Barnes and Partners Solicitors are Solicitors for life. We can take care of your legal needs wherever you are in life – from buying your first home, to managing employment law for business deals, or looking after wills and probate requirements.
We have clients who have been with us for decades who use us for a variety of services; they often refer us to their friends and even their children too.
We pride ourselves on our friendly and skilled staff, who are hand selected for matching our exacting standards for excellence. It is our people who make us the first choice for many clients who are seeking legal advice.
This is why we have launched our Staff Spotlight – celebrating our dedicated team across all 12 of our Barnes and Partners Solicitors branches. We would like to give you a glimpse into the lives of our wonderful staff so you can see what makes them all individually fantastic legal professionals.
This month we would like to introduce you to Andrea Greenwood, Senior Conveyancer, at our Ware Barnes and Partners Solicitors office.
Andrea looks after conveyancing. She has been with us since the summer of 1992 and despite her long years of service she isn’t complacent and still goes above and beyond in her daily work. She is knowledgeable, helpful and supportive to her team and an encouragement to others in the Barnes and Partners family.
Andrea Greenwood – Senior Conveyancer
Here’s Andrea’s story in her own words:
My career originally began in London where I started work as a receptionist for a small family firm of solicitors in 1985 – I am proud to say that within just 6 weeks I was promoted to Partners’ Secretary. I was there five years and I enjoyed my time with them but I left London in 1990 to set-up a letting agency for an estate agent friend.
The letting agency is still a successful business retaining some of the same clients I dealt with back then! It was a great experience to help set this agency up and it provided me with an insight into how estate agents operate; this has been valuable to my role as a conveyancer. However, after helping establish the letting agency so it was up and running and doing well, I realised I missed working in the legal realm and that is when I left to work with Barnes and Partners Solicitors.
I started at Barnes and Partners Solicitors in June 1992 at the Cheshunt Branch. Viv Jennings (Poutney) employed me as a secretary to Joe Baily (now retired). I loved my work and in 1993 I was given an amazing opportunity – Joe and I opened a new branch of Barnes and Partners in Ware. The team obviously saw something in me because with training and personal development, I progressed from legal secretary to a fee earner.
Currently at Barnes and Partners Ware office there is a team of three of us, so it’s always all hands on deck. We have new high street offices now so our clients love to pop in to visit us for updates. They know our door is always open.
At our Ware branch we are all hard working but there isn’t a day that goes by without a giggle or two. Our team is close-knit and fun to be around.
I have a great relationship with Founder and Senior Partner Nigel Barnes and Managing Partner Nancy and in fact the other partners too. The partner in charge of our Pinner office, Martin, was really supportive when I lost my mother and Nigel and Nancy are always on the end of the phone if I need a chat.
Coming to work and getting people moved to their school catchment areas or because they are planning a wedding and a new life, is so satisfying. I think our clients know we take pride in this work and enjoy it – they are usually very grateful and come back when they move again!
I live in Hertford (north) as I moved there from Ware nine years ago when I married as my husband works in London and the train lines are more frequent from there. We are proud parents to a 6-year-old daughter. Our home is close to some lovely countryside, Broxbourne woods and the Lea Valley path/canal, which is great for bike rides. Hertford and Ware both have some great restaurants and pubs so our weekends are mostly me working for a couple of hours, then a bike ride or walk and then a treat in the pub for a late lunch.
As for many in our line of business, this time of year I am busy working but I hope to get back on the running machine in January! We are lucky to have family in Southwold so any free weekends we have will be spent there playing on the beach and walking along the pier. We are there for Christmas this year and are all really looking forward to the break.
After the holidays I will be back to work with my team ready to hit the ground running in 2017.
Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for reading!
Thanks to Andrea for sharing this with us. Her journey from receptionist to Senior Conveyancer is certainly inspiring, but we feel it demonstrates that with hard work and encouragement you can get to where you want to be. Andrea is an asset to our team and to you, her clients! We feel her experiences make her a valuable and insightful conveyancer to have on board and we hope you agree.
She is the first staff member celebrated in our staff spotlight and we hope to share many more with you in 2017.
If you have a question for Andrea or any of our conveyancing team at our Barnes and Partners Solicitors Ware branch then please don’t hesitate to get in touch – 01920 460823