Skerritts expands UK footprint with four acquisitions and launches new brand, Shackleton

Skerritts, the UK Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) and wealth management business backed by Sovereign Capital Partners, has rebranded as Shackleton following the completion of its latest four acquisitions.

Headquartered in London, Shackleton will operate as a single, nationwide financial advice firm, with 17 offices in major cities and towns across the UK. Shackleton aims to become one of the most trusted providers of financial advice in the country. As one business with a unified identity, values, and culture, it operates with a single approach to investment management and an affordable, transparent charging structure.

The newly acquired firms are:

• Save & Invest Group, a 40-year-old IFA headquartered in Glasgow, with offices in Edinburgh and Perth
• Fleming Financial, the wealth management division of Bishop Fleming, based in Bristol and Plymouth
• Robson Lister, a West Midlands-based Chartered Financial Planner; and
• Shorts Wealth Management, the IFA division of a North Midlands accountancy firm.

Together, the four businesses add approximately £1.5bn in assets under management (AUM), bringing Shackleton’s total AUM to circa £5.5bn.

Sovereign invested in Skerritts in 2021 and since then the business has made a total of 18 acquisitions, including the recent purchase of Ellis Bates Financial Advisers, a leading IFA based in Harrogate with offices in Newcastle, London, Bristol, and Livingston. During that time, we have also strengthened the management team with the appointments of Paul Feeney, the former CEO of Quilter, as CEO; Andrew Fisher, the former CEO of Coutts & Co and Towry Group, as Chair; and Grant Hotson, the former CFO of The Openwork Partnership and Commercial Finance Director at abrdn asset management, as CFO.

Alex Hay, Partner, Sovereign Capital Partners, said: "The launch of Shackleton marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth journey and its ambition to become Britain’s financial adviser of choice. Following our investment in 2021, together we have pursued an ambitious Buy & Build programme to transform the business from one that was largely focused on the South East of England into a truly national, high-quality IFA and wealth management group. These latest acquisitions reinforce Shackleton’s position as a leading independent player in the UK, and we look forward to continuing to support Paul and the team as they build on this momentum."

Paul Feeney, CEO, Shackleton, said: "We’ve launched Shackleton – Britain’s financial adviser – with the vision of bringing together into one business what we firmly believe to be the best, most professional financial advice firms from across the country. The addition of these four exceptional firms demonstrates our commitment to delivering against this goal. We are just beginning. I am confident that our new brand will, very quickly, become synonymous with the provision of high-quality, affordable financial advice right across the country."

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About Shackleton

As Britain’s financial adviser, we take inspiration from our namesake, and one of the nation’s greatest heroes, the explorer Ernest Shackleton. By embodying his timeless values of respect, fairness, care, dependability and courage we intend to make financial advice more accessible across the UK. We’re fully independent, which means we’re able to adapt to changes in the financial landscape and your personal circumstances.