LEGAL FIRM TO OPEN
SECOND OFFICE IN BEVERLEY – THANKS TO FURTHER BUSINESS GROWTH
James Legal solicitors in Hull is at a ‘another turning
point in our growth’, according to trend-setting Managing Director Nick Miller.
The successful local solicitor and entrepreneur said that, as
a result of its fresh approach to dealing with legal issues, the firm has seen
yet another unprecedented financial growth spurt. Its employee base has also increased
tenfold since 2009, and so it is now preparing to make a another step-change.
And kick-starting that process is the offering of a new Beverley
office, from later this month. Located on the town’s Lairgate, they will be
operating out of premises currently occupied by their sister company James
Financial.
James Legal Solicitor Simon Young, whose hometown is
Beverley, is leading the firm’s expansion into the town, and is among the team
members who will be serving clients from the new base.
He said: “We already work with a number of clients in
Beverley, including several successful local businesses, and we’re looking
forward to delivering enhanced services to them, as well as extending the help
we can offer to more people.”
He adds “Our fresh approach to legal advice has attracted
more and more clients who don’t want the ‘traditional lawyer’ but favour working
with a real person who doesn’t talk jargon, gets them and their business and
wants to walk the journey with them.”
The new Beverley office is just the first step in the firm’s
plans to expand their brand presence over the next 12-18 months, which also
include:
·
Recruiting at least four new people into their
talented team;
·
Expanding into new client areas;
·
Opening up their training area to clients and
contacts, to help support their business growth;
·
Further expanding the James Legal brand through
a range of complementary businesses. It already has financial adviser James
Financial under its umbrella.
·
Expanding its range of services through
multi-disciplinary partnerships, in areas from accountancy to business advice –
in line with its entrepreneurial, ‘walking
with you’ approach to supporting businesses.
James Legal, based in Planet House on Hedon Road, east Hull,
started life in 2009, as a practice of just two solicitors, specialising in
business law. It now employs 21 members of staff, including sevensolicitors, five lawyers, two legal executives, a management PA and an
administrative apprentice.
Its expansion has also led to the firm taking over a second
floor of Planet House, which used to house the KCFM radio station.
James Legal’s founding ethos is based on
taking a fresh approach to law and being ‘people first and lawyers second’.
Nick is passionate about this cause, and the firm’s mission is to help change
some of the less positive perceptions of the legal industry. He believes it is
these beliefs that have contributed to its success.
He said: “We want to be different within the legal industry.
We believe that if our clients are happy and members of our team are happy,
then the financial figures look after themselves. We want to create something
special.
“I get a huge kick out of giving my team the opportunity to be
the best they can be and seeing them deliver great things for our clients.”
Ways in which James Legal aims to be different include
offering direct access to members of its legal team, by email and mobile phone;
approachability; the human touch and talking plain English; as well as transparency
over fees and a staunch belief in doing what is in their clients’ best
interests – even if this is to advise them against taking legal action. They
also have a flexible working culture, which Nick says works well for both his
team and clients, who often need to speak to their lawyer outside of normal
office hours.
Continuing to specialise in business law, his team also
pride themselves in offering a full range of support to clients – with
expertise in all aspects of business development as well as law. At the same
time, they have added a proactive and respected family and personal law team to
complement their commercial specialism, who can help with matters from divorce
and separation – to Wills and probate.
Nick added: “We’re at another turning point in our business.
Our fastest growth has happened in the past two years.
“We’ve had opportunities in the past to grow faster through
methods like acquisition, but we turned them down to date because it’s
important to us that we expand organically and keep true to our founding ethos,
which is all about our commitment to doing law differently.
“It’s also important to us that we take on the right people,
who will champion that ethos. Our driving force is to be the best, not the
biggest – offering the most appropriate, caring advice to our clients. We are
always looking for good lawyers at all levels who want to be given the freedom
to be the best they can be.
“We also believe in encouraging and enabling our people to
develop their potential. As a result, our success is down to our whole team and
something they can all be proud of. I see James Legal as ‘our business’, not
‘my business’ and members of our team are encouraged to contribute their ideas to
our future direction.”
And Nick concluded: “For us, though important for our
strength as a business, success isn’t defined solely by financials, it’s all about
the clients we have and keeping them happy by achieving good outcomes for them.
It’s also about the morale and enthusiasm of the people within our business.
“We’ve had a great deal of success with local businesses and
created a really viable go-to brand and, after a period of consolidation, we’re
now at a point where our growth will take its next natural step.”
For more information,
please contact Tracy Fletcher of By Tracy Fletcher Limited PR via 07983 633385
or bytracyfletcher@gmail.com