FINANCIAL ADVISOR EXPANDS INTO SCOTLAND
(L) Paul Dalzell, chief executive of Milecross & (R) Simon Gordon, regional manager for Milecross in Scotland
Northern Irish advice network Milecross Financial has announced a £1.5m investment to expand its operations across Scotland through acquisitions and partnerships in Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and Aberdeen.
The firm has bought CliftonHill Financial Services in the Central Belt, Lynn Hay Financial Services in Edinburgh and WA Mackie & Co from Aberdeen.
Milecross has also merged with Duncan Davidson Financial Services and Opus Financial Planning, both in Aberdeen.
This latest moves further advance the network’s plans to more than double in size throughout the UK in the next five years and comes months after it launched in England by buying several Yorkshire Building Society agencies in the North West.
With more than £300m funds under management, Milecross is one of the largest Openwork Partnership businesses in the UK, with 30 offices and 80 advisers already working from branches across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
These numbers will now initially increase to close to 100, while the network continues to identify additional opportunities for growth.
Paul Dalzell, chief executive of Milecross, said: “We now have an even broader reach and range of services and support for clients across the country.
Each agency has the flexibility to augment their own suite of products with the additional services Milecross can deliver, including investments and mortgages from other providers through our financial advisers now based in each location.”
Simon Gordon, regional manager for Milecross in Scotland, added: “The new businesses that have joined Milecross Scotland will benefit from all back-office services available from our existing regional hub in Aberdeen, including compliance and administrative support, cost efficiencies and IT support. This is just the next step to wider expansion plans for Milecross, and we are excited to bring our skills and experience to the area through our unique business model which has helped us achieve great success in Northern Ireland.”