‘At some point you’ve got to involve a lawyer’

Raworths Solicitors has a new managing partner, Simon Morris.

Having worked for the Harrogate-based firm for 20 years, he sat down with TheBusinessDesk.com on a sunny day in the town to talk about the future of the business.

“It feels very positive at the moment. You know, it helps that the sun is now shining and the daffodils and the crocuses are out on The Stray in Harrogate. As a firm we’re in a good and very positive place.

“You almost feel guilty saying that you’ve had a really solid two years. You feel you should whisper it but the reality is 95% of our client base have had a really solid two years, their finances and their businesses are in as good a shape as they have been for a long time. And we’re no different.”

Morris is upbeat as he talks about the journey noting that a lot of work and investments the business has made into its culture and people have “really come into their own”.

It’s a point that many in professional services have echoed recently.

He adds that although the business has been busy throughout the pandemic he highlights it’s clearly been “hard work for two years” but that now he and the team feel “vindicated” by a lot of the changes the firm has made to support its people.

In terms of changes the firm has made he says the focus has been on the environment people are working in.

“We’ve not seen as much attrition as other people and a lot of that is because we’ve got good people doing good work for good clients in a good environment. And with that trinity, anything’s possible. So, the focus at the moment for us is on is on that environment.”

He notes it’s easy to obsess about what that environment looks like but he believes good people can figure out the balance and as such it’s the senior leaderships job to “enable them to do that”.

In fact, he explains one of the strengths of the firm’s physical environment is its base in Harrogate which as he highlighted earlier offers picturesque outside spaces but also being based in one office creates a united culture.

“We’ve only ever been in one building, and that has always been strategic and very deliberate. We could have opened in Ilkley we could have opened in York, and a lot of very wise people said we should have done that but to us that immediately dilutes the culture.”

As the conversation moves on to the business and it’s growth and future plans Morris notes his journey of 20 years has mirrored that of Raworths, with him joining to help create a firm with a balance of both a credible commercial practice and a strong private client offering.

“I think – 20 years ago – we looked around at a marketplace and you’d see commercial firms who are very good commercial firms and would do a little bit of private client work or you’d see private client firms that when pushed would have a little bit of a go at commercial, but nobody genuinely having a competent and credible private clients and commercial offering.”

It’s this duality he says which is key to the business.

“When you look at your target client base, which is SMEs, entrepreneurs, and family owned businesses, they are running commercial businesses and also living their private lives and the two of them merge. So it made absolute sense to have this sort of dual and properly integrated offering.”

Looking ahead Morris notes the plan is to develop that offering further. He explains as a business they’re seeing a lot of clients in the wake of the past 24 months considering what they want out of life.

He smiles when approaching the question of what do clients want out of life, whether on a personal or business level, saying “at some point you’ve got to involve a lawyer”.

As the conversation comes to a close we move to the talk of devolution and the possibilities for York and North Yorkshire – a topic which James Farrer, North Yorkshire LEP COO said having a devolution deal and a mayor puts you in the Premier League, as it gives you a direct conversation with central Government”

Morris says the idea excites him and that the potential for devolutions is fantastic as like a business the ability to get everyone in a room together and make a decision quickly and get on with it can be very powerful.

He adds: “The biggest question you’ve got is you’ve got to have good people doing it [delivering devolution] because just like in business If you’ve got the right calibre of people, then they can do great things and I think there’s a huge opportunity.”

Looking to the rest of 2022. Morris notes it’s important for businesses to not get distracted.

“People sometimes say you have to take risks, but take risks at the right time. As a cautious lawyer, I’d say if the world is looking uncertain, and prices look like they’re going up, focus on the basics. Make sure that you’ve got a real control of your costs, you know what’s important to your business, and don’t try and break the mould until you know you’ve got a platform and an idea what the future looks like but when you have a bit of clarity leap forward with the vision/idea/project.”

But despite being cautious he’s also optimistic about the trajectory of the firm and its clients.

“For us as a firm it’s all about continuation and always improving. To a degree that’s going to mean more resilience which equally means a larger size probably but the future for us is embedding our position as the top of our marketplace and being the place that you come if you’re in the north of England, or further afield and you want the top private client and commercial firm because you’re an entrepreneur, SME or family business!”