A Nottingham-based legal practice has doubled its headcount, increased its turnover by 130%, and is on target to reach seven figures by the end of next year, after its founder completed the Help to Grow: Management Course.
Founded in 2008, Family Law Decisions provides high-quality, cost-effective support services to help individuals and families navigate the England and Wales family court system. This includes a specialism in McKenzie Friends – professionals that accompany litigants in court and throughout legal proceedings but are not solicitors or barristers – across both private child law and non-molestation orders.
Jeff Botterill, founder of Family Law Decisions, knew that he wanted to continue helping people and expand the practice nationally to provide greater support and flexibility for customers engaging in litigation through the UK courts system. However, Jeff lacked the knowledge of the best way to sustainably grow his business. To understand how to best approach his growth phase, he enrolled on the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course, which is designed to help business leaders and senior managers to increase resilience, innovation, and growth.
The course was delivered by Nottingham University Business School – a recipient of the Small Business Charter accreditation that recognises institutions that support small businesses – and gave Jeff the skills he needed to grow the business sustainably.
Since Jeff completed the course, Family Law Decisions has more than doubled its turnover and is on track to hit seven figures by the end of 2024. Jeff has also grown his team from seven to 17 people and plans to continue expanding by bringing on a further 15 paralegals and support staff over the next five years. Botterill said:
“Although the support and services we provide have remained top tier, we’ve wanted to help more people across the UK for some time now. In order to do that, I needed greater knowledge of how to expand my business in a way which could be sustained for the future.
Since graduating from the Help to Grow: Management Course, it’s clear to see the impact it’s had on my business. When I first started the business in 2008, there were just two of us. We have slowly scaled the business over the last 15 years, but the insight I have gained from the course has springboarded both our turnover and talent growth beyond what I thought was possible.
My advice for anyone considering this course is to take the plunge. There’s so much to learn that can help you and your leadership team to really excel. I’m still coming back to plans that I made with my mentor that are now helping me to deliver operational efficiencies across the firm. I’ve no doubt the skills I’ve gained will play a key role in the business’ future growth trajectory.”