The Edward Jones investment firm beat a retreat from Great Britain on Friday, handing off its 300 offices to a British brokerage firm and ending 11 years of losses.

Des Peres-based Jones will take a $70 million charge against earnings, equaling about three months of profits. It will recover part of that through tax write-offs and through a 5 million pound — $8.1 million — payment from the buyer a year from now.

Jones brought its unique business model to the U.K. in 1998, placing single-broker offices across the countryside, aiming to serve the sort of middle-class client that brought it success in America. It didn't work.

"Branches and people in the UK are just very, very expensive," Jim Weddle, managing partner at Jones, said in an interview. "Our business model is not a good fit."

Jones' 1,000 British employees will go to work for the buyer, Towry Law, a privately-held wealth management firm. Jones' 50,000 British clients will become Towry clients, and Towry will take over the offices.

The British brokerage industry is undergoing a transition as the UK's Financial Services Authority imposes new rules on capital and how brokers get paid. The changes will require that many brokers take more training.

Weddle said the changes did not cause the sale. He said Jones already met the capital requirement, although some of its brokers would need more training.

"We continue to believe that individual investors in the U.K. want and need our approach to personal face-to-face investment advice," Weddle said in a news release. "We worked hard to seek a buyer that would ensure our clients' and associates interests would be looked after properly."

Cutting losses was a good move, said Michael Flanagan, an independent analyst on the brokerage industry, based in Philadelphia. "It's a sound strategic decision on Jones' part. There remains opportunity in the U.K., but it is awfully slow in developing."

The purchase is a big move for Towry Law, which will add Jones' $1.5 billion in assets under management to its own $2.8 billion.