How we help
Based in North Yorkshire, we provide efficient, virtual support to law firms, ESG teams, purpose-led businesses and nature-based organisations across the UK.
Our mission is simple: to bring sustainability and efficiency to the legal sector and beyond.
We help you to:
- Free up your time and maximise billable hours by offloading key tasks
- Improve efficiency and performance by streamlined business operations
- Stay agile with expert support, without the cost or commitment of employing staff
- Build long-term resilience with smart systems and dependable ongoing support
We are privileged to have long-standing working relationships with many of our clients. We are proud to share these case studies. They look at how we came to be introduced to these clients and demonstrate what issues they were facing when they joined us. We also explore how we have been able to support them and the difference it has made to the business owners.
Meet the client
Baskerville Drummond
David Baskerville
Founder of Baskerville Drummond
Baskerville Drummond
Baskerville Drummond is an independent IT consultancy specialising in supporting law firms. The business comprises five consultants working remotely across England. Jen was recommended to David Baskerville, the company’s founder, via LinkedIn and has been supporting the team since November 2021. David has kindly provided the following feedback on how arrangements are working out so far.
The problem
As a team, we struggled to undertake the actions required to manage the business, including business development. We tried a couple of options in terms of support, but neither worked out due to the high-paced nature of the company.
We were introduced to Jen on LinkedIn by a couple of contacts who operate in a similar market and similar ways to ourselves, and we were delighted with the introduction.
The process
Jen was quickly able to assess our needs and is a good sounding board for our business. She put processes in place to support us with various marketing activities, including our regular production of articles and liaising with clients to obtain testimonials and case studies.
Jen proofreads all our reports and knowledge leadership articles. She manages our diaries, posts on social media on our behalf and liaises with our third-party web developer. Jen has developed systems, for example, for the organising and running of our regular webinar series, and she creates task lists to make sure everything is done.
The result
In short, Jen makes sure we know what we need to do and when we need to do it. The best thing about Jen is her personality, and she fits straight in with the team. We see her as part of the team; we don’t see her as an external supplier. She joins us on our away days remotely and takes meeting actions. She has a charming way of reminding us of the things we should be doing that we’re not doing.
As Jen has become more involved in the business, she has proactively suggested ways in which she can help us further. Jen has recently taken on additional responsibilities, for example, helping us with client onboarding activities, which is already saving time for our consultants. I couldn’t recommend Jen highly enough – she’s now an integral part of our team.
Roche Legal
Rachel Roche
Managing Director, Roche Legal
Roche Legal
Roche Legal is an award-winning boutique law firm in York, specialising in private client work. Jen provided Virtual Assistant and Practice Management support to Rachel Roche, Managing Director of Roche Legal, from September 2019 to May 2022. Rachel kindly gave this feedback on why she decided to work with a Virtual Assistant and how it benefited her and her business.
The problem
As a sole practitioner solicitor, I was getting bogged down in the day-to-day administration of running the business, such as maintaining systems and keeping up with non-client meetings. Business development projects that I wanted to get on with also weren’t getting done as quickly as I would have liked, because I was having to deal with small jobs that were getting in the way.
As tempting as it was to continue in the same vein, with the emails piling up in my inbox, I realised that I needed some help to ensure that I was using my time most effectively. This is when I took the plunge and met with Jen, who had been recommended to me by several contacts, to see what she thought.
The process
Jen was able to quickly assess where she could take on regular and ad-hoc tasks and projects for me, and I set about promising myself to delegate anything non-client-related to her. I initially forwarded all non-client emails to Jen, and, as time went on, I was able to redirect many of these emails straight to her, so I no longer needed even to see them. We held a weekly virtual meeting to review my diary and the various projects that I had delegated, and we set priorities for the coming week. In the main, I used emails to delegate tasks and meeting requests to Jen, and also assigned repeat monthly and weekly tasks, such as management reporting.
Projects that Jen assisted me with include completing our professional indemnity application for the coming year, renewal of practising certificates, dealing with our application to become an approved STEP Employer Partner, creating processes for on-boarding clients, writing FAQs for our online reception team, updating our process manual, writing and advertising a new vacancy, arranging events and streamlining our client quoting process for new work.
The result
I was better able to make decisions in the best interest of the firm because the small jobs that didn’t need my input were taken away from me entirely. My email traffic decreased exponentially. Projects that would otherwise still be in progress were completed, and I had a clearer idea of the direction of travel. I also found Jen very helpful to bounce ideas around with, and I trusted her to discuss my firm’s business much like I would with an in-house practice manager. Although I was unsure at the start how using a VA would work in practice, for me it ended up feeling no different to having someone in the office. Jen was responsive and reliable, and I am very pleased to have had her on board.
We have been able to involve Jen in various other projects over the years and have recommended her to many other busy professionals in the legal sector.
Mosaic Legal
Howard Hackney
Mosaic Legal
Mosaic Legal
Mosaic Legal is comprised of five legal and financial specialists. In addition to running their practices, they combined forces to create a collaboration facilitating mergers, acquisitions and restructuring for law firms and anything to do with ownership issues. Jen started working with Mosaic Legal in December 2017. They were one of her first Business Owl clients, and she continues to support them today. Howard has kindly given this feedback on behalf of the group.
The problem
On forming our collaboration, we had several brainstorming sessions, enthusiastically coming up with lots of ideas for driving the venture forward, although we found it challenging to action our ideas because:
(a) We all have many demands on our time
(b) The five of us are located in different parts of the country, which makes regular meet-ups difficult
(c) Nobody was ‘in charge’ on a day-to-day basis, and as a result, nobody held any of us to account for the tasks we promised each other we would complete
(d) In other words, we needed somebody to “nag” us!
We decided to look for a Virtual Assistant to help us. We were delighted to discover Jen and the services she offers through Business Owl. We immediately found her to be personable and easy to get on with, yet business-like and focused. We were also drawn to Jen because of her legal qualifications and experience of working in private practice.
The process
Once we had brought Jen up to speed on the background of our business and what we wanted to achieve, we relayed the contents of our various brainstorming sessions to her. Her initial task was to digest our wish list and present us with her suggestions for moving the work forward.
Jen did this articulately and methodically, and divided the tasks into phase 1 and phase 2. Jen identified that phase 1 should be centred around bringing our WordPress website up-to-date, setting up Google Analytics and linking up our various social media platforms. Phase 2 would relate to ongoing work, providing support to keep us organised. This included planning our meetings, providing agendas and minutes and ensuring that actions are followed up on.
Jen also diplomatically advised us on what she needed from us to complete the work. We were given accurate timescales and costings from the outset.
The result
Although we believed that an extra pair of hands would make a difference to our business, our expectations have been exceeded in the following ways:
(a) We have been able to hand tasks over to Jen in complete confidence that they will be done efficiently and to a high standard
(b) We feel assured of Jen’s professional judgement – she takes the initiative and works independently for the majority of the time, yet occasionally refers back to us to have the final say when needed
(c) Jen applies “gentle but persistent pressure” to hold us to account. We know that tasks which would still be on our to-do list are being actioned, which in turn is driving our business forward in a way that we couldn’t manage alongside our other commitments
(d) All of this is achieved virtually, with excellent lines of communication throughout – we were early adopters of Skype, before the impetus of the pandemic, and now Zoom and Teams have been integral to effective working and the enabling of our vision.
We have worked with Jen since 2017, and she is an integral part of our joint venture, holding us all to account and helping us to drive the business forward. She has also been instrumental in helping us get our Virtual Coffee Break videos off the ground (which we started during the pandemic), and which has gained us significant traction on social media.
We have been able to involve Jen in various other projects over the years and have recommended her to many other busy professionals in the legal sector.
Donna Sandall Family Law
Donna Sandall
Donna Sandall Family Law
Donna Sandall Family Law
Donna Sandall Family Law is a niche solicitor’s practice specialising in family and matrimonial law. Donna was introduced to Jen via a mutual contact. Jen helped Donna informally whilst she set up the practice, and was asked to begin supporting her regularly in May 2024 as the business grew.
The problem
I was given Jen’s name through a mutual contact, and after an initial phone call, we organised a one-to-one meeting. Even after our initial call, I knew she was someone I wanted to be around and work with. Initially, Jen gave me advice around setting up a phone answering service, which transformed my business overnight! We kept in touch over the next year by phone, and she was happy to share with me marketing techniques that she had implemented. She also gave me clear guidance on the areas of my work where she believed she could help. She provided me with the name of another solicitor with whom she worked in business support. After a phone call with that solicitor, I was made aware of just how excellent Jen could be for my business.
The process
After another year of building the business and becoming busier as a result, I contacted Jen to say that I needed her with me. She quickly identified the areas of support we could implement immediately. After only a couple of months, I feel supported and in control of a busy demanding workload which has enabled me to focus on the face-to-face work with the clients at the office or out at court.
The result
Most importantly, I now have more time with my family in the evenings, and weekends are once again my own.
Significantly, Jen has always been evident that, should I need any business advice, I could rely on her as a mentor, as well as a friend for a coffee. Jen’s attitude to setting up her own business is so positive and inspirational, and the service she provides to her clients like me is second to none. Although our relationship is still relatively new, we regularly meet for work and networking, and Jen is a real champion for business development in the region and a well-known and highly respected businesswoman.
I would recommend her to anyone looking to grow their business and needing support.
