Towergate acquired John Charcol from administrators
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Ian Darby, CEO of Towergate Financial, has revealed that the company acquired mortgage brokerage John Charcol through the administrators Grant Thornton last night.
Speaking on a conference call this afternoon, Darby confirmed that money has changed hands on the deal but could not confirm how much Towergate had paid for the brokerage.
He says that the opportunity for Towergate to buy John Charcol first arose eight days ago.
John Charcol’s staff, assets, brand, customers and services were acquired by Towergate overnight last night.
But Darby did not confirm whether all of the brokerage’s liabilities were part of the deal.
Mortgage Strategy revealed earlier today that Towergate Financial, the financial advisory business of the Towergate Partnership, had acquired John Charcol.
Under the terms of the deal, all John Charcol staff and directors will be making the move to Towergate Financial.
Darby says it will also be reviewing John Charcol’s single-tie protection arrangement with Legal & General.
It emerged this week that a separate company, John Charcol 2010, has been listed on Companies House.
The firm was incorporated on February 2 and its certificate of incorporation lists Tracy Lee Plimmer as company director.
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Readers' comments (17)
colin | 23 Feb 2010 4:24 pm
from administrators ??..wasn t aware in was in receivership ?...that seems to have flown under the radar. Does the FSA know ??
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adrian | 23 Feb 2010 4:31 pm
Sorry, i can't help myself Colin, but where have you been the past 3 years? IF they were in receivership, of course the FSA wouldn't know.
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 4:40 pm
As Obama once said, it's like in a pig in lipstick. Dress it up anyway you want, it's still a pig
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 4:40 pm
whats all this about then ??.....the great John Charcol was about to go down the pan ???........another mess that poor brokers who are awaiting case to complete may lose out on!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 4:42 pm
I agree - I didn't know that Charcol was in administration someone had kept that quiet! Perhaps explains why Mr Boulger has been quiet of late.
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 4:52 pm
yes indeed, Mr Boulger has been somewhat quiet of late. This market shake out still has some legs to run.......those that can survive 2010 will be well placed to reap the rewards of 2011 onwards. At this rate the advisers count will be less than 10,000.....a 66% cull in numbers
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Andy | 23 Feb 2010 5:01 pm
As an ex-John Charcol adviser (like quite a few people in the industry) I'm genuinely saddened to hear this news. Without Ian Darby's Charcol connections I very much doubt anyone else would have stepped in to save the company. It's an almighty fall from grace and if this can happen to another one of the big boys and the self proclaimed "independent mortgage experts" then it really does hammer home the point that the days of the independent mortgage broker are numbered. I agree with Anon 4:52pm - another 12 months of a stagnant mortgage market coupled with RDR/MMR will complete the cull and bank based mortgage advisers will rule!
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Shame | 23 Feb 2010 5:01 pm
Not good. But at least Darby and Garfield have done very nicely in the ownership recycling programme and hopefully this latest intervention will enable the brand to survive.
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 5:15 pm
Andy, I disagree, the independent broker will survive but the juggernauts of Charcol etc are not geared to cope with the new market......too many chiefs and big salaries to pay....the winners in this will be the smaller outfits 3-5 advisers. Joe Public will rather see a broker on a reco than go to the bank to be interviewed by some oik!!!!!!
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 5:43 pm
Charcol is a very big brand with no earning potential behind it. With the amount of money it has burned it the last ten years it would have been cheaper to pay all the stay at home for the entire period. Not a criticism of the staff, but it is a business model that just doesn't work.
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