Brown Shipley names new Birmingham head

Brown Shipley has made the latest in a string of top regional appointments by naming Anne Brookes as head of its Birmingham office.

The private bank has been making a concerted effort at building out its top team, with hopes of following through on an ‘ambitious’ plan to grow assets and build out regional offices.

Brown Shipley poached Brookes and two colleagues from Coutts’ Birmingham office in January 2011. The trio were tasked with building out the bank’s presence in the city, and Brookes, who had 30 years’ experience under her belt, was seen as a high flier in the region.

Commenting on the hire, Julian Hardiman, who was recently promoted to the newly-created head of private banking role, said Birmingham was a big part of Brown Shipley’s expansion strategy.

‘Anne has over 30 years of private banking experience – of which the past 10 years have been at a senior level,’ he said. ‘Birmingham and the Midlands remain important to our overall strategy and Anne’s appointment is a reflection of this.’

Brown Shipley recently signalled plans to grow north of the border with the appointment of Charles Fotheringham as head of its Edinburgh branch. At the time he said the business hoped to exploit some of the ‘turmoil’ facing other local players.’