A partnership between a Shipley-based insurance broker and a Yorkshire employee benefit and financial planning firm was today hailed as a major coup by company bosses.

Sydney Packett & Sons Ltd's financial services staff have been transferred to Yorkshire Investment Group (YIG), which has also taken over the servicing of the Shipley company's life and pensions clients.

The deal is expected to add more than 20 per cent to YIG's turnover this year and it is hoped it will make the firm one of the region's largest specialist advisers to the corporate and private client market.

Established more than 80 years ago, Sydney Packett & Sons Ltd is still a family-run business - joint directors Andrew and Charles Packett are the grandsons of the company's founder, Sydney Packett.

The firm, based at Salts Wharf in Ashley Lane, is one of the north' s largest independent insurance brokers and employs more than 40 staff who offer advice on insurance and risk management to a wide range of plcs and owner-managed businesses.

Peter Jones, YIG's managing director, said the deal was "an exciting and important development for both businesses".

He said: "Packett is a long-established highly-respected business with blue-chip clients throughout the UK.

"Its life and pensions operation has a strong corporate pensions bias and the business will fit ideally within YIG's current structure and substantially strengthen our resources in this sector of the market at a stroke." Charles Packett, managing director of Sydney Packett & Sons, said: "We are delighted with the deal which will provide continuity of service to the existing client base. "The two businesses will liaise to extend the range of services and benefits for all clients and we look forward to working closely with each other on a number of joint projects in the near future."

As part of the deal Gareth Sawyer, managing director of Sydney Packett (Life and Pensions) Ltd, has been appointed managing director of YIG Consulting, the group's corporate pensions subsidiary.

Yorkshire Investment Group was established in 1987 to provide independent financial advice to businesses and to individuals. It employs more than 80 staff at its offices in Leeds and Pontefract.

Combined personal discretionary and advisory funds under YIG's management now exceed £200 million in addition to its pension funds of more than £100 million.