Fairstone sees further growth in South East with Goodman acquisition

Fairstone has announced the full acquisition of Goodman Chartered Financial Planners, based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The deal sees Fairstone establish its tenth office in the South East of England bringing its total number of office locations to 55.

Established more than 35 years ago, Goodman were the first firm in Kent to achieve Corporate Chartered Financial Planning status.

The firm joins Fairstone after a period of integration as part of Fairstone’s unique Downstream Buy Out (DBO) programme, which integrates ambitious, culturally aligned firms prior to final acquisition. During the integration phase, partner firms have access to the investment, resources, technology, and clients they need to achieve their growth aspirations.

Goodman bring over £160 million of assets under management, a highly qualified five-strong team of advisers, eight paraplanning and client services staff, and 425 clients to Fairstone as part of the deal.

Goodman director Andy Smith stressed that he and his fellow directors knew that the shared values of creating long term, client-centric relationships meant that joining Fairstone was a positive move.

Andy Smith, Goodman director said:

“Joining Fairstone was very attractive to us as their commitment to independent financial advice and their passion for a high-quality service delivery very much matched our own.

“Fairstone encouraged us to manage our clients without any need to change our approach or their investment solutions. This trust has enabled us to build and grow the business. Fairstone’s scale and expertise means we can continue to focus on growth even after acquisition which is an exciting prospect for us.”

Fairstone CEO Lee Hartley said:

“Obviously Goodman were a great fit for Fairstone. Their early commitment to Chartered status and to delivering independent advice was a strong indicator of how closely we were aligned.

“Having shared values is key for the long-term success of working in partnership before moving to a full acquisition and we look forward to helping Andy and his team grow as part of Fairstone.”