Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, the UK-based private client investment manager, has opened its seventh regional office in York to accommodate an influx of new clients and IFAs based in Yorkshire and the northeast – business which was previously handled by the Manchester office.

Claire Bennison, previously regional director of the Manchester office, is also taking on responsibility for the new office, while Andrew Wilson will move across from the Manchester office to take up the post of investment management director in York. Ian Wolfenden, new business development manager, will also be based in York, focusing mainly on supporting professional introducers.

The firm is also going to hire a new investment management director and a trainee investment manager, the details of which will be announced soon, the firm said.

Brooks Macdonald also said it views York as an important strategic centre and that the new office bridges a gap in its regional office network. The firm, which had £3.455 billion ($5.6 billion) in funds under management at end-March, has offices in London, Hampshire, Tunbridge Wells, Edinburgh and Taunton, in addition to Manchester and York.

At the end of March it emerged that three of the co-founding directors of Brooks Macdonald Group had sold a total of 3.5 per cent of the company’s shares.

At a value of £12.75 per share (around $20), the firm’s chief executive, Chris Macdonald, sold 150,000 shares; Richard Spencer, chief investment officer of the asset management arm, sold 130,000 shares, and investment director Jonathan Gumpel sold 105,000 shares. They still have 7.45 per cent, 7 per cent and 5.9 per cent stakes in the firm, respectively, and just over a fifth combined.