Jobs set to go in PMS and Bankhall deal

22 october 2009 | By Nicole Blackmore, Lee Jones

Sesame’s acquisition of Bankhall and PMS from Skandia has been completed but the network has warned that redundancies are likely.

The deal, first announced in July, combines the UK’s biggest IFA network and support services firm.

Sesame says the combined business will create a network of 3,000 appointed representatives and 1,500 directly authorised firms plus the UK’s biggest mortgage club.

Questions were raised over whether the deal would go ahead after Resolution agreed the acquisition of Sesame’s parent company Friends Provident and it was unclear whether distribution would be core to Resolution boss Clive Cowdery’s consolidation plans.

Sesame executive chairman Ivan Martin will be executive chairman of Sesame Bankhall Group and Sesame sales and marketing director Stephen Young has been appointed chief operating officer.

Martin says the full senior management line-up has yet to be finalised.

He says: “When you put businesses together that are the size of Bankhall and Sesame, clearly the rationale is there are some duplications and some synergies that can be achieved.

“But it would be wrong for me to comment on the detail of that and we have to consult with our people before we can comment.”

Martin insists that the three individual business brands will be retained under the Sesame Bankhall umbrella.

He says: “Sesame will be the network brand, Bankhall the services proposition to directly regulated advisers and Premier Mortgage Services will remain the mortgage club.”

The sum paid by Sesame has not been disclosed. The total gross assets of the Bankhall Group were £11.8m at the end of June while 2008 turnover was £16.8m.

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