Abrdn is to revamp its Financial Planning arm, formerly known as 1825, resulting in the closure of offices in Reading, Sheffield and Bristol (Bristol will be retained by the group).

The restructure follows Abrdn’s acquisition of online consumer investment platform Interactive Investor for £1.49bn in December 2021.

Abrdn says it is changing its business model for the future and taking into account the Consumer Duty.

It will focus on two models in future: the Financial Consultant Model and its Regional Advice Model.

The Financial Consultant model will serve clients who have straightforward or simpler needs. The company says this model has worked well in the last 12 months and has been "well received."

The Regional Advice Model will serve clients with more complex needs and they will continue to be advised and serviced by our Regional Advice teams. The company is also changing its structure to a two region model; the North and South. 

The company says that it has also reviewed its office footprint, considering factors such as the appropriateness of the building and costs. The Reading and Sheffield offices will close as a result and Financial Planning services will be withdrawn from the Bristol office which will remain within the group.

Staff in the Leeds office will be relocated to the Interactive Investor (ii) Leeds office and new additional office space in Manchester will be secured. Any office closures will be completed by the end of the year, the company said.

The company said in a statement: “By then end of the year, we will be closing our Reading and Sheffield offices and coming out of the Abrdn Bristol office (this will remain in the group).

“Colleagues in our Leeds office will be relocating to the ii Leeds office and we will also have additional new office space with ii in Manchester. In parallel we will be putting in place arrangements for client and colleague meetings in locations where we don’t have an office. There are no immediate changes at this stage, office closures will be completed by year end.” 

The company’s Financial Planning arm, previously 1825, has struggled to make headway and has seen several CEOs exit.