Life at First4Lawyers: 2020, what a year…
Life at First4Lawyers: 2020, what a year…
Well, it’s safe to say that 2020 has been an unpredictable year for everyone. Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March, many people up and down the country and indeed across the globe, have faced unprecedented and unexpected challenges and new experiences. With all the negativity and bad news, we wanted to share some positivity as we reflect on the most unusual year.
Pandemic aside, life for First4Lawyers’ employees has been rather eventful and there is much to celebrate. Here’s just some of the highlights from this year…
The First4Lawyers baby boom
The First4Lawyers family has expanded in 2020. It began just before the first lockdown, when our quality control and audit lead, Shonagh, welcomed a baby boy. Later in the year, we have welcomed another baby boy and girl as Katie and Dannii from our claims team became parents for the first time.
We’re also looking forward to welcoming another two arrivals into the First4Lawyers team. Our head of marketing, Andy, and our head of claims, Jax, are both expecting in December and we wish them both the very best of luck on their journey into parenthood.
Moving house during a lockdown… good idea or not?
Despite the restrictions on movement during 2020, three of our marketing team managed to up sticks and move to a new house.
Our head of marketing, Andy finally moved house after a very unforeseen circumstance meant his first move was significantly delayed! Our senior data analyst, Jason, moved into his new property in September, not too far from his previous residence.
Our marketing executive, Charlotte, became a homeowner for the first time too, a whole nine months after starting her property search and having lived in four houses throughout the year. She most definitely wouldn’t recommend trying to purchase a house during a pandemic!
Personal staff achievements
Our staff haven’t dwindled away their time during the lockdown and have used to it to do positive things and better themselves, both personally and professionally.
Professional development has been a focus for some members of the team:
- Carrie, senior digital content specialist – having found herself with more free time over the summer, Carrie signed up an SEO course offered by a marketing agency to enhance her skills. Being a content specialist, the course has allowed her to strengthen her knowledge, particularly around more technical elements such as site speed and sitemaps.
- Donna, head of personnel – Donna is currently studying for her Level 5 Intermediate Diploma in Human Resources Management, which is the equivalent of an undergraduate degree at University level. After starting the course in March 2020, she has completed and passed four of the eight units and will finish her studies in May 2021, where she can go on to progress her qualifications further.
- Shelley, senior marketing communications manager – Shelley has completed her first year Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) CPD and is currently studying for her second assessment in Spring 2021, after which she will become a Chartered Marketer.
On a personal level, our senior data analyst Jason almost ran his first ever half marathon, although he had to cut it short to stop himself being late for work!
Business round-up
First4Lawyers as a business has also seen a number of achievements and reached some extremely positive milestones in the face of adversity.
In January, we kicked off the year with a recruitment drive and welcomed three new advisors, Laura, Dannii-Louise and Emily to our claims team.
Just before the lockdown came in March, we welcomed back Nick as head of business development and Shelley as our senior marketing communications manager as well as Jason who joined the First4Lawyers family in the newly created role of CRO Manager.
In August, our claims advisor Lauren made a new First4Lawyers record after being awarded top scoring Trustpilot advisor for the 12th month in a row. A fantastic achievement that shows real dedication to her role and the business!
October was a strong month for First4Lawyers. We hit our 10,000th customer review on Trustpilot, ranking third in the legal service providers category and ending the year with a Trustscore of 4.9, which just shows the hard work our claims team put in to ensuring our customers remained unaffected when we transitioned to home working. We also welcomed Katie to our claims team as claims team leader and Steve to our marketing team as senior digital marketing and SEO manager.
We also launched our brand-new industry white paper in October. As a result of circumstances, we were unable to launch via our usual platform of the PI Futures Conference and so we ran our very first webinar and received more than 200 registrations!
In November, our claims team strengthened once again. One of our long-standing team members, Mel, was promoted to assistant head of claims, a brand-new role which reflects her dedication and continued commitment to her role. We also welcomed Chris to the team as claims team leader. We also sponsored the prestigious (virtual) PI Awards showing our continued support for the industry, at which our head of business development, Nick, presented the award for Clinical Negligence Lawyer of the Year. The team watched the ceremony as well as having a Zoom party with a take away provided by the Directors as a thank you for all the hard work over the past year.
Finally, we are proud to have supported our local community throughout the pandemic. Following the launch of our white paper, we donated £500 to The Welcome Centre, a Huddersfield food bank charity who support hundreds of families. With Christmas being one of their busiest times of the year, the staff at First4Lawyers have shown their continued support and raised £150, which the board agreed to round up to £1,000, meaning that we have donated £1,500 to the local charity in 2020.
Wow, what a year! It certainly hasn’t been plain sailing, but it is satisfying to look back on 2020 and focus on all the positives. Well done to the First4Lawyers team and all the achievements this year.
