Towry has announced a number of senior management changes following its acquisition of Baker Tilly Financial Management earlier this year.

Towry has made a number of senior management changes following its acquisition of Baker Tilly Financial Management earlier this year.

The chief executive of Baker Tilly Financial Management John White, who has been assisting with the integration of the business into Towry, will leave at the end of June as part of a senior management shake-up, Towry said in a statement.

He will be joined by head of financial management operations Mike Toole and head of compliance Charles Haygarth.

Towry head of client proposition David Middleton is also leaving after seven years with the company. He will be replaced by former head of wealth management at Baker Tilly Financial Management John Porteous.

Garry Appleton has been appointed to Towry’s executive committee and will take on the role of head of risk and compliance from Alec Macallan, who held this position on an interim basis for the past two years. His appointment is subject to FCA regulatory approval.

The changes come after the departure of chief executive Andrew Fisher earlier this year, who was replaced by former Prudential chief executive Rob Devey.

“We have recently undergone a period of rapid expansion following a number of acquisitions and have ambitious plans for the future.  I am delighted to welcome John and Garry to the Executive team,” said Rob Devey, chief executive officer at Towry.

“I would like to thank David, John, Charles and Mike for their contribution to Towry and Baker Tilly over the last few years and wish them well,” he added.

Acquisitions

Towry confirmed it would acquire Baker Tilly’s private client financial advice and investment management business in April for an undisclosed sum. Assets acquired include the old RSM Tenon Financial Advice business Baker Tilly bought and re-branded in 2013 shortly after it entered into administration, and Link2wealth, a restricted advice proposition.

Last November Towry bought Bluefin from AXA; the firm has bought five businesses in the past 12 months. However, it has had trouble in the past when acquiring advice firms. Most notably its acquisition of Edward Jones in 2009 led to a high court case with Raymond James and seven former Edward Jones advisors over alleged client solicitation, which it lost.

Baker Tilly has sold its advice business to Towry before. In 2007 Towry acquired Baker Tilly Financial Services for £9.5 million ($16.2 million).