The acquisitive Financial Planning business Succession Group has added £400m in funds under management with two acquisitions - Scottish Chartered Financial Planners AFS and Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon based Inspire Wealth Management.

The latter deal involves Succession, which is based in Plymouth, acquiring Inspire Wealth Management holding company H&L Financial Limited.

Both acquisitions specialise in Financial Planning with “strong professional connection referrals”, says Succession.  They began working with Succession earlier this year with the aim of rapid acquisition and integration by Succession. The deals add over £400million funds under management to Succession Group.

Paul Morrish, Succession’s corporate director, said: “We are delighted AFS and Inspire have chosen to be acquired by Succession Group.

“Our proven reputation for successfully transitioning IFA firms, optimising their capital value and helping them become sale-ready has evolved into an accelerated acquisition process for the right businesses and appeals to firms who are already operating at an optimal level and share our values, vision and passion for wealth planning.”

Paul Scarff, managing director of AFS (Accountants Financial Services (Scotland) Ltd), said; “As part of our own succession planning, we wanted to ensure future generations of clients would have peace of mind, continuity and value for money.  We chose to work with Succession Group because of the obvious synergies between our businesses – not least, a commitment to independent investment advice and Financial Planning.

Mr Scarff continued: “AFS has been a very successful business for over 25 years, holding clients at the very heart of our proposition at all times.”

Inspire Wealth Management, which is mainly Manchester and Stratford-on-Avon-based, began working with Succession following a two-year review of the market to find the right partner to achieve their succession planning goals.

Co-founder Philip Luckett said: "We had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve and assessed the market carefully before finding the right partner. We are delighted to be joining a rapidly-expanding wealth management group committed to whole-of-market advice."

Inspire Wealth Management's co-founder Colin Hanrahan added: "As key stakeholders in Succession Group, Philip and I will be able to use our insights and expertise to influence the future of the business in a variety of ways.  Like other centres such as Birmingham, Harrogate and Glasgow, built through previous Succession Group acquisitions, Manchester will become a key location in Succession's growing network of client servicing hubs, creating a solid base to continue the acquisition trail, and providing highly-specialised resource within a single centre of excellence to meet the extensive  needs of clients across the UK."