Barrett, who will be responsible for managing private client portfolios and will join the research team, latterly worked for Heartwood Wealth Management.

Brooks Macdonald’s Tunbridge Wells office opened last year and has since grown to have a staff of nine; Barrett is the fourth fund manager to join the office, which is in the county of Kent. In total the firm has a roster of 34 fund managers, with an additional 10 trainees currently in its graduate scheme.

Several firms have been actively expanding in the UK regions in recent months, including Quilter, which is part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Coutts, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group. Expansion into the UK regions is seen as a priority by many wealth managers due to the increasing numbers of high net worth individuals who live in towns and cities away from the capital, along with the fact that places such as Reading are home to a rich seam of entrepreneurial wealth.