UK private bank Brown Shipley has set up an Edinburgh office and plans to expand aggressively over the coming 18 months. But is Scotland’s talent pool deep enough to support yet another new player?

Brown Shipley has poached Graham Auld and Victoria Drysdale from Deutsche Tilney to run its Edinburgh office and says it has ambitious plans to expand north of the border.

John Williams, the firm’s private client divisional director, says: “Edinburgh is clearly an influential and exciting financial centre and it is logical for us, as a private bank, to have an office in the city. This will become an important location for us.”

The private banking space has been a hive of activity in Scotland this year. Standard Life Investments and HSBC both started wealth management divisions in Edinburgh, while Adam & Company posted pre-tax profit growth of £20.7m in April.

Richard Fletcher, managing director of headhunters Fletcher Jones, says: “Most private banks and wealth managers have been in growth mode – largely due to an increase in the pool of wealth in Scotland – and I don’t think many are overly concerned with fluctuations in the market.”

But with all this recruitment, could Scotland’s private banks find themselves needing to tap talent elsewhere, or even in different sectors? In the City, the likes of UBS and Credit Suisse have been transferring M&A bankers across to private banking.

Could Scotland’s wealth managers soak up some corporate banking refugees?

Joanna Black, partner at headhunters Black Appointments, says: “The technical skills are fairly transferable. But it might be a different kettle of fish if the banks are looking for someone with existing contacts. However, some corporate bankers can provide this.”

Fletcher agrees: “If you look at the banks who do both corporate and private – such as HSBC or Bank of Scotland – then they tend to share the leads.”