To continue our celebrations of International Women’s Day this week, our head of marketing and business development, Emily Bentley, sat down with our longest serving team member, Christine Westwood, for a chat about her time with the firm.
Job title when you started at Jacksons:
Secretary.
Job title now:
Deeds project officer in wills, trusts and probate.
How old were you when you started at Jacksons?
I was 18 ½ and started at Jacksons from college in 1975. I had completed a two-year secretarial course at the old Kirby College in Middlesbrough. The course included typing and shorthand, which I still use occasionally when I’m writing my own notes to myself.
What was Jacksons like in the 1970s?
It was a lot smaller firm than it is now in terms of the number of people working in the office. When we were in Queen’s Square, they were very old offices with draughty sash windows and lots of rooms where people had their own offices. We had a brilliant receptionist, Cybil, who looked after all the calls on the switchboard and visitors. People had phones on their desks. We had a ‘tea lady’, Mary, who knew what everybody wanted to drink which was amazing as there were between 40 to 50 people then.
On the ground floor at the rear of reception there was a back office where the juniors worked and a post room. We had so much post back then! Of course, due to all the paperwork, we had lots of filing cabinets. At the back of the post room there was a huge metal door and that was the deeds store – a strong room and it was very cold in there.
Something that has never changed, however, is that they’ve always been a very fair company to work for.
What big changes have you seen over your career at Jacksons?
There’s not been a great change other than the fashion of the day. Partners would always wear suits. Solicitors would wear ties and even the trainees (article clerks) would too. Ladies would wear dresses of the era’s fashion. What has been most noticeable over the last few years, probably post covid, is that when you go to the Christmas party, the lads now wear jeans and not trousers; it’s much less formal.
When we used to have our Christmas parties in the Cleveland Club (now Boho Four – Gibson House) the men used to always wear trousers and a shirt as a minimum and sometimes a jacket. The ladies have always worn lovely dresses.
What did the company do to celebrate 100 years?
It was winter and we were all taken out for a very good meal at a hotel in Hemsley to celebrate. All the ladies wore fur coats, as that was the fashion. They weighed so much that once they’d all been placed on the coat rack at the hotel in the ladies’ powder room. it collapsed under the weight!
How does it feel to be part of the 150th celebrations?
I am looking forward to it. It will be nice to round off my time with the firm celebrating the 150th, since I’ve been here for the 100th and 125th. The 125th was in the car park of our then office at Innovation House.
What has kept you loyal to Jacksons all these years?
A nice working environment and enjoyable work. My first eight years were spent in the litigation team as my boss was John Breen and he was partner of that team. When John moved from litigation to probate, I followed and have been in that team ever since.
What do you love most about working there?
The people. Definitely the people. The partners are very approachable too, which makes a difference. And, as I’ve already mentioned, the working environment.
What makes Jacksons special?
They have always been fair and caring, but this has developed even more so over recent years, especially during lockdown, when extra effort was made to ensure people felt part of a team with quizzes and other remote activities. However, since lockdown the partners have been very fair with the team and treated them to all sorts of things such as treat days, Christmas parties, summer parties, recognising achievements and much more. It’s a lot of investment in their people but it makes you feel valued and looked after.
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