From Imperial typewriters to employee ownership: what makes a career at Williamsons?

When Karen Denby joined Williamsons Solicitors in 1986 as a 16-year-old office junior, the legal profession was a very different world.

The firm was (and still is) based in Hull’s Old Town, which was then a thriving business district where solicitors, accountants and other professional services firms were part of the area’s fabric.

Karen worked on an Imperial manual typewriter and remembers being sent out to buy cigarettes and the nerves that accompanied a summons from senior partner John Bullock.

“I used to worry if Mr Bullock called for me,” she recalls. “But usually it was something innocuous like ‘please can you photocopy this document’.”

Today, Karen is still at Williamsons working as an operations assistant, and will reach her 40- year milestone in November.

Some aspects of working life have changed rather more than others. In those days, Karen says solicitors were regarded as “posh” and remembers business being more formal but also more fun in general. Christmas was different too, with staff receiving a 10lb turkey and a bottle of wine. One year, the uncooked bird even accompanied Karen on the staff Christmas night out, which took in Old Town pubs, Stakis Casino and the Waterfront nightclub.

Karen’s four decades, spanning nearly a third of Williamsons’ more than 135-year history, are remarkable, but she is not alone in building a long career with the firm.

Of Williamsons’ current 115-strong workforce, 18 employees have been with the firm for more than 10 years, a further 19 for more than 20 years and nine have clocked up more than 30 years, two of whom will celebrate 40 years in 2027.

Director Jane Cousins joined Williamsons in 2000 for a summer job as a typist after completing law school. She already had a clear ambition to become a solicitor, and wasn’t prepared to take no for an answer.

“I bugged them until they agreed to train me,” she says. It worked. Jane went on to qualify, built her career in conveyancing, wills and probate and become a joint owner alongside solicitor Sarah Clubley until 2025 when the company switched to an Employee Ownership Trust.

Looking back, she says the people around her have been among the best things about working at Williamsons. “It’s a very friendly firm. We all work hard but have fun too,” she says.

Her story is also a reminder that the traditional image of the legal profession isn’t necessarily the reality. Jane grew up in Withernsea and says someone once told her at school that “people like us don’t become solicitors”. That simply made her more determined to prove them wrong.

Jane isn’t the only current director whose career at Williamsons began at a junior level. Wayne Walker, a director and head of the clinical negligence department, joined as a junior solicitor in 2015, and Amanda Hewson joined in 2004, straight from the former Isaac Newton school in Hull. She started as a general office assistant before progressing to become a licensed conveyancer and, ultimately, head of the firm’s busy conveyancing department and a director.

Amanda said: “I never imagined I’d achieve this when I joined 22 years’ ago.” She credits much of her progression to the people around her and the opportunities she has been given, adding: “I’m very grateful for the faith Williamsons has placed in me.”

These career stories have recently taken on added significance. In February 2025, the firm became 100 per cent employee-owned, with its shares transferred to an Employee Ownership Trust as part of succession planning. The move gives employees a stake in the firm’s financial success.

At the time, director Jane Cousins described it as an “exciting milestone” and said the new structure would “empower people, attract top talent and ensure we maintain our culture and ethos while providing continuity for staff and clients”.

Williamsons is very different from the firm Karen joined as a 16-year-old. The Imperial typewriters are long gone and technology has transformed almost every aspect of legal work. But the opportunity to build a career at Williamsons has survived those change.

Long service at Williamsons isn’t simply about people staying in the same job. For many, it has meant developing, taking on new challenges and building careers within the practice.

The 2026/2027 long service roll of honour

In 2026, five more staff clocked up 25 years. They are Sarah Clubley, Alison Craven, Lesley Garner, Katy Evans and Elaine Cone. Meanwhile, Katie Purvis celebrated 30 years.

In 2027, both Paul Barker and Angie Miller reach the 40-year milestone. Former practice manager Brian Cook, who achieved 27 years before retirement, has popped back to help out for a few months, proving that it’s hard to stay away!