Troubled wealth manager and Financial Planner WH Ireland has appointed Lumin Wealth Management joint managing director John Cusins as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

The firm said Mr Cusins’ experience will assist WH Ireland in its consultations with principal shareholders on the future plans for its business.

Two non-executive directors of WH Ireland, including chair Simon Moore, quit earlier this month after shareholders voted to reject a plan to sell the firms’s wealth arm for £1m.

The vote meant the proposed sale of the firm’s wealth management division to Oberon Investments collapsed.

Some 95.63% of shares were voted against the sale of the wealth arm and 55.5% of shareholders votes were against a delisting on AIM.

Before losing the vote, the firm said: “As the company moves towards delisting and the winding-down process, the board's primary objective will be to ensure an orderly and efficient dissolution of operations. This includes the sale of remaining assets, settlement of liabilities, and management of ongoing contractual obligations.

"We will focus on minimising costs and protecting the interests of all stakeholders. Throughout this process, the board will closely assess the strategic value of key business units, identifying assets that can be liquidated or have potential for future strategic opportunities.”

Mr Cusins, 53, will be involved in progressing those plans. He is a qualified chartered accountant and has held several senior directorial positions in the investment management and financial services sector.

He was one of the founders of Lumin in 2010 along with Martin Cotter. Lumin has been part of Swiss financial services firm VZ Group since May 2021. It has more than 75 employees, with offices in St Albans, central London, Bishop’s Stortford, and Beaconsfield.

Mr Cusins, age 53, currently holds 3,850,000 Ordinary Shares in WH Ireland, 1.63% of the issued share capital.

WH Ireland has a heritage dating back to 1872 and has been a significant firm in the wealth management, Financial Planning and capital markets sectors over the years.

For the financial year 2025, the group reported a 39% decline in total revenue, from £21.5m to £13.2m, largely due to the sale of the capital markets business in July 2024. Revenue at the wealth management division was impacted by market declines, leading to a reduction in total assets under management from £1.2bn to £1bn.

In its latest results, the firm said it was moving to wind up the business and sell off any remaining assets. It had previously announced this was a likely route for the business.