Honister Capital Limited – Administrators appointed
Posted on:
03
Jul
2012
by James Farmer
IFA Businesses to Close
Nigel Morrison, Alistair Wardell and Richard White of Grant Thornton UK LLP have been appointed joint administrators of Honister Capital Limited (“Honister” or “the Group”) together with its wholly owned subsidiaries Sage Financial Services Limited (“Sage”), Honister Partners Limited (“Honister Partners”) and Burns-Anderson Limited (“Burns-Anderson”) and its subsidiary B-A Financial Limited (“BAF”). The appointment of administrators is at the instruction of the Directors of Honister.
All companies operate within the Independent Financial Advice sector, and they consist of over 900 self-employed financial advisors, with services provided by 190 employees of Honister. Honister is based across three main locations, in Bristol, Hull and Macclesfield.
Over the last few years Professional Indemnity Insurance costs have increased to unsustainable levels, driven mainly by large claims relating to historic business and, to a lesser extent, wider industry issues. This has had a material impact on regulatory capital requirements and the company’s ability to trade. No customer of the Group should be disadvantaged by the administration, in that the contracts that underpin the financial services sold by the Group are between the customer and the financial service provider, not the Group. The Group does not hold any client monies.
The Directors of the Group have been attempting to arrange the sale of Honister and its subsidiaries to a third party in order to provide continuity of services for customers as well as the continued operation of the IFA businesses and employment for its staff. Unfortunately despite considerable efforts from all parties it has not been possible to achieve a sale.
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