The Property Pod
Christmas Jumper Day
With Christmas just around the corner, we’ve taken a look back at 2021 and reflected on what has been an extraordinary year for the firm. At Attwells, our company values are positive, personal, progressive and professional and we are proud to say that all our achievements this year have been just that. This is our 2021 year in review.
Externally, we have assisted clients with matters spanning different areas of law from completing a total of 3,019 exciting conveyancing transactions to helping people through some of the most challenging times of their lives. In return, we have collected over 130 positive reviews from happy clients.
At Attwells, we put people squarely at the heart of our business. As a result, this year has been filled with long standing employee anniversaries and promotions; we have grown as a firm by 17% from 2020 and have recruited 11 new employees across many different departments.
We’ve had countless staff socials, as well as our annual Summer Sports Day and barbeque, followed by three seasonal quizzes. In keeping with the sporting spirit, we are headline sponsors for the Colchester Half Marathon next year and many of our employees have eagerly signed up and will be starting training in the New Year.
We also turned our focus on to our existing employees in order to create a more transparent and rewarding environment. To ensure that our employees were experiencing a fulfilling career and were encouraged to progress, we updated our career ladder document. From this, employees can see where their skills can take them within the firm.
Similarly, we have updated our appraisals and feedback process and improved our ongoing mentorship and training for our staff. Consequently, many of our employees have progressed their careers by completing firm-funded qualifications.
To develop new talent and help younger members of the community, we created a new Apprenticeship scheme and utilised the government Kickstart scheme. During lockdown, we adapted to the changing world, transforming our work experience and apprenticeship schemes to ensure they could be accessed remotely.
For this we gained recognition in the wider community and were nominated as finalists for the ‘Education in Business’ category in the Suffolk Business Awards in November.
As well as recruiting a stream of talented individuals, we have also taken steps to enhance our existing employees’ wellbeing. In a year of such uncertainty, we thought it was important to make sure our employees are well looked after and so we appointed a mental health officer to help. In addition, our board made changes to our firm’s sickness and family policies which have already made a real difference to employee’s lives. They also decided to introduce flexible working hours for employees.
For the firm’s foodies, we introduced Free Food Friday- an initiative that means that every last Friday of the month, lunch is on us. And in keeping with the Christmas spirit, employees were given a gift of their choice as well as an additional day’s leave as a thank you for all their hard work.
As a modern firm, we believe it is important to keep up with the times and innovations abound. Our employment partner and marketing manager worked diligently to create a bespoke online HR service for small business owners and employers to help them navigate stormy conditions amidst the ongoing pandemic.
Technologically, we invested in new IT equipment for employees. To ensure this was sustainable, we donated the existing computers to Philip Morant School in Colchester, which then gave the computers to their children learning remotely during lockdown who did not have access to computers at home.
Our social media presence expanded with the advent of a Tik Tok page, and a podcast called ‘The Property Pod’. The podcast offers advice on various topics that may interest our clients, from tips on moving into your first home to career strategies.
On the charity front, we have continued to support Suffolk Pro Help in their mission to provide ongoing support to voluntary and community groups in Suffolk. Through this charity, managing partner Nick donated £1,000 of free legal advice to two local community run organisations. And in the festive spirit, on the December 10, staff donned their favourite sweaters for Christmas Jumper Day, raising over £80 to support ‘Save the Children.’
We couldn’t have done 2021 without our amazing staff and clients and we want to thank everyone who has worked with us and supported the firm over the year. Here’s to 2022!
We’re always looking for talented people, if this sounds like your type of firm, visit our careers page today to see our latest vacancies.
