UK-headquartered wealth advisory firm Towry has appointed former Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler from June 2014.

UK-headquartered wealth advisory firm Towry has appointed former Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler, as of June 2014.

Sandler replaces Gerald Corbett, who is stepping down from 8 May. Corbett will continue to serve as chairman until the end of May to ensure an orderly succession, Towry said in a statement.

Sandler was formerly executive chairman of Northern Rock, chairman of Phoenix Group, and chairman of Paternoster. He was previously chief operating officer of NatWest Group and chief executive of Lloyd’s of London. 

Geoff Unwin has been appointed non-executive director of Towry. Unwin is chairman of XChanging and was previously chairman of United Business Media and Halma, and Chief Executive Officer of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, where he led the successful acquisition of Ernst & Young's consulting activities.

The appointments of Sandler and Unwin are subject to Financial Conduct Authority approval.

In other news, last month Towry appointed Linda Payne to its executive committee in the newly-created role of head of client experience.

Towry has bolstered its business in the past year with a number of acquisitions and hires. In December, Towry acquired Lighthouse's 50.1 per cent holding in the shares of Bristol-based wealth management  and financial planning firm Deverill Black & Company for £501,000 ($818,000).

Towry confirmed last September that it was to acquire the business assets and contracts of the AXA UK advisory business Bluefin Personal Consulting, for an undisclosed sum.

Towry advises on the key areas of personal finance including pensions and retirement, inheritance tax planning and investments as part of their personal financial planning service. It employs approximately 750 people in 20 offices across the UK, managing over £5 billion ($8.3 billion) of client assets.