Skipton Financial Services (SFS) has appointed Gareth Barlow as the company’s divisional distribution manager covering the North of England.

Barlow (pictured) was originally with SFS for nine years from 1997, before moving onto AXA Wealth where he stayed for six years.

He has over 26 years’ experience in financial services and has had many different roles within the financial services sector, including financial planning manager, regional manager, national sales manager and head of sales development.

Barlow said: “I am delighted to be returning to SFS and am excited about the opportunity. SFS offers high quality financial advice to customers on the high street which is particularly important given how many organisations have reduced or removed their face-to-face advice offering in recent times.”

Paul Isherwood, distribution director at SFS, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Gareth back to SFS. He made a significant contribution in his first spell with us and, with the wealth of knowledge he has in the industry, he is the ideal person to help us drive the business forward in the coming years.”