Double act

Early in 2020, Karen Bexley and Anna Beaumont met by chance and – combining their considerable experience of working in fee-share law firms – founded Bexley Beaumont. In doing so, they realised their vision of a boutique business that brings together the best elements of a traditional law firm and those of a consultancy model. 

Meeting of minds

“Our visions were so similar that it made perfect sense to go into business together,” recalls Karen, who serves as the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO). “You’d think if you met us that we’d known each other for years prior to setting up the firm, but that’s not the case. We formed this relationship through Bexley Beaumont and set up the firm quite literally around Anna’s kitchen table from a blank sheet of paper.”

Having qualified as an employment solicitor and worked her way up to head the employment law department at the firm where she trained, Karen moved to DAC Beachcroft, where she not only worked with a range of large corporates, but was also a member of the tender team for McDonald’s. “I loved my time there, but ultimately knew I wanted to take control of my own career,” she explains.

She chose to become a fee-share consultant, but this didn’t feel quite right either. “I enjoyed acting for my clients directly, and the deeper relationships I built with them as a result, but I missed feeling part of a team and sharing the successes with like-minded people around me. We often joke that Bexley Beaumont was built to be the firm I wanted to work for, and there might be some truth behind that.”

Anna – responsible for strategy, growth and recruitment at the firm – had the knowledge and experience of running gunnercooke llp for many years, as its CEO, and believed the fee-share model could be further adapted. “Bexley Beaumont offers the same control, autonomy and financial transparency that any fee-share firm offers, but with a sense of shared purpose and values,” she says. “We recruit strategically and selectively, targeting the regions and practice areas we think will develop the firm’s offering, but with an emphasis on recruiting talented, ambitious lawyers who align culturally to our business vision and values.”

Bexley Beaumont was founded on the twin pillars of quality and collaboration, and the co-founders continue to stay true to those pillars as the firm grows. “You’re only ever as strong as what others say about you,” Anna notes. “We’re grateful that we’ve been described as a ‘hybrid’ and ‘the best of both’ in the legal press, as we look to combine the best elements of the traditional law firm model and the fee-share approach.”

Dedicated support

With offices in London and Manchester, Bexley Beaumont now has more than 100 people in the business – 76 of whom are partners – and has consistently added 15 to 20 lawyers to its roster each year. The aim is to grow the team sustainably, Anna stresses. “We’ve developed our wonderful BBSupport team to work in conjunction with that growth, to support partners as best we can and stay ahead of the curve.” 

BBSupport is the internal team at Bexley Beaumont that provides a range of services to its partners, so they can feel connected to the firm and part of a wider support system. “We have teams dedicated to compliance, who help with file openings and queries; finance, who manage invoices and billings; marketing and events, who help partners build their practice internally and externally; and legal support, who our partners can call upon for trainee / paralegal support. We even have a dedicated partner services team, just to ensure that everything is done to support the lawyers in ways that we can’t predict,” says Anna.

Allowing their lawyers to provide a greater client service is a key priority at Bexley Beaumont, she adds. “BBSupport works very closely with each partner, ensuring everyone receives a high level of service that best suits them and their clients. Our approach to marketing and branding is also more aligned with how traditional firms operate, with our messaging aimed at clients rather than recruitment of lawyers.”

‘Know, respect, trust’ is an incredibly important concept, both internally, between the firm’s support team and its partners, and externally, between clients, lawyers and the firm.

Bexley Beaumont predominantly works for businesses – from small-sized enterprises to large corporates – and high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs. It offers the full range of legal services to businesses, and its partners work in many different practice areas. Some of its more well-known clients include Culina Group (formerly Eddie Stobart), JD Sports, Bibby Financial Services and Village Hotels.

Coping with challenges

Having held leadership positions in traditional firms, Karen thought she was prepared for the challenges posed by assuming the role of CEO at Bexley Beaumont – but quickly found that launching a law firm from day one was a different challenge entirely from the ones she’d faced before. “Without existing structures or a defined culture, everything at Bexley Beaumont had to be built from the ground up,” she explains. “The biggest lesson has been the importance of staying focused on our vision and not wavering from what we set out to achieve when difficulties arise. I’ve also learned that my personal growth needs to align with the business’s growth. Leading a firm isn’t just about management, it’s about constant learning and staying true to what you set out to build.”

But a mere two months after Bexley Beaumont opened its doors, COVID-19 hit, and a national lockdown was announced. “Dealing with a pandemic and homeschooling certainly wasn’t in our business plan,” admits Karen. “Thankfully, we were already ahead with our strategy on how to create a collaborative and supportive team environment while working remotely, so that served us well, as this was already a differentiator for us. What we didn’t anticipate, however, was being fully remote and the uncertainty of the situation and economic environment.”

Both founders refused to pivot their approach when the pandemic struck, Karen says, but they did make a few tweaks. “It ended up as a good exercise, because it made us reevaluate some of the aspects of our plan and question and challenge them, which was particularly helpful. The strongest businesses are built in times of economic uncertainty, and Bexley Beaumont definitely proves that.”

Creating a positive culture

The pair live and breathe the firm’s team culture, says Karen. Their values aren’t just words on a wall: “They were carefully chosen to reflect the best elements of this team, and we only recruit those who we believe will uphold those values and align culturally with the firm. Collaboration, excellence, empowerment, enjoyment, integrity and passion – all words that we underpin with our everyday business decisions. The one that we’re often questioned about is enjoyment, but usually once the team passes its first anniversary, this is the one they remember and comment on, saying how much they’re enjoying their time at the firm, which is always great to hear.”

‘Nurture’, ‘encourage’ and ‘inspire’ are all words the two founders like to think are part of their management style. Anna elaborates: “Encouraging an internal culture of continuous improvement and personal development is incredibly important. Every day is a school day! People work best when they feel safe to ask questions and are allowed to try new things. Our focus is on creating a safe environment for all, where creativity is encouraged and rewarded. We’ve also introduced an empowering excellence programme centred around personal development, where we learn as one team, irrelevant of status or experience, and where being authentic, open and honest is prioritised.”

The firm’s growth has been significant since its launch in 2020, but this hasn’t come without its challenges. Despite this, Anna stresses just how rewarding the experience has been. “This is my second start-up, but my first as an owner. Having prior experience in this has been invaluable in supporting our growth, but owning the company always introduces new, exciting challenges! This time, executing our own plan to create a different offering for clients and lawyers, and watching others be attracted to Bexley Beaumont’s culture and way of working, has been incredibly fulfilling.”

The firm has a geographical and practice area focus on recruitment at the moment, to ensure it can continue to meet clients’ requirements. It also continues to prioritise personal development and learning in BBSupport, where it’s building a senior management team. This, Anna says, is to ensure the firm doesn’t lose sight of what it set out to do: “Long term our aim never has been – nor will it ever be – to be the biggest fee-share firm by partner numbers. That’s not a measure of our success. We’re building a collaborative team of talented lawyers who reflect our values and want to work within a firm that has quality, support, team culture and collaboration at its core.”

Growing the business

In 2024, Codex Edge found that Bexley Beaumont was the fastest growing fee-share law firm in the UK, with its partner numbers increasing by 365% in the four years following its launch. “This was particularly surprising considering we never make partner growth a priority,” Anna recalls. “What this does demonstrate, though, is that the model works and that Bexley Beaumont has the power to attract top talent in the industry.”

Longer term, the duo are looking to replicate their approach in other professional services, to form a Bexley Beaumont Group. In Anna’s opinion, “this is when the real fun will start!” 

The rise of fee-share firms has been significant over the last decade, and there’s now more choice for both clients and lawyers, says Anna. “What it means to be a partner is changing, and lawyers now have alternative routes both for qualification and for progression. Partners can build their own teams in firms like Bexley Beaumont but still benefit from a supportive and collaborative environment where they can feel part of something bigger.”

Amalgamation and acquisitions are more active in traditional firms, and although this has not been witnessed in the fee-share space yet, Anna believes this could change. “It’s been well documented that private equity investors view these types of firms as very attractive, and several firms are actively seeking investment.” 

“What is certain,” she adds, “is that this way of working continues to be very attractive to many lawyers.” 

Personal motivations and experiences

Karen says Bexley Beaumont is her career high, but her motivation in wanting to bring something different to the profession was inspired by her lows. “I was losing my passion for my career working in a traditional firm. Partnership structure was not the right fit for me. When I left to become a fee-share consultant, I loved the control and ability to work closely with my clients, but missed having a team around me.”

She says she doesn’t have role models as such, but tries to learn from everyone around her each day. “I’ve worked with fantastic people over the years, in both senior and junior positions, who’ve all played a part in shaping me and my career. These days I also benefit from a coach, and I am part of a wonderful Vistage group for CEOs; together we learn, share experiences and challenge in a supportive way.”

Anna, too, has benefited from the wisdom and experience of many brilliant people during her career. A fellow founder told her to “keep going” a couple of years ago, which really struck a chord. “It was so perfectly timed, so simple but so powerful; it was part of a discussion on trusting yourself and controlling the controllables.”

When asked what she wishes she’d known when she started out in law, she says: “It doesn’t matter how brilliant a technical lawyer you are. To progress, you need to develop and build trusted and effective relationships and skills such as business development, networking, the art of negotiation, client care, communication and many more. When I started, there wasn’t enough focus on the importance of these skills and the leadership and management experience required to build, develop and lead teams that are key to a successful business.”

Both women learnt valuable lessons from their school and university years that they’ve brought into their legal roles. For Karen, this began particularly early: “My first job was babysitting and then for a very short period I had a paper round. My first real job was at 15 working in a well-known supermarket chain, and then I held a variety of temporary and part-time roles in retail, hospitality, care work and in a factory, prior to going to law school. This variety of jobs helped in my role as an employment lawyer and shaped my passion for the retail, leisure and hospitality sector.”

Anna’s passion from a young age, meanwhile, was ponies. “I was fortunate that I was paid to ride, compete and train ponies for many years. Then, during my university days, I had a number of telesales and bar jobs, all of which cemented the importance of customer service skills and clear communication.” Now, she spends her free time trying to learn as much as she can. “I read lots (and lots), which is already a point of discussion as the new office in Manchester is home to all my books, which apparently would be better housed with me at home.”

Work–life balance

Relaxing is something that neither founder has been particularly great at, admits Karen. “We wish we’d celebrated our successes at Bexley Beaumont more when they arrived, but we were always looking ahead at what next and how we could build on what we’d achieved. We’re the fastest growing fee-share firm in the last four years, and the fastest growing ‘large’ fee-share firm in 2024. It’s our dedication to Bexley Beaumont that’s helped us achieve this.”

You’re never totally switched off as the founder of a business, she continues. “It becomes your passion because you created this sitting around a kitchen table, but as you grow, the team helps take some of that responsibility off your shoulders, which does allow you to carve out time to switch off. In that time, I enjoy connecting with people outside of a professional environment. Friends, family, walking in the fresh air; and I did manage time to go to a Take That concert last year!”

Anna, on the other hand, lives her life vicariously through her children. “I’m a taxi-driver at weekends, taking them to their training during the winter or various competitions around the country during the summer, supporting and watching my eldest with her swimming and my youngest with her horse riding. It also provides a good break for me as it’s a change of scenery. My head is either filled with swim times (county, regional) or working out who’s qualified on the ponies and what placing my daughter needs to achieve – or closing my eyes when she decides to jump what I consider to be a silly sized fence!”

Looking to the future

As their firm continues to grow and evolve, Anna and Karen remain committed to their vision of creating a business that prioritises collaboration and personal growth. With their unique approach, Bexley Beaumont is well positioned to navigate the future of the legal industry, no matter the challenges ahead.