Broadstone Group, an employee benefits and pensions consultancy, has bought CSFS which was subject to a £2m management buyout less than three years ago. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool employee benefits advisory business CS Financial Solutions (CSFS), which was subject to a £2m management buyout less than three years ago, has been acquired by a national firm.

Broadstone Group, an employee benefits and pensions consultancy and independent trustee business, has bought CSFS for an undisclosed sum and will add the 20 Chapel Street operation to it UK network which also includes offices in London, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Falkirk.

Equity investment

Founded in Liverpool in 1934 as part of the Griffiths & Armour Insurance Broking practice, the business was sold to Charles Stanley in 2008.

In June 2016 chief executive Paul McGuckin, managing director Craig Williams and commercial director Colin Nicol, bought the company from Charles Stanley backed by a £1.4m equity investment from Liverpool loan and equity provider MSIF.

At the time of the MBO it employed 50 people and had an annual turnover of around £3.5m. It offers financial services advice to corporate clients and their employees on a variety of employee benefit schemes including healthcare, death in service, income protection, flexible benefits, and pensions.

Ambitious plans

Paul McGuckin said: “Being an integral part of a larger, innovative organisation with ambitious growth plans and the resources to deliver will mean that we can continue to offer our clients the very best product solutions and service.

“For our staff it means that they can benefit from the significant career and development opportunities that come with working for a market-leading organisation.”

The CSFS team will serve Broadstone’s client base across the UK and internationally, through the Assurex Global network.

Experienced staff

Broadstone Group chief executive, Grant Stobart, added: “This is an exciting acquisition for us and brings additional capabilities and  additional experienced staff and scale that will help ensure that we remain truly competitive in the provision of innovative employee benefits solutions in a competitive market that is seeing significant consolidation.

And Marion Savill, portfolio director at MSIF, added: “CSFS has a longstanding reputation for delivering excellent service to its clients. It has built on that reputation and further developed its service offering during its time as an independent company and MSIF is proud to have supported the business over that period.