Fairstone acquire Nottingham based James Ryan Thornhill

Fairstone has today announced the full acquisition of James Ryan Thornhill, further cementing its presence in the East Midlands.

James Ryan Thornhill Ltd (JRT) are a Nottingham based independent, celebrating 20 years in the industry.

JRT partnered with Fairstone as part of its unique Downstream Buy Out (DBO) model which sees the business act as an investment partner, providing the centralised resource, technology, and capital to support the ongoing growth of ambitious IFA’s ahead of a future sale.

The deal brings over £110 million of assets under management, £1m fee income, 600 clients, and a five-strong team of financial advisers supported by a seven-strong team of paraplanners, mortgage advisers and administrative staff.

JRT Director, Del-Ryan Rafter complemented the value that Fairstone placed on the whole JRT team: “The biggest appeal of Fairstone’s proposition was that they truly valued the ‘human capital’ within the business and by this, I mean our hard-working colleagues who are vital to the day to day running of our firm’s operations.”

Lee Hartley CEO at Fairstone said:

“JRT and Fairstone were an excellent match from the outset. I take great pride in Del-Ryan’s comments around the value we place on people. This is exactly why our DBO model adds enormous value over and above other acquisition programmes in the sector. We work in partnership during integration stage and embrace the skills and knowledge of the whole team.

“We only partner with ambitious growth-orientated firms like JRT who are not seeking a quick exit but favour a longer-term partnership beyond acquisition. I am looking forward to seeing the next stage of JRT’s growth evolution.”

Del-Ryan continued:

“Fairstone’s trust and expertise has allowed us to continue to build the business and I am excited for further growth in the future.”

Fairstone’s M&A team recently celebrated a record 12 months of dealmaking, with 16 firms joining its unique Downstream Buy Out (DBO) programme across the UK and Ireland and a further 6 full acquisitions.

Its transaction pipeline looks even stronger into 2024, with a significant number of mature discussions with high quality firms in the UK and Ireland.