As we have now officially opened our 13th regional branch in York, we thought this was a perfect time to introduce our York branch manager, Chris Brierley.
Chris is a solicitor with expertise in residential property who joined Ison Harrison in August 2018 having been qualified for ten years. Chris is bringing his vast experience to head up the new Ison Harrison office in York, but he is also arriving with a raft of ideas and initiatives that typify the Ison Harrison approach; to be in touch with our clients’ needs and to understand how they want information and in what format it is most useful to them.
Residential Conveyancing Expert in York
The new 2089 sq ft York office on Micklegate lies in the heart of this thriving North Yorkshire city, and although Chris is very familiar with York and confident with his new branch, he also understands that the image of the traditional law firm as a remote and aloof part of society is changing, and Ison Harrison has to fall in line with that.
Speaking about how the legal industry has changed in the last five years, Chris says:
The growing digital and social media presence has changed the way people communicate and access legal services. A successful law firm needs to understand this and engage with their clients and contacts in a way that is meaningful to them. The profession has changed and moved away from a hierarchical social position to a service, just like Tesco, John Lewis or Amazon and we need to understand this and the experience our clients expect, to win work.
In addition to the core market of everyday local people, the high net worth clients in the York area are a target market for Chris, and he acknowledges that local businesses and a client network are integral to building a successful law firm in a new community:
The most challenging and also rewarding part of my job is building networks of people that successfully work together for our mutual benefit, and the benefit of our clients. This includes the office team, agent contacts and networks, local businesses and social networks that benefit our business and brand.
Our York branch heralds a new era for Ison Harrison as we branch further afield from our West Yorkshire roots. Chris currently lives to the north east of York yet he is already fully in tune with the Ison Harrison ethos. He claims that the most important piece of advice he has been given is that “people matter”, and it is that simple attitude that underpins our success at Ison Harrison in terms of presenting a package to address a client’s emotional needs, as well as the fundamental service of attending to their legal requirements.
This is why we are supremely confident that Chris is the right person to head our new branch and carry forward the reliable business model and professional practices implemented across our network of regional offices.
Legal professionals in Yorkshire
Chris is under no illusions about the size of the task in York, not just in terms of expanding the Ison Harrison name, but also doing so in an area already blessed with many legal professionals. But typically, Chris is taking a positive approach to natural competition:
There are a number of well-regarded firms in the centre of York,” Chris continued “all are competitors, but we will endeavour to have a strong positive relationship ethos with other firms.
In his spare time Chris enjoys walking in the Yorkshire countryside and spending time with his family, he is also a keen gardener and has his own micro-brewery. There seems little doubt that Chris will quickly become a popular member of the Ison Harrison team! Joining Chris at the York branch are Richard Scott, who specialises in commercial property and who qualified as a solicitor in 1999. Also, Olivia Williams, a trainee solicitor in our new build property department, who joined Ison Harrison in 2016 and has become an important part of our conveyancing team.
We wish all the York team great success with the new regional office and following on from the success of our other branch openings in Pudsey, Huddersfield and Otley over the last 18 months, we are confident that the future looks very good for Ison Harrison, and more importantly, for our clients.
