A Midlands law firm has significantly expanded its debt recovery service by appointing a team of four experts.
Wright Hassall, of Leamington Spa, has brought in the team from Northampton-based solicitors Shoosmiths, so that it can offer a wider range of services to existing and potential clients.
Gill Payne, who was part of the Credit Today Litigation Team of the Year 2009, has become Wright Hassall’s Head of Portfolio Management and Collections Solutions, while Steven Slatter joins as a solicitor and Danielle Payne and Nicola Jackson take up roles as account collectors.
The department has already launched its first new service – managing live portfolios – which gives them full responsibility for all of a client’s back-office processes.
Mrs Payne said: “It’s been a fantastic move for our team and we’ve been very impressed with how professional and hard-working everyone is here.
“We’re hoping we can bring something new to Wright Hassall and one of the major benefits of being here is the strength of the litigation team. It’s a large department with talented individuals and that will enhance the services we can offer.
“The first new service we’re offering is the handling of live portfolios. It’s a concept I originally introduced to Shoosmiths which takes a lot of hassle away from the lending companies and gives the administration, collections, legislative and regulatory responsibility to us – after we agree specific principles with the clients.
“Wright Hassall already has a fantastic list of clients and our immediate aim is to offer them more services while bringing new clients on board.”
There will now be a dedicated team of seven working on portfolio management and collections, but assistance will be drawn from other departments at the 220-strong firm.
Nick Abell, senior partner of Wright Hassall, said: “The past 12 months has been strong for us and turnover was up – and that is partly because when others have been cutting back we’ve been investing in new staff and new teams.
“We had a strong debt recovery service in place – it was voted in the top band in the Legal 500 review last year - but we felt there was potential to do much more.
“Gill and the team have a wealth of experience and fresh ideas on ways we can help our current clients.
“It’s an exciting team to add to the firm and we feel that the future is very bright for us.”
