Financial Planning group Fairstone has created a new Northern Ireland branch through acquiring an advice firm.

Fairstone announced it has entered into an agreement to take over First Financial Management (NI) Ltd.

The company, based in Lisburn, Country Antrim, has been renamed Fairstone NI.

In addition, Fairstone NI will acquire Carleton Chambers.

The deals will bring total revenue of almost £1m to the Fairstone Group and funds under management of £100million.

Led by Peter Savage and Sean Larkin, Fairstone NI consists of seven advisers and five support staff and their 500 clients will now benefit from the support of the broader Fairstone Group.

Brian Vallely of Carleton Chambers joins as a partner and financial adviser and will remain in Portadown.

Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone Group, said the acquired firm had “an enviable reputation in Northern Ireland and was an excellent cultural fit aswell as making sound business sense”.

He said: “Our client acquisition tools will enable the team to grow their offering and their business whilst freeing up their time for advisory work. Above all, our new relationship will allow clients to benefit from the marketing, infrastructure and services support that the Fairstone Group offers to its partners.”

Peter Savage, Chartered Financial Planner at Fairstone NI, said: “As a Chartered firm before we joined the group, we believed that in Fairstone we had a partner that held the same standards to clients as we did and could help us grow our business and help raise our profile in Northern Ireland.”

Sean Larkin, Chartered Financial Planner at Fairstone NI, said: “Being part of Fairstone has provided us with scalability and additional credibility which is particularly useful when dealing with larger professional connections. What we’ve witnessed as a result is an increase in both business turnover and ultimately, profitability.

“Smaller IFA companies in Northern Ireland often struggle to secure attractive buy-out opportunities, with the bulk of deals being awarded to much larger organisations. Through our partnership programme we see a great opportunity to bring the very best advisers, like Carleton Chambers, under the Fairstone umbrella.”