Wealth management and insurance firm Gibbs Denley has completed a merger with Chelmsford-based financial advisers.

It is the latest acquisition for the group, which already has offices in the Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds areas following the previous addition of the Ling Cook business in Bury.

Gibbs Denley’s managing director, Mark Denley, said: “I am delighted to complete this deal. EFM is a perfect fit for us. There is already a huge amount of synergy between the two organisations.”

EFM’s managing director, Jeff Elliott, described the move as “a natural next step for our clients”.

“They will continue to enjoy the expertise and service provided by the existing EFM team, while also benefiting from the additional research capabilities and economies of scale provided by being part of a larger group,” he added.

The enlarged group will now have close to £300million of clients’ assets under direct management.

Mr Denley said: “We see ourselves as one of the larger independently owned financial services groups in East Anglia. “We already have a strong presence in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, so this expansion to include Essex gives us excellent local coverage.”

EFM will continue to operate from its existing Chelmsford offices. Both firms have been at the forefront of innovation within the field of financial services, being among the first in the area to offer their clients the ability to manage their assets on electronic trading platforms.

The group hopes to be able to offer clients of both organisations a Discretionary

Fund Management service later this year, which will provide clients with a more efficient service that can react more quickly to market changes.