Birmingham stockbrokers Fyshe Horton Finney, which collapsed after nearly 120 years, is back up and running – under the Redmayne Bentley banner.
The Leeds-based investment management and stockbroking firm has announced an agreement which will add five new offices, including Birmingham, to its nationwide branch network.
A string of new staff appointments, all former Fyshe Horton Finney (FHF) executives, has been unveiled by Redmayne-Bentley following the firm’s acquisition of £300 million worth of business assets from FHF, which went into voluntary administration in March.
The agreement sees ‘business as usual’ at the former FHF-branded office in Birmingham, just two months after the stockbroker collapsed after struggling to pay its debts.
Redmayne Bentley’s Leeds head office has welcomed two investment managers to its investment services department, while the Exeter and Glasgow branches will both welcome one new colleague respectively.
The remainder of the colleagues will be establishing new UK offices, including Birmingham with four former FHS staff, Billericay, Cambridge, Hale and Sheffield.
David Loudon, Redmayne-Bentley’s managing partner, said: “I’m delighted to be able to extend a warm welcome to our new colleagues and I’m looking forward to working closely with everyone at our new offices for many years to come.”
In March it was announced that Fyshe Horton Finney, whose roots in Birmingham date back to 1896, had entered voluntary administration.
Sources said the firm had been financially troubled for some time. Its most recent accounts showed losses of £565,701 for the year to June 2011.
In January, chief executive Hardeep Tamana, who had been at the helm for nearly nine years, left while director Clive Duckitt and regional director Sue Grieson, who oversaw the bulk of the firm’s activities in the north, relinquished their seats on the board of directors.
The regional stockbroker, which had 15 offices dotted across the country, issued a statement citing “a difference in opinion” which had resulted in delays in plans to develop and grow the business.
The statement added: “Significant new funding has been secured to carry through our plans to transition Fyshe Horton Finney from a provider of mainly traditional stockbroking services to a business offering comprehensive and holistic wealth management and financial planning services.
“We have been in close talks with the FSA and the regulator is fully aware of our plans. We expect to emerge from administration a stronger, healthier and better business than ever before.”
Redmayne Bentley PR Executive Paul Fitzjohn said: “At the moment, it is business as usual for the Birmingham office, although they are looking to relocate in the city centre.
“Some of the Fyshe Horton Finney people chose not to join Redmayne Bentley, but four of them did.”
The Post revealed last month that more than 14,000 clients, including many in the West Midlands, had been reassured their investments were safe in the aftermath of the takeover.
Richard Mottram, who heads Redmayne-Bentley’s Wolverhampton office, confirmed that the group had taken over the FHF client list but had not inherited any liabilities.
Reports in the industry press had claimed Fyshe had racked up combined losses totalling £3.4 million since 2009 on the back of rocketing operating costs. The company scaled back its Leeds arm in June 2011, refocusing around its Midland headquarters.
In the post-war period, Fyshe Horton Finney was viewed as one of the most prominent stockbrokers in Birmingham, bringing more companies to the Birmingham Stock Exchange during the 1940s and 50s than any other firm.
In the past decade the firm had been on the expansion trail, opening offices around the country.
But a source told the Post: “They can blame all sorts of things but they ended up with the wrong client base.”
