Acquisitive Chartered Financial Planning firm Fairstone has acquired East2west Financial Services and Brantwood Financial Planning.

The deals bring £250m in assets under advice.

East2west Financial Services is based in the Scottish Highlands and specializes in pensions and investments. The firm brings 1,000 clients, three advisers and three support staff.

Brantwood Financial Planning is based in Hudderfield. It specializing in holistic Financial Planning for high-net-worth individuals and SME business owners. The firm brings over £150m in assets under advice and four staff to Fairstone.

Both firms join Fairstone through its downstream by out acquisition model which integrates firms into the group prior to final acquisition.

Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone, said: “East2west and Brantwood are both quality firms with first-class individuals, who share our commitment to exceptional service and vision to flourish. Over the past two years we have worked closely with the teams at both firms, supporting their progression and funding their organic growth. This has enabled both firms to maximise value before crystallising a structured sale of their businesses at a premium valuation.”

He added that the firm expects to make several more acquisitions this year.

Fairstone made eight acquisitions in 2021 including Southern Chartered Financial Planning group Chadney Bulgin, adding £850m in assets under management. 

Moira Ness, principal at East2west Financial Services, said: “Fairstone’s proposition really appealed as the firm strive for excellence in the advice market and are independent, professional and committed to Chartered status. We are very proud to be part of the Fairstone family and we are excited about our future.”

Paul Dickinson, principal at Brantwood Financial Planning, said: “After talking to a number of different organisations, we felt that Fairstone were the only company who genuinely understood the reasons that had made us a successful financial planning business and crucially, that they would not seek to impose barriers to the continuation of this success.

“The two-year integration phase has given our clients the added confidence and reassurance that they are now part of a well-known, high quality financial planning company, while still looked after by the team at Brantwood.”

Headquartered in Newcastle with over 40 locations across the UK, Fairstone is one of the largest Chartered Financial Planning firms in the UK and oversees £13bn in assets under advice for over 40,000 wealth clients.