Blog by Eve Halliday, Trainee Solicitor
Eve Halliday joined Oliver & Co Solicitors in 2021. She shares what it means to her to work for an employee-owned business.
When I started at Oliver & Co in October 2021, I had just left University and was eager to get stuck into the legal sector. And so, the job hunt began. Being local to Chester, I had heard of Oliver & Co and decided to take a chance by sending in a speculative application. After a successful interview, I began working there the following week!
Nearly exactly a year later, it was announced that Oliver & Co were becoming employee owned. I had never heard of the term ‘employee ownership’ before, but the more I understood what it meant, the more I believe that it was a natural progression for the firm. It fit perfectly with the firm’s ethos, reinforcing the feeling of family throughout its employees.
Oliver & Co is a safe space for all employee’s voices to be heard, no matter what their role is. There is a great morale around the office to always strive for new ideas of how to improve, something which I feel the firm really encourages and values.
As well as a positive reaction from employees, our employee ownership has also been welcomed by our clients. It has been a great motivator for the staff to excel in our client service and meet targets. This has created a great collaborative work environment in the office, as we are all working towards the same goal. It is a factor that differentiates us from other law firms in a competitive market.
I feel very fortunate that my first place of work in the legal sector to be in a 100% employee-owned firm and to build my career somewhere that puts its employees at the heart of its business. I am very excited for what the future holds at Oliver & Co!
