simple website. Not in the same league for qulaity as Hargeaves Lansdown.

04/07/2017

Good, detailed info for DIY investors. Charging structure not overly transparent, but easy to understand compared to others.

04/07/2017

View all reviews

What to Expect

Best Buy 2020
Ease of use
Behind the scenes
Customer opinion
Mobile & Apps

Best Buy for Sustainable Investors
Nominated for their clear content and easy categorisation of funds into several different Responsible Investment themes.

Since our last testing, The Share Centre has made several improvements to their website both before logging-in and behind a log in. The product set is clearer, but the charging structure is still detailed and overly complex - which probably has good intentions but is confusing for the experienced investor, let alone the novices. There is good content for those interested in share tips and market updates.

Behind the scenes they have made a lot of improvements to the logged-in state. The Dashboard is clearer, and the usability is vastly improved. It does lack some of the more in-depth portfolio insights/tools that some other providers offer, but overall it has come a long way.

This wordcloud has been created from customer reviews of The Share Centre.

Pink is positive and grey is negative. The size of the word indicates the frequency of mentions.

The website is clearly called out as needing an upgrade.

The Share Centre have an Android and iOS app that allows users to research, purchase investments and add money to existing investments. The app is clean, responsive and allows you to log in via a pin rather than the 3-stage log-in process through the website. Overall it’s a good app, although it doesn’t have the level of detail as some others.

Investment Choice

Products

Stocks and Shares ISA

Junior ISA

Lifetime ISA

Investment Account

Investments available

Own brand funds

Funds from other groups

Stocks and shares

Investment help

Robo advice / ready-made portfolios

Includes a shortlist of investments

Pick your own funds

Pick your own shares

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

Interactive Investor have recently acquired The Share Centre. More information on how this will affect the company and investors using this platform can be found at https://www.share.com/ii

The Share Centre is one of the few groups that gives its charges as a fixed £ fee, rather than as a %. This makes it relatively cheap for larger portfolios (we're talking £50,000 plus), but expensive for smaller accounts. An ISA costs £5 per month. There is a charge for fund transactions, so it can be expensive for those looking to make small, regular investments into multiple funds. Loads of funds and shares are available.

There is quite a lot of helpful content on the site, along with share and fund tips. These guys know their shares as well as their funds. There is also a set of ready-made funds, though they are a bit more expensive than other providers' which is a shame. Their 'Platinum 120' list showcases their preferred funds and is a helpful filter. Suited to more experienced investors with larger portfolios.

Visit The Share Centre

Important Facts & Figures

Provider Size:	Mid-sized investment platform administering around £5bn
Minimum amounts:	£0 minimum initial investment – investments will have their own minimums

If you like this provider, we think you might like

You Say

We Say

The Detail

You Say

We Say

The Detail

Register or Login to save your list

Compare

Tools

Personal Plans

Money Guides

Money Goals

Money Tribes

The Share Centre Review

Holly's View

How our ratings work

Recommended For

In a nutshell

You Say

How Your Ratings Work

Your Reviews

What to Expect

Investment Choice

Products

Investments available

Investment help

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

Important Facts & Figures

If you like this provider, we think you might like

Sign up for Holly's blog

Stay up to date

Register or Login to save your list

Compare

Tools

Personal Plans

Money Guides

Money Goals

Money Tribes

The Share Centre Review

Holly's View

Our Rating

How our ratings work

Recommended For

In a nutshell

You Say

Your overall rating

How Your Ratings Work

Product Provider

Would you recommend this product?

Thank you

Your Reviews

What to Expect

Investment Choice

Products

Investments available

Investment help

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

Important Facts & Figures

If you like this provider, we think you might like

Sign up for Holly's blog

Stay up to date