Brown Shipley names Edinburgh head & looks to exploit Scottish 'turmoil'

Brown Shipley has appointed Charles Fotheringham (pictured) as head of its Edinburgh branch as it seeks to grow its presence in the Scottish banking market.

Fotheringham joined Brown Shipley last year following its acquisition of the investment management arm of law firm Gillespie Macandrew. He has been promoted following the retirement of Graham Auld over the summer.

Fotheringham said new hires were on the cards, on both the wealth management and private banking sides, and that with a firm Scottish presence the business was well placed for local growth.

‘There’s quite a bit of turmoil in the Scottish private banking scene,’ he said. ‘Many competitors are restructuring to a degree that is proving difficult to justify to the clients, such as banks moving operations south.

‘Brown Shipley’s private banking is a fantastic offer. It is our major differentiator and that is the area of the business we want to focus on.’

Gillespie Mcandrew brought around £150 million in assets to add to Brown Shipley’s £100 million north of the border. The transaction went ‘smoothly,’ Fotheringham said, and almost all Gillespie’s clients have moved over to the enlarged group. It has been much better than expected, pretty close to 100%, he said.