Fairstone has expanded its presence in Wales with the opening of a hub office in Cardiff, marking a significant step in its long-term growth strategy across the region.
The fast-growing wealth management group’s new base in the Welsh capital extends its network to 12 hubs and more than 40 other offices across the UK and Ireland. The new hub – based in the North of the city close to the M4 motorway and A48 link road – brings together more than 20 staff and advisors previously located in three smaller offices in South Wales and the Welsh Borders.
Each of Fairstone’s hub is evolving into a fully equipped operational centre, replicating head office functions and delivering a full range of services efficiently at a local level. Located at the Vision Court business complex, the Cardiff hub offers state of the art office accommodation and is designed to support Fairstone’s planned expansion across Wales in the coming years.
Fairstone Group CEO, Steven Cooper CBE, said:
“We’re delighted to be expanding our presence in Wales with the opening of our Cardiff hub. This is an important milestone in our plans to build a stronger, scaled presence across Wales, with Cardiff acting as the foundation for further growth.
“Establishing a presence in the Welsh capital is an important strategic step for us as a group as we look to support more families, individuals and business owners in making confident financial decisions. With strong levels of early-stage entrepreneurship in the UK and a well-evolved business support system, Wales is a country with a clear opportunity for long-term growth.
“Our hub offices play a key role in how we operate as a business. They bring colleagues together, support collaboration across teams and ensure clients receive a joined-up service. The opening of our Cardiff hub gives us a strong platform to build from, and we expect it to play an important role as we continue to grow our presence across Wales over the coming years.”
The Cardiff hub now serves more than 4,500 clients located across Wales and the Welsh Borders and manages more than £400m worth of client assets.
Mike Slater, Managing Director for Fairstone’s Central region, said the firm was now looking to substantially increase its presence in Wales.
He explained: “This new hub office provides us with a strong platform for further expansion right across Wales. We are seeing extremely strong client acquisition rates in the region, which reinforces our confidence in the long-term opportunity across Wales. We’ve designed the hub with plenty of ‘growing room’ to accommodate the additional advisers and support staff we anticipate joining us over the next 12 to 18 months and beyond.
“It also gives us dedicated meeting rooms and enhanced client facilities compared to the previous offices from which we operated in the region. Cardiff will act as our core hub, enabling us to build out further across Wales in a structured way as demand continues to grow.
“The hub has been deliberately selected and designed to support sustained organic growth over the next five years, while also providing the capacity to integrate targeted acquisitions where appropriate. It leaves us perfectly positioned to bring trusted, Chartered, independent financial advice to many more people in Wales.”
Statistics from the Welsh Government show that Wales has one of the highest rates of SME and owner-managed businesses in the UK with an estimated 94% of all companies in the country employing fewer than 10 employees.
Wales has also seen record growth in entrepreneurship with Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity rising from 7.8% in 2022 to 11.5% in 2024; among young people, entrepreneurship has risen from 2% in 2002 to 14% in 2024. Fairstone is one of the fastest growing financial services organisations in the UK and Ireland. It operates from more than 50 different locations, employing over 1,350 operational staff and regulated advisers.
Fairstone oversees more than £22 billion in assets under management on behalf of over 65,000 wealth and 60,000 mortgage clients and is one of the most trusted wealth management groups in the UK and Ireland with more than 15,000 reviews on Trustpilot and a 98% client satisfaction rating.
