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A Cup of Tea With... Ashton Hunt, Group MD at Tees, reveals how his thriving legal firm offers financial advisory services for the 21st century
Cambridge Edition: How long has Tees Law been in Cambridge? Ashton Hunt: Tees has a rich heritage spanning over 100 years, with more than 400 professionals working from six offices across the east of England – including in Cambridge – where we’ve had an office for 16 years. Tees offers a full range of legal and financial advisory services for businesses and private individuals. CE: Can you describe your typical client profile? AH: We help a wide range of clients, from first-time house buyers to wealthy landed estate owners and everyone in between. We act for the individual in private legal and financial matters such as divorce, buying and selling property, wills, probate and planning for retirement. We also act for the business community, including public bodies and institutions, independently owned businesses, larger corporations and a broad range of agricultural, rural and landed estate owners. CE: Tell us about how you approach client relationships? AH: We take a personalised approach and have invested heavily in taking the stress
out of many of our legal services. For example, buying a house can be one of the most stressful experiences, often born out of poor communication. We have devised a process-driven approach to buying and selling a house, using technology that prioritises communication to ensure our clients are not left in the dark at any point. CE: What are the most significant legal trends or changes in regulations that are impacting your clients? AH: Our legal and financial services are regulated by two different bodies, the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). Both of these organisations are there to maintain and improve client service and experience, such as the recently introduced FCA Consumer Duty and the anti-money- laundering obligations imposed by the SRA to ensure clients are who they say they are, and that they can clearly demonstrate their sources of wealth. CE: What role does new technology play in offering solutions? AH: Tees has always been an early adopter of cutting-edge technology to provide an effective and efficient service for our
PEOPLE FIRST Ashton’s leadership style focuses on understanding both client and team needs
clients, starting as far back as the early 90s and moving from what was predominantly a paper-based service – as many law firms were – to desktop solutions. Now, more widely, we use up-to-date software to introduce process flow efficiencies, effective sharing of documentation with clients, payment solutions and data management, for example. The next phase will be the implementation of AI-based solutions to further improve efficiencies. CE: What’s your vision for the future of the firm? AH: Tees has worked hard over the last 15 years to develop a modern, 21st-century practice offering legal and financial services ready to take on the challenges for our clients of the future. We have a well thought out and ambitious growth strategy, and continue to invest in our people, our technology and our partners. If you are looking for any legal or financial services support and would like to get in touch with Tees, visit teeslaw.com
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK DECEMBER 2024 37
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