Virgin Money Holdings, part of the Virgin business empire of UK tycoon Richard Branson, has entered into an agreement to sell its Church House Trust subsidiary to SAV Credit.

Church House Trust is a Norwich-based private bank providing services including fund advice to high net worth individuals and trusts. It was acquired by Virgin in 2010, when its investment arm was spun off as an independent business called Church House Investments.

As Virgin Money has two banking licences, in the wake of the Northern Rock acquisition, WealthBriefing understands that the business decided to consolidate operations, CHT being a small specialist business.

The sale is subject to approval from the UK regulator the Financial Services Authority and is expected to close in the first half of 2013.