Hopwood, who was also a director of West Bromwich Financial Planning, has left the business after four years.

West Bromwich announced a partnership with Towergate Financial to provide its clients with independent financial advice in the beginning of the year.

The deal saw all of the building society’s advisers move to Towergate, although they are still operating out of West Bromwich’s branches.

The partnership was unrelated to Hopwood’s exit, a spokesperson for West Bromwich said, as the advice business was “only a very small part of Hopwood’s responsibilities”.