Just over a year in business and we’re proud to say that Ancora Law is growing and developing in ways we never imagined.
The team is expanding with the welcoming of another new member and we are grateful to be keeping ourselves busy during these unprecedented times.
Since we haven’t really introduced ourselves since the very beginning, we thought…what better way to catch up than with our founder, Matthew.
When we had a chat with him, he reflected on the past year in business and how it only seems like 5 minutes ago that Ancora Law was just a niggling idea in his head.
Matthew admitted that being a solicitor wasn’t his life’s dream…when he was younger he didn’t have much of an idea what he would end up doing in the future. But when he went to college, he took Law at A-Level and realized it involved a lot of skills he believed he had and also enjoyed, such as problem solving and attention to detail.
Despite this, the answer still didn’t seem clear, and he actually went on to apply for jobs in IT. The turning point came during a long process to join an international IT company at the time, where he got through multiple interview rounds until eventually he was unsuccessful at the last hurdle. This is when he decided to go to University and chose to study Law, admittedly on a bit of a whim!
Matthew told us, when finishing his degree he was adamant he would train to be a family solicitor and spent a few months in this department during his training contract. However, he quickly changed his mind when he reflected on some experience he had previously in residential completions.
Luckily for Matthew, at the end of his training contract, a large local firm asked him to transfer the last part of his contract to qualify into commercial property. He jumped at the opportunity and has enjoyed working in the field ever since.
With such an interesting and not as straightforward start in Law, we were curious about Matthew’s career and asked him what achievements he is proud of. He told us how surviving in a very successful team and learning how to handle large and demanding clients is something he looks back on with pride. He attributed his confidence in starting his own firm with a strong focus on superior customer service to this experience.
“I knew there was something not quite right in the way some firms are run. I recognized a gap for clients who wished for high quality service at a fair price and I used these two elements to formulate the concept of Ancora Law.”
After months and months of planning and preparations, in 2019 Matthew decided he had a great idea that he believed in and he needed to go for it.
When asked what advice he would give to others hoping to start a business, he said to go for it. While it’s extremely challenging at times, it’s also very rewarding. Make sure you have a good support system around you for on tough days and also to celebrate with on the good ones.
“There’s no better feeling that when your client passes on your details to someone else. Knowing you and your business is highly regarded and that you have helped someone with a problem is priceless. You meet so many interesting people in this job, I enjoy getting to support them towards their own goals.”
The Ancora Law team have big goals for the future and we just feel like we’re getting better and better. We have moved into a new room at C4DI which is more fit for purpose as we continue to grow our team and provide industry leading service.
In the next 2-3 years, we would like to consolidate the firm and cement our gap in the market. The big 5 year mark is where we would like to start expanding in additional directions and bringing in more specialist knowledge on board.
In his spare time, Matthew likes to play football and golf. He also loves family time and spending the weekend with his children and two dogs. Lately, he’s been getting into business and self-help books, which may be slow progress but he’s getting there!
If you’re interested in catching up with Matthew you can reach out via our Instagram page @ancoralaw.