Advice consolidator AFH has bought a Midlands-based financial advice firm for £3.5m, in what was its first deal of 2019.
The buyout of Hayburn Rock Financial Planning will see AFH’s adviser numbers reach 260, including Hayburn Rock's co-founder Steve Perks, who will join AFH along with his team of six mortgage advisers and four IFAs.
Established in 1996, Hayburn Rock has almost 1500 active clients.
Mr Perks said: "In 23 years we’ve managed to build up a medium-sized business, but the industry has changed in that time, and ‘medium-sized’ businesses just don’t make sense any more.
"The time we have to spend on administration and regulatory compliance means we’re just not able to grow and give new clients the 100 per cent of our time we think they deserve."
He added: "AFH will give us the support and expertise we need, and the group’s economies of scale and great client proposition mean our clients will be getting an all-round better deal while continuing to have us looking after them."
Alan Hudson, chief executive at AFH, said: "I know that Steve and his team will be a good fit at AFH, and their clients will appreciate the combination of big-company expertise and the dedicated attention of advisers they know and trust.
"This deal, our first of 2019 and fourth of this financial year, shows AFH remains the company of choice for advisers who want to grow their business while improving their service to clients."
Last year AFH acquired the assets of West Sussex-based firm Harvey Curtis in a £2.63m deal, the client book of Chesterfield-based HTH Group for £5.1m and Devon-based LFS & Partners in a £4.2m deal, among others.
rachel.addison@ft.com
