UK financial advice and wealth management group Skerritts has rebranded as Shackleton after the acquisition of four other advisory businesses.
The business has been named after Sir Ernest Shackleton, a famous explorer. It has a new corporate identity, launched together with a video campaign on social media emphasising the firm’s new positioning as “Britain’s financial adviser”.
Paul Feeney, chief executive officer and founder of Skerritts (pictured), said there is an unmet need right across the United Kingdom for trustworthy, transparent, affordable financial advice, delivered by advisers who work for the client, not for themselves.
“We are bringing together what we believe to be the best financial planning firms from across Britain and unifying them under a common purpose to create financial freedom for the people of Britain,” he said in a video on social media.
Feeney said he wants the company to be a “nationwide financial planning firm built on great British values” which will operate under “one, unifying brand”.
He added: “I want to build a business that is fair and affordable. We are empowering our people to care for their clients rather than have a corporate structure that acts for ourselves and not in the interest of the client.”
Shackleton is headquartered in London and will have a physical presence in major cities and towns across the UK.
The company has been scaling up through a buy and build strategy, supported by Sovereign Capital Partners.
In September, the business broadened its regional exposure to include the North of England and Scotland through the purchase of Ellis Bates.
Today (2 December 2024), the company announced the purchase of four more financial advice businesses, bringing the number of deals completed to 15 since Sovereign Capital Partners’ investment in March 2021, seven of which have taken place in 2024 alone, bringing assets under advice and management to circa £5.5 billion.
The most recent acquisitions are of Save & Invest Group Limited, Fleming Financial Limited, Robson Lister Limited and Shorts Financial Services LLP. Ellis Bates, FFL, RLL, S&I and SFS will be fully rebranded as Shackleton early in 2025.
To read more about the thinking behind the rebrand or watch the campaign videos, click here.