Financial services firm agrees Dutch link-up

ALEXANDER Beard Group, an independent North West financial services company, has merged part of its business with a Dutch firm.

Ellesmere Port-based Alexander Beard Group, which has more than 50 staff across its offices in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and California, has agreed a deal to combine its international employee benefits business with Bogaard Pensioen Consultancy, which is based near the town of Hertogenbosch.

The merged entity, to be named Alexander Beard International Benefits BV (ABIB) will have combined revenues of €1m per annum and will be headquartered in The Netherlands, for regulatory purposes, but will continue to operate in its existing locations.

ABIB will continue to focus upon providing employee benefit services, mainly to US-based companies with operations in the UK and continental Europe, as well as serving the respective domestic markets.

ABG’s founder and executive chairman Paul Beard said the move was a “great stategic fit” for his company’s niche employee benefits team, while also benefiting the wider group.

He explained: “I have known Max and Bram Bogaard for some years now and we have been discussing the tie-up for nearly 12 months. Whilst we have a number of international clients whose employees we serve in the UK and Bogaard’s serve in the Netherlands and Belgium, this move gives the ABG brand, as a whole, a new presence in mainland Europe as well as increasing our combined offering both to existing clients and strengthening our proposition in an increasingly competitive market.”

ABG, which was founded in 1987, has annual revenues of around £2m. Its other divisions include: international schools; UK financial planning; acting for clients in the sports; media and entertainment sectors and also looking after retirement plans for staff working for international schools and charities.