Tuesday, 14th October 2008

 

Private bankers hit the provinces

Fancy escaping the City? Now might be the time, if you're a private banker. The growing affluence of cities like Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle has prompted private banks to open more regional offices.

Somerled Macdonald, a partner at executive search firm Redgrave Partners, said in a story on eFinancialCareers that despite the gloom, millionaire households are increasing exponentially in the UK, and they’re not restricted to Chelsea and Fulham. This has lured private banks out of the City and into the provinces.

Goldman, Kleinwort Benson, Coutts, UBS and Allied Irish are all in Birmingham. And in April Brown Shipley unveiled plans to open a new Birmingham office. Today Credit Suisse announced the launch of its Birmingham office.

Enthusiasm for the provinces comes despite the fact that the average West Londoner has twice the amount of cash to spend than the average provincial Joe.

Expansion outside London spells recruitment, says Mark Somers of specialist wealth management headhunter, The Somers Partnership.

“There will always be strong demand for player managers who can gather assets as well as build and manage the team,” he says.

Tags: Coutts , Kleinwort Benson , UBS

Brummel

Headline

Mayfair goes Modern

Sebastian + Barquet, a three-year old design gallery based in New York and Chelsea, is opening a new gallery showing museum quality pieces in Mayfair next month, the first in London to focus on international modernism from the 1940s to the 1960s. Its opening exhibition is dedicated to American modernist design and is curated by celebrated architect Eric Parry.

Rich Monitor

Indian billionaires lift London

Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel tycoon with a £28bn (€35bn) fortune, has three houses on London’s most exclusive road, Kensington Palace Gardens.

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