Little brings 15 years' experience in the pensions industry and was previously head of business quality at Ashcourt Rowan. In the newly-created role of operations manager, she will be based in York.

Her appointment comes as part of Walker Crips' push to expand nationally. Recent hires at the wealth manager include those of Katie Machin as a chartered financial planner in York and Neal Stevens within the stockbroking division in Birmingham. In March, the firm boosted its assets under management with the acquisition of Barker Poland Asset Management.

“Walker Crips has experienced strong organic growth over the past 18 months with a number of our regional offices having seen an increase in the scale of their operations,” said the firm's executive director, David Hetherton.

“Christine will oversee operations across our wealth management and pensions business, in particular looking after our systems, controls, risk management and project management processes. Based in York, her expertise and industry knowledge will be an added benefit.”