FEATURE
“ I think it is going to be a very exciting era ahead for Teesside once the pandemic is behind us – there ’ s so much happening in the business world locally .”
fulfilled his ambition of becoming a judge – but the shift also meant we had to plan and recruit for the future .”
Jenn Willamson and Katy Moody joined last year as associate solicitors and have now been promoted to the position of partners on the back of their outstanding contributions .
In total , eight new members of staff have been recruited to Punch Robson over the past year and the firm has benefitted from that .
“ It has been a breath of fresh air to have so many new faces , some of them at the start of their careers and so keen to learn and progress ,” said Elaine .
“ At the same time , we ’ ve also brought in others who have the experience to help us continue delivering legal support to the very highest standards , ones that we have always committed ourselves to .”
The past year has been a learning curve for new members and veterans alike at Punch Robson , as it has been for businesses everywhere .
Elaine reflected : “ At the start of 2020 , the main challenge we saw on the horizon was Brexit – but as it turned out , Brexit came and went and we ’ re still waiting to see if there ’ s going to be any fallout from it .
“ The one thing nobody expected was the pandemic and that completely changed the landscape .”
While the lockdowns meant certain parts of the firm had less work to do , others found they had rarely been so busy .
“ A lot of business owners took the pause in the economy to look at retiring or selling up , so we saw a number of clients needing legal help with the process and all that involves ,” said Elaine .
“ We were busy as well with helping businesses negotiate employment matters when furloughing staff and also supporting their staff should they need to work flexibly .
“ During the pandemic , many people decided it was time to finally get their wills sorted out to ensure that their families were looked after and their businesses taken care of , which is , of course , also a wise thing to do .
“ Sadly , we also saw the most negative side of the situation in terms of our family law , childcare and divorce work , as well as mental health – many relationships didn ’ t make it through the pandemic and those cases where children are involved always have to be handled with as much care and sensitivity as possible .”
Latterly , the practice , like so many others , has been inundated with house buying and selling work as the chancellor ’ s suspension of stamp duty gives a huge spur to the housing market .
“ It has been incredible ,” says Elaine . “ The team has been working flat out to cope with the demand in the housing market across Teesside and beyond .
“ The stamp duty holiday will come to an end at some point but we do have 95 per cent mortgages coming down the line though , so we expect the housing market to remain buoyant for some time to come .”
Housing will continue to occupy the inboxes of the region ’ s solicitors but Elaine is looking forward to the future when the effects of the pandemic eventually start to recede .
“ It will be lovely to get back to face-toface meetings again and people being back in their offices , although obviously , some working from home will remain ,” she said . “ Having meetings in person always helps to build that connection and trust Punch Robson as a firm has thrived on for generations and will continue doing so .
“ I think it is going to be a very exciting era ahead for Teesside once the pandemic is behind us – there ’ s so much happening in the business world locally and we ’ re looking forward to playing our part in looking after the community .
“ It will be a whole new set of challenges , but this time , more welcome ones .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 91