A blog by Jessica Bowler, Paralegal
Jessica Bowler, one of Oliver & Co’s newest recruits, works in our Industrial Disease team as a Paralegal. Here she shares her thoughts about how it has been starting her role at Oliver & Co at such an important point in its history.
I began working at Oliver & Co Solicitors in August 2022, just prior to the announcement of its transition into being an employee owned trust. Beginning a new role in a new organisation can be very daunting and although it was an exciting time for me, it was inevitable that I felt nervous.
However, the nerves began to melt away when I felt welcomed from day one and it was not long before I felt like part of the Oliver & Co family. This feeling was then further enhanced when the announcement came that we were becoming employee owned. I felt that I was now working in a business that really cared about its employees and was willing to put this into positive action.
When I was being interviewed for the role at Oliver & Co, the interviewers told me that there were exciting things in the pipeline for the employees of the business. However, I did not imagine that the exciting developments would be that I would be part of Chester’s first employee-owned law firm.
I am very proud and excited to be part of this small part of history. I hope that we become an example to other law firms and businesses in the area that becoming employee-owned is a great way to motivate, excite and value your staff.
We are already seeing the benefits of being an employee-owned trust after having our first profit share payment just in time for the Christmas period. Additionally, you can feel in the office that it has lifted everyone’s feelings of self-worth knowing that no matter what level you are in the business, or no matter your seniority or experience, we are all in this together equally.
The collective excitement for the future has further cemented the sense of the Oliver & Co family which I have felt from the first day I started working here. And I’m sure this feeling will continue.
