The Interview: Paul Berwin on the importance of adaptability

PAUL Berwin is managing director of Harrogate-based law firm Berwins, which recently became one of the first UK law firms to change from a limited liability partnership to a limited company. In this week’s The Interview he reveals why adatability is vital.

What aspects of your job/profession do you enjoy the most?
The feeling of a team enthused, excited by the challenges of the business and working as one with an understanding of the values and driving forces of the business

What key challenges do you anticipate will affect your sector/profession over the next six months?
I think some law firms are just hanging on, hoping things will come right but without having made the adjustments they’ll have had to make. In some cases it’s because they are just too far overcommitted to row back; or that action hasn’t been taken soon enough; or that the levels of business they need are just not going to be there soon enough to get them through. I may be wrong, and I hope I am, but whereas we’ve seen some dramatic effects of recession, I think the corrosive effects are still eating away.

What key skills do you think every entrepreneur should have?
I think you have to be able to put yourselves in the shoes of others – if you don’t, you won’t be able to judge if the product/service meets a need, or if your people are going to come along with you. If you only focus on the money that might be at the end of the project, there’s a big danger – though it’s not inevitable – that by forgetting the human factors, you’ll never get there

Why do you think Yorkshire is a good place to start up/operate a business?
There seems to be an honesty and down-to-earth, realistic quality in Yorkshire which makes it a good place to do business; we’re not without our snake-oil salesmen and spivs, but the people, the resources and the location all work.

If you could improve anything in the region what would it be?
Transport. It’s not a big factor in my business but the limitations of the links from Leeds Bradford Airport are a problem, and rail links from some of the towns to parts of the country other than (sometimes including) London are a disabling factor.

Your views on the recession…
We’ve all learnt a lot, and we’ll learn a lot more. If we haven’t learnt, we’re in trouble. It’ll be a long slow recovery, and I think that the slowness will mean many businesses won’t be able to recover from the damage they’ve suffered.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Treat the work you’re doing now, and the next piece of work, as quite separate – you can’t put off looking to the future because you’re too busy with the present.

And the worst?
I’ve only remembered the advice I’ve valued.

What barriers have you had to overcome in growing your business/developing your career, and if any, can you explain how you overcame them.
When I first opened an office in Harrogate the potential competition thought I was coming in to do cheap, low-service-level work. There was a lot of hostility to cut-price ‘incomers’; but that’s not what I did and I’d like to think that I made an impact by putting service first, being accessible and approachable at a time when lawyers just didn’t think that way.

What was your first job and what did you spend your first wage packet on?
Shifting boxes in a greetings card warehouse during the three day week in the early 1970s. I don’t think I made it to the end of the three days so I didn’t get a proper wage packet, and what I’d got I think I spent on the bus fares to get there and back.

If you could choose to start your career over again would you do anything different and if so what?
If I could start again in the 1980s with today’s technology I’d do brilliantly. Maybe I’d invent the world wide web – but no-one would reply to my e-mails.

Name one item/hobby/gadget you couldn’t give up
Running shoes.