Solicitors banking on advice centresBy Sue Allen Solicitor-owned financial advice centres could be springing up across the country by the end of the year, it has emerged.The centres are the brainchild of Solicitors for Independent Financial Advice (SIFA) director Ian Muirhead.

If successful, the scheme will see the establishment of a nationwide string of solicitor-owned financial advice centres opening under the franchise banner of the Solicitors Financial Centres (SFC).

At present, Mr Muirhead said about 15 key specialist solicitor/financial advice firms have already backed the idea in principle.

Although initially targeted at firms providing financial advice in-house, all firms in a designated geographical area will be invited to buy an interest in the centres, to which they will be able to refer clients.

In what is described by Mr Muirhead as a complete franchise package, the local SFC centres will be able to rely on SFC head office back-up for expertise to deal with compliance requirements and marketing as well as financial and business planning.

The project will also be backed by a new software package, Fincenta, which has been developed by SIFA and software company Exchange FS.

Continued from page 1 Mr Muirhead said he intended the solicitor-IFA-operated centres to act as joint ventures with local law firms, which were increasingly being required to address the financial dimension of their work.

Jeffrey Saul, financial services manager at Exeter law firm Dunn & Baker, said he hoped solicitors would be more comfortable introducing clients to the independent centres where poaching would not be an issue.

Duncan Jackson, a solicitor-IFA at Peterborough firm Buckle Mellows, said that the centres would provide a 'big opportunity' for firms as a whole.

'There has been a reluctance amongst firms to get involved in finance advice because of cultural differences,' he said.Law Society President Michael Napier said: 'We are in favour of a plan like this because it's a way of keeping financial services within the solicitors profession.'It gives solicitors the chance to keep offering financial services for the benefit of their clients.'