The deal adds £60m of client funds to the group.

Whitman Fry will become part of Loyal North’s regional hub GPFM (Gerald Pepper Financial Management Ltd) which is based in Hertford.

As part of the acquisition, Whitman Fry shareholder and adviser Alison Fry will join GPFM as a senior Financial Planner and continue to deliver Financial Planning to her clients following the transition.

Fellow shareholder and adviser Alex Whitman and shareholder Sara Whitman will both oversee the transition and a handover of clients before retiring from the industry.

GPFM joint managing directors Scott Atkinson & Simon Frost said: “This acquisition will add a further £60m of funds to our business. We felt that there was great cultural alignment in terms of client approach and proposition and so strongly believed that we are the right future home for the clients.”

Alison Fry and Alex Whitman said: “Our business has prided itself on providing excellent Financial Planning, putting our clients at the heart of what we do and that is why the team at GPFM, and the personalised and local approach of Loyal North made them the perfect choice and cultural fit for the future of our clients.”

Debbie Dry, group acquisition director of Loyal North, said: “It was important that the shareholders of Whitman Fry found the best home for their clients and with an existing local firm of scale in the same region, we believed that we were the perfect fit.”

Loyal North manages more than £1.9bn in client wealth nationally and has a strong acquisition pipeline. The group was created to “grow, support, and promote the UK’s best local Financial Planning businesses and build the UK’s best Financial Planning service.”

The group said it acquires firms with strong local branding and leaves the day-to-day management and regulatory responsibility in the hands of local teams, who can retain participation in the ownership of the business.

Last November it acquired Scottish Borders-based Financial Planning firm Sovereign Financial Services for an undisclosed sum to add £60m of client assets to the group.

Last August it acquired Kings Lynn Financial Planning firm Quay Financial Planning for an undisclosed sum.

That month it also acquired West Malling, Kent financial advisory firm Paul Wallis Financial Solutions.

Among other firms acquired by Loyal North in recent years are: Hertford-based GPFM Chartered Financial Planners; Financial Planning and accountancy firm Milsted Langdon Financial Services, which has offices in the South West and North East; H&D Financial Planning; Lowland Financial based in Scotland and MacBeth Currie, also based in Scotland. The firm also runs an online advice and investment platform serving advisers called JustFA.