Mark Atherton has left the Birmingham branch of Rathbone Brothers, the UK based private wealth and investment management firm, Citywire reports.

Atherton was part of a key drive to establish Birmingham as Britain’s second city for the firm, a task that has proven to be difficult, according to the publication.

The newswire also stated that despite the departure of Atherton, who joined the group as an investment director in May 2008 from Quilter, the firm is still keen to show a commitment to the region, having added former Deutsche Bank portfolio manager James Walker to the team in May.  

Citywire stated that Rathbones was unavailable to confirm the story.

The news comes in the wake of a slew of regional appointments made earlier this month, most notably the addition of 16 new staff to its Rathbone Investment Management unit in Edinburgh.

Earlier this week the firm published its half year results, which showed a rise in pre-tax profit by 11.3 per cent to £15.8 million (around $24.7 million) compared to the same time last year.