'The most impressive business founder I've worked with': Sunderland wealth management firm boss steps down
The founder and deputy chair of Sunderland-headquartered wealth management firm Fairstone has stepped down from the board.
Lee Hartley, who founded the acquisitive group 18 years ago, has stepped back from the board and left the business. Last year he transitioned from chief executive to deputy chair, with Steven Cooper taking the helm.
Fairstone chairman David Hickey said: "I have known and worked with Lee for almost a decade. He is the most impressive business founder I have ever worked with, and the scale and continuing success of Fairstone is a lasting tribute to his abilities as a businessman and leader. I have no doubt his new business in the venture capital sector will be equally successful in the years to come.
"In the meantime, and on behalf of all Fairstone stakeholders, I would like to thank him for his enormous contribution to making Fairstone one of the largest and most trusted wealth managers in the UK and Ireland, and I wish him every success in the future.
"As a business, Fairstone continues to go from strength to strength. We have an excellent CEO in the form of Steven Cooper, a highly experienced and motivated senior management team and exciting plans for further expansion in 2026 and the years beyond."
Last month, Hartley revealed on Linkedin that he was launching Castrius Capital Partners, alongside Scott Hopkinson, which is "a new private capital platform focusing on the North East of England".
He posted: "We’ve set ourselves a fairly major target….bringing £10bn of funding capacity to the region over the next ten years to massively boost growth and create a significant increase in aspiration, ambition and prosperity across the businesses we partner with.
"It won't happen overnight (actually, we won't be live and operational until April) but as with most big undertakings, all we need is just a little patience."