Committed to the businesses of Felixstowe

Blocks' expansion into the UK's largest container port is part of a strategic partnership to help put Felixstowe on the map.

BLOCKS Solicitors has had an office in Felixstowe for many years having acquired the practice of Fison & Co.

Howard Wright joined Blocks in July 2001 with the purpose of establishing a strong commercial presence in Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port. Five years later, his client base is a healthy mix of those he brought with him - and has retained - plus new businesses that have welcomed the opportunity to source their legal services locally.

Blocks has invested heavily in Felixstowe, both in terms of its high street presence and its human resource, providing local businesses with the expertise and experience normally found in a much larger city firm, and the added advantage of a considerable amount of invaluable regional knowledge.

It was part of a strategic decision to invest locally and it's a move that has paid off, benefiting both Blocks and the Felixstowe business community. This is backed up by the Ipswich office, employing over 60 staff.

The port currently provides about a third of the firm's Felixstowe business, mainly transport and freight forwarding, but with expansion of the port this has been growing steadily. Howard believes this is partly due to the firm's 'localness', of which the importance cannot be underestimated.

"In Felixstowe you feel you're part of a community," he said, "and there's an appreciation and recognition of the fact that Blocks has invested commercially in this area."

This is reflected, he says, in the clients the firm has attracted since the office opened.

"The take up by local business is there. It's not just a purely private client base.”

While changes to Felixstowe itself have been subtle in the five years since he arrived, Howard believes there is a conspicuous shift in thinking towards a desire to `put Felixstowe on the business map'.

This is being driven by a partnership between local businesses and a reinvigorated Felixstowe Chamber of Commerce, which has seen a dramatic increase in membership in recent months.

Blocks is part of this move, with a strategy of expansion and increased commercial involvement closely aligned to that of the Chamber.

"My initial reaction to Felixstowe was that it was very much a town of two halves;" said Howard. "It had the high street and there was the dock. The two didn't mix that much until people came into town at lunch time to do their banking." But continued expansion of the Port of Felixstowe, indicating long term financial commitment and increased job opportunities, has seen a more integrated Felixstowe.

As the population expands, the high street is likely to respond with a greater range of retail and service outlets, as well as restaurants and other recreation based businesses.

What this means for Blocks is that the firm effectively has to provide services across a diverse client base that ranges from small high street businesses and sole traders to some of the UK's largest port and logistics companies. The firm's team of experts comprises Howard - believed to be the only full time commercial lawyer in Felixstowe - who is supported by

senior employment specialist Frances Barker and partner and commercial litigator Graham Mead from the firm's Ipswich headquarters. With the continued expansion of the town as a commercial centre, Frances and Graham are devoting more and more of their time to the growing Felixstowe client base.

"Every commercial organisation needs a connection with an employment lawyer," said Frances. "Similarly, if you're a commercial lawyer you need to have links with an employment lawyer because sooner or later you're going to need their expertise.

"We're increasingly taking this team approach to all our clients and it works particularly well in Felixstowe. Our relationships with our clients there are very good.

"We have several large clients based in Felixstowe, who find us very competitive with London firms. They're getting the same level of expertise and experience, but without the costs involved."

For an employment lawyer localness is particularly important. "It can be very important to visit clients on site and get a feel for a place," said Frances. "When you're dealing with relationships between employers and employees it is very helpful to know what the workplace is like."

Frances believes having an employment specialist on their doorstep is proving particularly useful to smaller businesses who might otherwise struggle to keep up to date with continually evolving employment legislation. "Felixstowe employers want to be good employers. Reputation is very important to them - there's not a large pool of employees.

"The same goes for Blocks - our reputation is vital and we need to be high profile."

In smaller communities, legal firms like Blocks are no longer simply there to sort out a problem, but increasingly are a source of information on a range of ordinary, everyday business issues. "Employers want information to reduce risk," said Frances.

People also like to be able to consult an expert face-to-face, which is why regional and small firms like Blocks who have picked up on this are thriving.

"People want the personal touch and you can only get that locally," said Frances. Commercial litigator Graham Mead has been with Blocks for two years and has therefore always been involved with Felixstowe.

"I always have something going on in Felixstowe," he said. This level of activity indicates a corresponding level of prosperity among Felixstowe businesses and a certain determination to doing things properly. "Litigation isn't something you embark on lightly," said Graham. "it requires serious financial commitment and it shows there's strength in the business community." However, Graham's focus is as much on preventing problems for business clients as it is on providing solutions.

Once again, the sheer diversity of the client base in Felixstowe means he can be dealing with issues as diverse as risk assessment for business start-ups to complex shareholder disputes, operator licences for some of the country's biggest hauliers to local licensing for restaurants, pubs and bars, and holiday lets to complex landlord and tenant issues.

"I've formed good relationships with clients who come back time and again," said Graham. "There's a high level of trust, which is important in a community this size. "They know they're getting the same expertise they would from a city firm and that's an inevitable result of the way the practice has evolved as a team of specialists."

Printed with kind permission of Suffolk Business. October 2006.