Fairstone expands in North East heartland

Fairstone has expanded its operation in its heartland of North East England with the acquisition of two independent financial advice firms.

The fast-growing wealth management group has bought Grainger Financial Planning, which is based in Sunderland, and Riverstone Wealth Management, which is based in Morpeth in Northumberland.

Grainger Financial Planning offers a wide range of financial planning and wealth management services and has been advising clients for more than 15 years.

The firm serves almost 400 clients and has £120m of client assets under management.

Riverstone Wealth Management was established in 2009 and provides financial advice to more than 65 clients with £63m of client assets under management.

Both firms first partnered with Fairstone in May 2024 through the unique Downstream Buy Out (DBO) programme.

Fairstone’s DBO model is designed to unlock the full potential of independent advisory firms by investing in their growth during a period of partnership, before fully acquiring the business.

The partnership periods for both Grainger and Riverstone have completed with both firms now becoming a full part of Fairstone.

Paul Clough, firm principal at Grainger Financial Planning alongside Mike McGurrell, said: “We’re really pleased to be joining Fairstone – as a company based in Sunderland, like ourselves, it genuinely feels like we’re coming home.

“Joining Fairstone gives us the opportunity to grow the business while maintaining our commitment to providing trusted, independent financial advice.

“The additional support we’ve received on things like regulatory and compliance matters has freed up more of our time to spend with clients and seen the range of services we can offer widen.”

Mark Wiseman, founder and firm principal at Riverstone alongside brother Ian Wiseman, said: “Working with the Fairstone team over the past two years has been great and we’re looking forward to a really bright future.

“One of the big benefits which we have found is the ability to grow our client base by using the resources, experience and expertise which Fairstone offers us.

“We are already providing an increasing number of people with trusted, independent financial advice and I’m confident that this will continue now that we are part of Fairstone.”

Steve Easter, Managing Director for Fairstone’s Northern region, said: “It is fantastic to be able to welcome Paul, Ian, Mark and the Grainger and Riverstone teams to Fairstone.

“The acquisition of both firms demonstrates our commitment to further growth in our North-East heartland and to bringing on board ambitious, growing financial advice and wealth management firms.

“With our group headquarters in Sunderland, we know from first hand that this region is home to a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners and families who are creating and preserving significant wealth, and who value the kind of long-term, trusted relationships that sit at the heart of good financial advice.

“In acquiring Grainger and Riverstone, we’re bringing on board firms which share those values, strengthening our ability to support clients across the region and helping them to build their financial futures with confidence.”

Fairstone is one of the fastest growing financial services organisations in the UK and Ireland.

It operates from more than 50 different locations, employs over 1,350 people serving over 60,000 wealth clients with client assets under management of more than £22bn.

Fairstone’s innovative DBO model offers capital investment, operational resource, and regulatory support to partner firms, allowing them to focus on developing their performance without being restricted by back-office or compliance workload.

It also gives firms the ability to sell at the optimum time, ensuring they realise maximum value when the time is right for them and they share in the proceeds of their growth.