Last week’s announcement of Fenchurch Law’s transition to an employee ownership model was the realisation of a long-held ambition for managing partner David Pryce (pictured). Having always admired how the John Lewis style of employee ownership shines through in how invested its people seem to be in the long-term success of the business, he said, it was always in his mind that he’d implement the model when the time was right.
Under the terms of the newly formed Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), 60% of Fenchurch Law’s shares will now be owned by its employees. The decision was made early on that everybody in the firm would begin to participate in the EOT from the first day they joined, he said, empowering everyone to have a real sense of ownership in the business.
Fenchurch Law is one of the first within the UK legal sector to adopt this employee ownership model.
“In law firms, it's really common for there to be a feel of ‘us and them’, where you've got all these people over here working very hard to benefit the small number of people over there who are the equity partners,” he said. “To me, that doesn't feel like the way to create the most cohesive, well-functioning team.
“Teamwork is an area we really need to continue to work on but in going for the goal of everybody working together as effectively as possible, we’ve got to do everything we can to remove any feeling of us and them. Since we implemented this last summer, I feel much more comfortable in pushing people to achieve their full potential knowing that everybody benefits from doing that.”
The move to this employee ownership model is part of Fenchurch Law’s commitment to empowering employees to make decisions and to have access to decision-makers. Pryce noted his belief that the best and most innovative ideas in any organisation often don’t come from the most senior people.
Most senior people have been doing their job so long that a little bit of freshness tends to wear off, while those who are coming in at the start of their career might not have the most practical ideas, but they do tend to bring a fresh perspective. As somebody who started the firm in his early 30s, he said, he’s always believed that if you don’t listen to the most junior people in an organisation, you’re essentially cutting yourself off from some of the best ideas.
From his perspective, he said, if there’s any single factor behind how Fenchurch Law is managing to attract and retain the best people at that junior level, it's likely the extent to which they are actively involved in the decision-making process.
It’s in a similar vein that the law firm is making a swathe of other advancements, among them the news that its application for regulatory approval to operate in Singapore has been received. There are a still few administrative pieces to be completed around that, he said, but the process is underway and the team is delighted to be able to set a date for opening in Singapore – earmarked for September 1.
“It’s super exciting and we will be sending one of the UK team out for the first year, but also appointing someone locally to launch it,” he said. “ In order to allow me to focus more on the launch of the Singapore office, as well as more on our strategic [agenda], my role is going to be changing on May 1. I’m moving to become senior partner and my colleague Joanna Grant is going to be the new managing partner of the UK firm.”
It was the completion of the EOT in August of last year that made him realise the time was right to take on a new and more strategic role in the firm, he said, and to cement his own beliefs on the importance of bringing a fresh new perspective to the business in the form of a new managing partner. It’s a time for rejuvenation for Fenchurch Law and Grant’s focus will be on continuing to drive a high-performance culture to help the firm get to the next level in the market.
“Our people are excited about employee ownership, but I would say they’re even more excitement about the prospect of a fresh approach to leadership,” he said. “Because as well as Jo taking over as managing partner, Daniel Robin who heads up our Leeds office is going to be taking on a new role as deputy managing partner supporting her with what she’s doing.
“There’s a real feel within the team that this is a validation of everything we’ve been saying, that everyone has a real input in where the organisation goes next. I think everyone now really feels that this is ours to do with what we want, which really feels quite exciting.”
