10 questions for Andrew Brough of Brough Partners

Brough Partners is a costs law firm that offers a range of services including Court of Protection (COP), Inter Partes and Legal Aid to clients across the country. It was founded in 2018 by Cumbrian-born Andrew Brough who is a qualified costs lawyer.

What was your first job (and how much did it pay)? My first job was working as a kitchen porter (i.e. a pot washer) when I was just 12 years old. It was in a lovely country hotel close to my home at the time near Carlisle. I used to do about three shifts a week and held the job down for a number of years until I finished to concentrate on my upcoming GCSE exams. For a mid-week shift, I used to earn £2.90 an hour, but for a weekend shift an enhanced hourly rate of £3.40 was paid. I’d also try and pick up extra shifts, when possible, for example if a function was on, such as a wedding or birthday party.

What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? Having been in business for a number of years now, I think things really started to change once the business started to outsource. At the start, I tried to do a bit of everything myself from the day-to-day work, to managing company accounts, marketing, client care, keeping up-to-date with costs law developments and similar. The lesson learnt being the importance of adapting and being agile in business.

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The position is very different now. We have close ties with various external companies who provide professional support services to us and this allows us, in turn, to concentrate on providing legal costs services to our network of solicitor clients located across England and Wales. By way of example, we have professional retainer services with different third-party companies who provide specialist services ranging from employment law advice, to book keeping and brand/marketing strategy advice. Adopting this approach has allowed the company to scale and secure new business, whilst also attracting new people to work for us.

What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing? In 2013 there was a major overhaul in the legal services market which led to significant cuts in legal aid, with the risk of depriving some people with access to justice as they could no longer get help with many family, employment, housing and debt problems.

Many firms were forced to close their legal aid departments, resulting in large advice deserts. Navigating and adapting to changes in legal aid and civil practice has been a challenge, but overall improved my resilience and understanding of the field. I feel Brough Partners has built the expertise, trust and credibility to provide an ongoing advisory service to clients on most costs issues and queries. Further, the Government is increasingly adopting fixed costs provisions to the way many solicitors are remunerated in many civil cases, despite the level of work a solicitor may actually undertake. So the need for efficiency and costs control management has never been greater.

What would your dream job be? From a very young age, I have always enjoyed taking part in and practising a variety of different sports. I’d try my hand at anything, from triathlons, to football, track and field events to cross-county running. I just loved taking part, despite how good or otherwise I might have been! For that reason, my dream job would probably be something linked to sport. An easy choice that comes to mind would of course to be a professional footballer and be able to represent the England national team. However, something different like becoming a professional boxer, or even the World’s Strongest Man would be pretty cool too!

What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Probably to be patient and be willing to spend the time to learn and understand the rules, regulations and various remuneration guidelines before jumping in at the deep end with legal costs advice. If you take the time and do the basics correct, the rest will follow. That, together with a good work ethic, could lead to a satisfying career with many rewarding opportunities.

What makes the North East a good place to do business? The cost of housing is relatively affordable compared to other parts of the country, thus it is possible to attract a pool of high quality staff and employees. We have a thriving business community here in the region and people are very supportive of one another. For me the North East represents grit, creativity, ingenuity and determination enveloped with that well known Geordie warmth and friendliness. Because of that I couldn’t think of a better place to have founded a business to be honest!

How important is it for business to play a role in society? I am a firm believer that a business has a moral and professional duty to always give back to society. This can be from sponsorship of local charity or events, to providing employment opportunities to those keen for a genuine opportunity.

Outside of work, what are you really good at? Ooh this is a tricky one. Well, I suppose I do love fell walking. I have planned, organised and completed many challenging and rewarding walks across the country including Ben Nevis in Scotland and Helvellyn in the Lake District. I’d like to complete Snowdonia too at some point in the future, and maybe even branch out to some foreign walking expeditions such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Who would play you in a film about your life? I’d probably choose Marlon Brando if he was alive. As that’s not possible however, I would choose Daniel Day-Lewis.

Which three people would you invite to a dinner party, and why? The late Sir Bobby Robson, Mike Tyson and Freddie Mercury. Sir Bobby to see what it was like managing football clubs such as Barcelona, Newcastle United and the England national side. Mike Tyson, to find out if he really is the ‘baddest’ man on the planet! And Freddie Mercury because he was a great singer and all-round entertainer.