In depth: Coastal firms - riding the tide

The last knockings of the Indian summer are now done, and the tourists have long since packed up and gone home. Yet the legal sector in England and Wales’ coastal towns and cities never goes quiet for winter. While some firms have consolidated and moved to bigger centres inland, a healthy number like to be beside the seaside.

At Essex firm Thompson Smith and Puxon, the management team, including chief executive Sean Stuttaford, had the option to close a Clacton office and centralise 15 miles away in Colchester. However, the business instead opted to undergo a refurbishment and keep a coastal base.

‘It was so important to keep our ties to the area – it’s disingenuous to ask people to bring their work to us but not have a proper office,’ Stuttaford said. ‘We wanted to stay in the town and invest in it. It is not nostalgia; it is a vote of confidence. There is money coming in from central government and also a lot of affluent areas around here that are not covered by the media.’

Stuttaford admitted that the town’s media image makes recruitment a challenge, and Clacton is notable for having an older population than most.

‘It would be totally wrong to see it as somehow easier,’ he added. ‘You have to accept that you work in a slightly different way. For some clients, face-to-face is simply their preference. They want to come into the office, sit down with someone and deal with their legal matter in person. But the quality of work we’re doing shows you can have a serious professional career in Clacton, and you don’t need to start here and then move on.’

'Staff are not here because they cannot work anywhere else. They are here because they like working here. We have people who drive past other towns to come in. It is an antidote to what people on the outside perceive'

Further down the coast, Kent firm Boys & Maughan has offices in Margate, Birchington and Ramsgate. The area has been rejuvenated by an influx of people predominantly from London. The firm has plugged into this.

Senior partner Andrew Baker said: ‘While there are challenges in running a firm with regional offices, there is definitely a demand locally for the services we have to offer. Our offices in Canterbury are more of a regional centre, and it is interesting balancing the needs of the different offices. Even the needs of one seaside town which has a predominantly retired population can be very different from the needs of another which has a younger and more working demographic.

‘We work hard to sell the attractiveness of the area to new recruits, and we recruit locally, through Kent University at Canterbury and sometimes we have people come from further afield.

Many who work here live locally and have either grown up locally and returned after university, or people have moved to the area for the lifestyle.’

Stuttaford stressed the importance of treating every employee equally, whether they are based in a regional centre or at a coastal branch office.

‘The value that people add to the business doesn’t change based on their geography. It would be counter-intuitive to say that if people are in a smaller office, they will be paid less,’ he added.

There is no denying the economic pressures on coastal communities. Government reports have highlighted large numbers of young people leaving towns because of a lack of jobs, while there are areas with high unemployment and deprivation. Law firms struggle to meet the demand for legal aid work because it is unsustainable.

But there is optimism among coastal firms as they promote the unique benefits of working by the sea.

Baker said: ‘We do have people commute from further in Kent, especially along the north Kent coast where travel links are good. We promote the benefits of working by the sea, including the fact that people can walk to the beach during their lunch hour, and we sometimes organise staff lunchtime walks to make the most of the area.’

Stuttaford added: ‘Our staff are not here because they cannot work anywhere else. They are here because they like working here. We have people who drive past other towns to come in. It is an antidote to what people on the outside perceive.

‘Once the lawyers are here and see our office and feel the town, you can’t get them to leave. I love the fact you can wander down to the beach and have a bag of chips or an ice cream – that location is a real part of the selling point for us.’