The deal for the Financial Planning arm of Standard Life to take over Almary Green has fallen through, it emerged this morning.

But Almary Green boss Carl Lamb, a Chartered Financial Planner, has left the door open for another sale in future.

1825, launched last year, announced the acquisition of Almary Green for an undisclosed fee in March.

An industry insider told Financial Planning Today at that time he would estimate the sale to be in the region of £7m to £10m based on AUM.

A statement on Almary Green’s website read: “Carl is not ruling out a future merger or acquisition of the firm but is determined that it should only happen if the fit is right for the firm’s clients, staff and directors.”

Mr Lamb said: “In the interests of certainty for our clients and staff we have agreed with 1825 to end discussions at this time. We remain focused on delivering a high quality service to our clients.

“I’m proud of Almary Green and all it stands for. I have an excellent team in place who have worked hard to make us successful.

“I owe it to them and to our loyal clients to make sure that we can continue to provide high quality advice services for many years to come.”

Almary Green stated: “Norwich-based Financial Advisers, Almary Green and national Financial Planning firm 1825 today confirm it has not proved possible for both parties to reach agreement to complete the proposed acquisition. They have therefore mutually agreed to end discussions at this time.”

Steve Murray, 1825 chief executive, said: “We wish Almary Green all the best and continued success. 1825 continues to focus on building a UK-wide financial planning business and we still see huge opportunities. The acquisitions of Pearson Jones, Baigrie Davies and Munro Partnership are complete and Jones Sheridan continues to progress positively.”

Almary Green, set up in 2001 by Mr Lamb, will continue in its current format as a privately owned company and will “look to grow further within the region – and to potentially expand by acquiring other local firms”.

Standard Life would have had over 50 Financial Planners advising over 7,000 clients on around £2.0 billion of their assets had the deal gone ahead, based on the original announcement.

Almary Green, which provides personal advice to 1,900 clients, had 44 employees, including 22 advisers and Paraplanners, as of March.

Earier this year, Mr Lamb, said the move from independent status to being restricted was not a decision he had taken lightly.

He said at that time: “I do feel that the argument for independence has weakened with the pressures on affordability and access to advice, and that the competitive nature of the industry means that our offering will remain in our clients’ best interests. Aligning ourselves with one of the industry’s major players, Standard Life, will ensure that we can plan for the long term with confidence and bring continuity and stability to our clients.

“The changing pension landscape and its inherent opportunities and risks have created a huge need for quality advice. As an industry, we need to bring advice to a wider audience and to change the advice model accordingly."