Barclays Wealth, the private client arm of UK bank Barclays, has recruited Alan Edwards from Coutts to take up the role of regional centre head for Leeds and Manchester.

Mr Edwards has spent the last three and a half years at Coutts, first as senior manager leading the private bank’s Leeds and Newcastle offices and most recently as client partner responsible for Leeds. Before joining Coutts, he was at HSBC for six years.

In his new role, Mr Edwards is charged with growing Barclays Wealth’s business across Yorkshire and the northwest region, the firm said in a statement. He will divide his time between Leeds and Manchester, overseeing a 50-strong team of locally-based bankers, investment managers and support staff.

“We are delighted to welcome Alan to the business and believe he has the experience and regional insight to accelerate the significant progress we have already made in both regions over the past two years,” said Andrew Houston, regional director, Barclays Wealth.

In the past year Barclays Wealth has been ramping up its presence in both London and the regions and in July made eight hires for its UK financial planning team to support its growth plans.

Claudine Fondis, Amanda Alexander and Dan Barnes, along with Carlton Crabbe, Nick Keenan and Simon Bullock - who are to focus exclusively on providing financial advice to high net worth clients - joined Barclays Wealth London. In the regions, Stephen Denning and Gillian Cambridge joined the Birmingham  and Leeds offices respectively.