Mr Barber will look after clients in north London and Hertfordshire.

He started his career as an administrator and Paraplanner and achieved Chartered status as an adviser five years ago.

He joins from DGS Independent Financial Advisers in Chingford where he was a Paraplanner and then Chartered Financial Planner.

Mr Barber works mainly with individuals and business owners.

He said: “I wanted to join Continuum for a number of reasons –  but mostly because it puts me under no pressure to push the products of a particular supplier. I can select the most appropriate products for the needs of each client.

“Continuum has administrative and compliance teams, an online portal, and weekly education information. It means having the support to take care of some of the routine tasks, giving me more time to focus on relationships with clients.”

Continuum’s managing partner Martin Brown said: “We are determined to provide the very best in financial advice, and that means building a team made up of people with the right approach, the right experience – and a determination to put the needs of their clients first.

“James has spent several years building his skills and experience, and now his enthusiasm for building on that sound foundation to work is an asset for us and for our clients. He believes in taking clients on a journey of financial discovery – and at Continuum, so do we.”

Continuum is based in Plymouth and was set up in 2014 by founding partner, Martin Brown, as a national IFA brand. It now holds assets under influence of over £2bn.

The firm is part-owned by M&G which took an initial 49.9% stake in the company in August 2022 with an agreement to acquire the remainder of the business over the following two years.