After completing an English degree at the University of York in 1972, I undertook the legal professional exams, and was articled to Slaughter and May in the City of London.  I qualified as a solicitor and joined Slaughter and May’s private client group in 1976.

In 1979, my wife and I decided to move to Norfolk, and I was offered a job at Mills & Reeve, in Norwich, becoming a partner two years later.  For 25 years I was a partner in Mills & Reeve, initially doing general private tax planning, trust and property work, but for the last 15 years concentrating on the agricultural sector.  As a lawyer, one of the attractions, as well as the challenges, was the need to keep learning about new areas of law, as both the law itself and our practice developed. 

Throughout my time as a partner I was involved in management in some form, including four years, as head of the private client group, on the executive board.  I saw the firm develop from a single office practice with a turnover of under £3 million to a multi-site practice with a turnover of £50 million.

I was always interested in the soft skills side of the business and conscious that we were not making the most of our people at all levels.  In 2001 I went to a talk by Sir John Whitmore ,a leading UK business coach.  His description of business coaching touched a chord in me, and seemed to offer a way of addressing this issue.  With Mills & Reeve’s support, I undertook an MSc in Coaching and Development at the University of Portsmouth. 

In 2006 I retired as a partner and started practising as a business coach.  Mills & Reeve remains my largest client, but I work with a range of professional practices including:

Mills & Reeve

Linklaters

Berwin Leighton Paisner

Lovewell Blake

Argents

Brown & Co

Savills

David Bolton Partners

I am a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and was in the first cohort of coaches to be accredited by that body as a Senior Practitioner Coach.  I abide by the EMCC code of ethics which can be found at www.emccouncil.org/fileadmin/documents/EMCC_Code_of_Ethics.pdf

As a coach my principal interest is in encouraging my clients to realise more of their potential in their careers. 

Specific areas on which I have worked with professionals, both one to one and in groups, include:

• Encouraging individuals to take control of their careers by articulating what they want to achieve and then working towards doing so.
• Working with leaders on clarifying goals, both for themselves and their teams, and finding the means of achieving them.
• Helping partnerships describe what behaviours and qualities are needed from partners, and then using that as a measure both in assessing themselves and selecting new partners.