FEATURE
Legal adoption
Jane Armitage , the new Tees Businesswoman of the Year , talks to PETER BARRON about her career – and presents a strong case for Teesside
PICTURES BY GRAEME ROWATT
A
lmost 30 years after moving to Teesside , Jane Armitage can still vividly recall the moment she sensed she had come to a special place .
Jane had become a new mum , happily settled in Bristol , when her chemical engineer husband , Paul , was offered a new role up north with ICI . There were natural anxieties about uprooting at such a pivotal time , but she was quickly reassured when she visited a shopping centre soon after the relocation .
“ I was pushing a baby in a buggy , and I was taken by how people were opening doors and talking to me ,” she recalls . “ As an outsider , I felt an immediate friendliness and warmth that has always stayed with me .”
Three decades on , as managing partner of Stockton-based Jacksons Law Firm , Jane is the newly-crowned Teesside Businesswoman of the Year , having been recognised for her inspirational contribution to the area ’ s business community .
“ I think I can claim to be an adopted Teessider now , don ’ t you ?” she laughs .
“ This is such a special part of the world – close to the coast and the moors , and there are so many exciting things happening – I just love it ,” she adds with the kind of positivity she ’ s become known for .
And yet , Jane spent her early life as a committed southerner . Born in Beckenham , her first home was Upper Norwood , in South London . Her father , John , was an industrial accountant , while her mother , Ann , worked as a food tester . The couple met on a train , on the way to work , and went on to have three daughters , with Jane being the eldest .
The only downside of a happy childhood was the number of times the family had to move due to her father ’ s determination to climb the career ladder , with Guildford , Norfolk , and Devon all becoming temporary homes .
Jane was always a studious child – a “ goody twoshoes ” according to her sisters – with early signs of leadership skills coming to the fore when she joined the Girl Guides . She shone during the camps , and diligently worked her way to earning The Queen ’ s Guide Award . The highest honour in Girl Guiding , it was an award-winning sign of what was to come .
Having enjoyed history and modern languages at school , she decided she might one day like to work abroad , for the European Union , and a careers teacher suggested that law might be a suitable vehicle to take her there .
Work experience with a family friend , who had a solicitor ’ s office , in Torquay , whetted her appetite , and when she earned a place to study law at Bristol , she became the first member of her family to go to university .
From there , she went to Guildford School of Law to take her professional exams , then landed a job as a trainee solicitor at a firm back in Bristol . After the two-year training period , Jane gained four years ’ invaluable experience as a commercial property solicitor , before ICI came up with the opportunity for the family to move to Teesside in 1992 .
With a second child having arrived , Jane set up a business from home , carrying out remortgaging
The voice of business in the Tees region | 21