Newcastle Building Society has acquired a financial advisory firm as part of its plans to increase the level of face-to-face advice it offers customers.
The building society has bought Fidelis Financial Solutions through its own financial advisory business, Newcastle Financial Advisers Ltd.
The deal is part of Newcastle Building Society’s plans to increase its presence on the high street at a time when many banks are shutting their doors. The strategy also involves refurbishing many of its current branches and opening new sites in rural locations such as market towns.
Fidelis serves more than 2,000 customers across the local area and was founded by Andy Sharp in 2005. Mr Sharp will join Newcastle Financial Advisers following the deal and will continue to serve his customers in Pickering.
He said: “I’ve called Pickering home for over 30 years and I’ve been proud to provide financial advice to the people of this fantastic town for over 14 years. I’m pleased to be joining Newcastle Financial Advisers, and looking forward to giving my customers and clients access to an even wider variety of products and services.
“From working in the centre of Pickering to completing home visits as far out as Scarborough, my focus has been on building genuine relationships with my clients as I’ve grown this business through personal recommendation. I’m really looking forward to working with the North East’s largest building society as part of Newcastle Financial Advisers as we share a focus on customer service and recognise the value of supporting local communities.”
Stuart Dodson, managing director of Newcastle Financial Advisers, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Andy and his team to Newcastle Financial Advisers and to our Society. They bring significant experience and local knowledge and can continue to serve the customers whose loyalty they have built over years.
“We’re committed to maintaining a presence in Pickering and believe that offering access to face to face advice is vitally important in helping people to plan their finances. Being locally present is key to ensuring specialist advice is accessible when people need it.”
Newcastle Financial Advisers was established 16 years ago and currently has 25 qualified financial advisers across its network. The business works in partnership with financial adviser network Openwork to develop the next generation of advisers through its academy training programme.
Andrew Haigh, chief executive of Newcastle Building Society, added: “Over the past few years, a growing number of high street banks and building societies have reduced or withdrawn their face-to-face financial advice offer and in many instances, their physical presence.
“We’re committed to maintaining and enhancing our presence on high streets across the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and we’re investing heavily through our branch investment programme, which this acquisition will complement.”
The building society’s acquisition follows a decision to open a branch in Hawes, also in North Yorkshire, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.
