A CENTURY OF
HART BROWN Hart Brown’s Chief Operating Officer, Nigel Maud, explains to Ian Trevett how the firm has successfully served the county for 100 years, and is looking ahead to the future
H
art Brown Solicitors have been a client-centred success story ever since Cecil Hart set up the very first office in Godalming in 1919. It is rare for a business to be so synonymous with a county for so long. Over the course of a hundred years, Hart Brown has been the go-to firm for many people within this area. Firms tend to move head offices, merge with other legal practices outside of the immediate area or expand into other counties over time. Hart Brown has consistently resisted this temptation - and that’s part of a very deliberate strategy. “We have five offices in Surrey: Guildford, Godalming, Woking, Cobham and Cranleigh,” says Nigel. “Guildford sits at the centre of our business model and all other offices are within a 20 minute travel time from the Guildford office. We like the fact that we are focussed in a
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SURREY BUSINESS
specific geographical area. It avoids the situation where you have stretched management lines. “Being local has significant advantages. Some of our staff have worked for us for a very long time, we are very much part of the community and we have tremendous local knowledge. For instance, when it comes to the property market, we will know about new residential developments and where the school catchment areas are. “With family and personal legal matters, people tend to want to use a local solicitor. It’s not such an issue for corporate clients, but even then clients still want to establish a working relationship. Our clients want, and deserve, a personal service. We have the right ratio of solicitors to clients which allows us to make sure every client receives the best level of service and they are looked after properly.