TWO Darlington companies have joined new financial service provider the Thinc Destini Group.

Hennessey and Partners, which specialised in independent investment advice to retired people, and KWM Consulting, which provides financial advice to individuals and companies, have joined advisors in Thinc Destini's Darlington office, in Grange Road.

Thinc Destini was established in July this year when Thinc Group and Destini Financial Services Group joined forces.

The group has 700 advisors operating from 31 offices across the UK, including York.

A spokesman for Thinc Destini said: "A lot of smaller, high street financial advice companies like Hennessey and KWM find that their clients need access to a greater number of services and specialisms than they can offer.

"They find that by joining a larger group, like Thinc Destini, they can get access to a specialist in anything from mortgage brokering to insurance and general financial planning."

David Hennessey and John Dresser, who set up Hennessey and Partners in 1996, and Nick Millar, Neil White and Simon Atkinson, all of KWM, have remained with Thinc Destini.

Mr Dresser said: "Both companies shared similar values and similar goals and we both felt that those goals - taking on more clients and offering them a broader range of services - were only attainable with the support of a larger organisation."