100 employees join SLA's 1825 as Grant Thornton acquisition completes

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) has confirmed more than 100 Grant Thornton employees have joined its advice arm, 1825, marking the completion of the acquisition.  

SLA described the move as a "significant step" towards its ambition to become a leading advice provider. The purchase is SLA's eighth since 1825's inception four years ago and has increased SLA's assets under advice by 40%.

In July, 1825 plans to acquire Grant Thornton. The deal was thought to be worth around £30m but SLA declined to comment on the commercial figure involved.  

Grant Thornton's advisory team provides advice on all aspects of financial planning, including family and business finance. As well as the UK-wide financial planning team, it has two offices in Belfast and Sheffield. 

1825 CEO Julie Scott said: "We're delighted to welcome the wealth advisory business to the team and we're looking forward to continuing to support wealth advisory clients as part of 1825. Demand for financial planning and advice continues and we want to make it easier for people to access high quality advice when they need it most." 

Back in June, when the deal was first speculated, Soprano Mergers and Acquisitions chairman Stuart Dyer said retaining Grant Thornton advisers who are used to a specific sort of culture would be the greatest challenge facing those overseeing the merger of the two firms.

"In a situation where you have a group of advisers who have been attached to a professional services firm like Grant Thornton, there is a very specific culture that tends to attach to the advisers, and it can sometimes be difficult to find a home for them that replicates that culture," he explained.

"At first sight, you would not necessarily think of 1825 and Grant Thornton in the same breath. But what we don't know is the structure 1825 will put in place, the extent to which it will be designed to retain some of the characteristics of the [Grant Thornton] culture, or whether it is a genuine integration of those advisers into the 1825 business - and I think that is the critical factor with this deal."

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