Protecting the roots & branches of your business
Posted by Rachel Flower / January 26th, 2017 / No responsesHere at Serenwood we’re on a mission to use our legal skills to deliver jargon free commercial advice – to positively impact small business growth.
The question we get asked most often is “So, are you a law firm?”
To which we reply “No we are not. We’re a business consultancy.”
Why, I hear you ask? The reason is really quite simple.
We believe that there is a huge gap in the market for hands-on, practical commercial advice delivered by people who properly understand the law (and have many years’ experience delivering legal advice) but who also are able to take the time to properly understand your unique business. We aren’t bound by the regulatory environment which law firms (necessarily) have and because of this we are able to act as a trusted advisory and give you a wonderful mix of drafting, negotiation, deal shaping, strategic input and finance support.
Team Serenwood is predominantly (recovering) lawyers who’ve earned their stripes in private practice law firms and large corporates, but we also have procurement, finance and project management experts in our midst. Helping us to deliver “more than the law” to our clients.
Being part of Team Serenwood is refreshing and rewarding. Businesses often need agile, cost effective, practical advice from a commercially savvy advisor that understands the root and branch of your day to day trading. The way we work is to engage directly with the management team to understand your business, warts and all, so we can offer support & solutions to fix problems and proactively grow and protect the business.
For many years, I was a practising lawyer. In an office. Behind a desk. Trying hard to help but finding that the advice I could give and the extent of it too often fell short of what I wanted to deliver. I found that what the client really needed was practical help to solve whatever particular problem they had that day, coupled with a longer term view on how to avoid that problem in the future or learn from it and turn it into an opportunity for growth.
I moved on from private practice to work “in-house” as a commercial advisor … which means I then gained first-hand experience of the dilemma faced by many businesses when it comes to instructing external legal advice. It’s frustrating. The clunky mechanics of a big commercial firm coupled with a very restrictive regulatory environment meant that we often felt that our legal advice amounted to a “detailed risk analysis” rather than practical advice to move issues forward. (And we were being billed silly amounts of money for the privilege!)
Therein lies the crux of the gap that Team Serenwood bridges for our clients. Our team members bring you years of legal training alongside commercial acumen – and a commitment that we will truly get to know your business. We charge affordable rates because we keep our overheads low and our people work flexibly so we are agile and responsive to client needs.
Lawyers are great. No, really, they are. Yes, there’s all the stuff about lawyers being stuffy, unapproachable and the law being a Pandora’s Box of latin phrases, jargon and adversarial aloofness. But in truth the majority of lawyers are hardworking, bright, caring and sympathetic. The problem usually isn’t the lawyer, it’s the environment that the lawyer is in that determines his or her ability to help you.
And that’s why Serenwood chooses to work differently. Fuelled by Yorkshire tea and cake, we offer you the best that a law firm can in terms of legal expertise but in a delivery model that is accessible, friendly and flexible to suit each 
individual client. Our work comes from recommendation. Word of mouth. We have a lot of fun here but we also take our work seriously. We pride ourselves on exceptional service, at a fraction of the cost of a law firm or traditional consultancy. It’s advice that you – the growing business – can really work with to support your success and overcome challenges.
(And you’ll want to recommend us, I guarantee it.)
This is why I joined Serenwood in the first place. I love that I have the ability to really get under the skin of a business, to understand it fully (from root to branch!) and add value in ways that have tangible impact. This is much more satisfying than advising from behind a desk (or from within an ivory tower) and I get to work alongside the people in that business to improve outcomes.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, let us know. Pop in for a chat. We’d love to get to know you and your business.
By Scott Eason
Scott joined the Serenwood team in October 2016, to find out more click here