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09 December 2019

Newcastle Building Society’s financial advice subsidiary, Newcastle Financial Advisers Ltd, has purchased the advice firm, Fidelis Financial Solutions, based in Pickering North Yorkshire.

Newcastle Financial Advisers was established by Newcastle Building Society over 16 years ago and has 25 qualified financial advisers located across its branch network. The acquisition of Fidelis is part of the Firm’s growth strategy and the wider Society commitment to extend the provision of accessible financial advice on the high street as part of an extensive branch network investment and expansion programme.

Fidelis Financial Solutions was founded by Director, Andy Sharp, and has served a North Yorkshire customer base of more than 2,000 since 2005 within the Openwork network. The acquisition has enabled Andy to realise the value in his business and continue as the area's local financial adviser as part of Newcastle Financial Advisers, which he joins along with other members of the team.

Andy Sharp said: “I’ve been proud to provide financial advice to the people of this area for over 14 years. I’m pleased to be joining Newcastle Financial Advisers as we share a focus on customer service and recognise the value of supporting local communities. I’m looking forward to giving my customers and clients access to an even wider variety of products and services.”

Working in partnership with Openwork, Newcastle Financial Advisers supports an adviser Academy training programme dedicated to developing the next generation of financial advisers. The programme is supporting the Firm’s growth and will enable it to continue to meet the need for trusted, accessible financial advice despite a shrinking professional adviser population.

Stuart Dodson, who led the acquisition as managing director of Newcastle Financial Advisers said: “We’re delighted to welcome Andy and his team to Newcastle Financial Advisers and to our Society. We have an ambitious growth strategy across our North East region and anticipate that this will be the first of a number of strategic acquisition opportunities we will realise.

“We believe that offering access to face to face advice is vitally important in helping people to plan their finances. Being locally present is key to ensuring specialist advice is accessible when people need it.”