Bell Lamb & Joynson Solicitors has reported a record year as it marks its 200-year anniversary as a firm.
Following the start of its financial year this July, the North West solicitors has experienced surges in case volume and turnover, up by 56% and 24% respectively since 2019/2020.
The award-winning firm has also increased its staffing by 33% to 56 team members across all of its legal departments covering residential conveyancing, family law, criminal law, commercial litigation and wills and probate to name a few.
The report comes as the firm’s Runcorn-based team completes an office move, relocating to a new, upgraded space in Millbank House, close to its original workplace. This new facility will complement its locations in Liverpool and Warrington in terms of servicing clients and providing a positive work environment for the team.
Managing Partner of Bell Lamb & Joynson Solicitors Mike Leeman said: “After what has been a difficult and uncertain period, we are delighted with our end of year results which shows an increase in volume of cases and turnover across all of our departments. Delivering such a high volume of work while the team have been operating flexibly with a mix of home and office working is truly a credit to them and is a demonstration of our commitment as a firm to both our employees and our clients. Over the years we have invested in market leading technology that allows clients to work with us digitally whilst allowing the team to benefit from increased agility across all areas.
“We’ve always considered ourselves a pioneering firm in this sense, even pre-pandemic, but recent events have accelerated the process and has given us an opportunity to invest further into the digital client experience at the benefit of everyone involved. We’ve been able to better use our resources to fulfil the work at hand while maintaining our reputation as a firm that puts client care at the forefront.”
Bell Lamb & Joynson Solicitors’ new office space will facilitate staff and client meetings where face-to-face interaction is required while providing a more modern environment to support the firm in maintaining its positive culture, with team wellbeing at the heart of that.
Millbank House includes an open plan workspace, boardroom, interview rooms and a number of breakout areas alongside communal gardens.
Mike added: “Due to the rapid growth of the firm in the last several years, we’ve invested into our team and in the last 12 months alone have brought on 22 new recruits across all departments including three apprentices. With so much uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and what it would mean for the legal sector, it would have been easy for us to minimise our outgoings and simply get through it, but we believe that investing into people and into technology is worth the risk and for us, that’s been the case.
“We’re delighted to be heading into our new financial year and our 200th year in business with a positive outlook and a brand-new office location with upgraded facilities for both staff and clients. We’re still operating appointments on a pre-booked basis as well as continuing to work with clients remotely but our team have enjoyed having flexible working options, balancing working from home with time in the office with colleagues when required.”