“We’re very ambitious about growth”

Nick Gabay is Head of Corporate & Commercial at Thackray Williams – one of the South East’s leading law firms which specialises in both private and business law. Here the Tunbridge Wells resident tells Eileen Leahy about his key role within the company, and how it is on an exciting trajectory to accelerate its impressive year-on-year growth…

It’s not often you walk into the reception area of a law firm and are so bowled over by its cool design aesthetic that you immediately start snapping pictures of the funky seating, panelled walls and statement lighting on your iPhone. But that’s exactly what I find myself doing on arrival at Thackray Williams’ super stylish headquarters in Bromley. 

It’s the first indication I get of how this forward-thinking firm likes to do things differently.

Whilst our photographer John and I wait in the stunning reception area and discuss how comfortable the curvaceous chairs are, I note a huge ‘People Powered’ slogan dotted – quite literally with colourful huge tack pins – on the opposite wall.

“That’s what we’re all about,” states Thackray Williams’ Head of Corporate & Commercial Nick Gabay as he arrives in reception and overhears John and me discussing how impactful a statement it is.

We’re here to interview and photograph Nick, who after joining the company in 2021 has helped steadily grow Thackray Willliams’ business division.

Nick, who lives in Tunbridge Wells and worked for Thomson Snell and Passmore for more than twenty years prior to joining Thackray Williams, looks completely at home here, chatting and laughing with colleagues as we set up for the shoot.

“I am really happy here and so excited about the journey Thackray Williams is on,” he says as John’s camera clicks away.

But before we get into more detail about Nick’s role within Thackray Williams, a little history about the firm…

It was established in 2004 following the merger of Thackray Wood and Leigh Williams. 

The company’s Headquarters are here in Bromley but it also has three additional offices in Sevenoaks, West Wickham and London. 

The staff totals around 130 and is spread across the four different sites where a hybrid working system is encouraged, along with a smart casual approach to office attire instead of suits and a supportive, inclusive style of working. So far, so very unlike a lot of traditional solicitors then…

Boasting the prestigious LEXCEL Practice Management Standard – a quality mark for solicitors that only 3% of firms in private practice have attained – earlier this year the practice posted record-high revenue of £12.2m for 2023/24, which the firm is hoping will propel Thackray Williams into the UK’s top 200 ranks.

Nick tells me the firm has its sights firmly on being acknowledged as one of the South East’s best as it continues to expand. 

Thackray Williams’ senior legal team is headed up by Managing Partner Sean Sanders and includes 10 equity partners. The firm’s non-executive Chair is Simon Slater, formerly of Tunbridge Wells’ Cripps and also Thomson Snell and Passmore.

Commenting on the figures released earlier this year Simon said: “The year ahead will again see us identify and recruit senior lateral hires to enhance our service to clients and move us forward in our chosen sectors and practice areas.”

As we make our way around Thackray Williams’ impressive offices – where the stylish attention to detail continues courtesy of Herringbone flooring, sumptuous sofas and trendy Crittall framed doors and windows – Nick points something rather special out.

“Can you see that each of our meeting rooms is named after a famous resident of the local area? As a big music fan my favourite has to be the David Bowie one, so make sure you get a shot of that,” he smiles.

Other names include tennis player Emma Raducanu, naturalist Charles Darwin and writer HG Wells.

Once the shoot is done and we’re sitting down to chat, Nick reveals that one of the key reasons he decided to take the job at the firm in 2021 was because he liked Thackray Williams’ approach to doing business.

“The firm is ambitious yet it is committed to helping people achieve their full potential. It’s also inclusive and open to hearing everyone’s ideas,” reveals Nick.

So how did he become part of team Thackray Williams?

“We were just coming out of another lockdown in 2020 when I got a call from a head hunter. They said there was an exciting opportunity for a firm in Kent and when they mentioned Thackray Williams I was intrigued as it wasn’t one of the usual firms named when you get this type of call. 

“We were actually on our way to Cornwall for a holiday and I certainly wasn’t looking to leave my previous employer at all but I thought ‘well I’ll take the call’ and immediately the chemistry was there. 

“The ambition the team talked to me about was immediately believable. And although it sounds slightly cliched I just knew I couldn’t turn down this opportunity.”

The ‘opportunity’ Nick is referring to was to help grow the firm’s Corporate & Commercial division.

“They already had a good foundation but the challenge I accepted was to get us better known on the business side of things and to grow outside of Thackray Williams’ immediate catchment area.

“Our employment team is very strong here,” continues Nick. “And they already had some semblance of a commercial division but they really needed someone to spearhead the corporate team and that’s when my name was mentioned.”

Nick’s professional expertise lies in Mergers & Acquisitions, Demergers and Articles of Association, but he states that running a corporate law department wasn’t necessarily what he was looking for as the next step in his career. 

“Not at all! I was very happy just being a lawyer and doing a good job for my clients, but there was something about Thackray Williams’ offer that just made me think.

“I’d been at my previous firm for two decades and so I decided to grab the opportunity and here I am. I’ve settled in very well and I really enjoy working with our clients and the team here.”

On its promotional literature the firm cites Nick’s pragmatic and efficient approach to legal advice as a key strength: ‘He will get the job done with the minimum level of fuss possible, whilst working in partnership with clients to achieve their objectives.’

Initially when Nick started his new role he was based at the firm’s Sevenoaks office, but often finds himself commuting further up the A21 from his home in Tunbridge Wells to operate from Thackray Williams’ Bromley HQ.

“Geography has never been an issue for me. I travel a lot seeing clients so being based here is fine.”

When Nick began working at the firm he explains he could immediately see the potential to grow the department further.

After many months of hard work and research Nick and his team revealed a new strategy, built around six core sectors in April of this year. 

“They are Hospitality & Leisure, Real Estate, Private Wealth, Financial & Professional Services, Independent Education and Sport,” explains Nick.

“These are our key sectors as a firm but they are not exclusive to what we do. We are a full-service law firm so we will never say ‘we can’t help you’. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, we will be able to assist you. But these sectors are a good guide to some of our strengths and areas of expertise,” states Nick.

“The Sports one is an interesting one because originally it was all wrapped up within the Hospitality & Leisure sector, but we sectioned it off after recruiting Lewis Glasson, who is now spearheading a special team. 

“I suppose by doing this it’s an example of how we are not afraid to think outside the box – and it demonstrates that we are always looking forwards. We recruited Lewis and said we would support him in building his own sports division within the firm, and that is what we are doing.”

Nick goes on to exclusively reveal how Lewis has managed to secure a local partnership with the Premier League team Crystal Palace FC. 

“Lewis contacted them and to be honest we weren’t really expecting much but actually they were very receptive to us. I think that’s because Thackray Williams is a local firm and Crystal Palace is all about forging hyper local connections. For us it helps put our name on a different stage which will hopefully have a positive impact all round.” 

Thackray Williams will be sponsoring some of the club’s interactive ad boards and TV screens at home games so you can see why Nick, Lewis and team are so excited about this latest development.

“They are a club that are very keen to give back to the community – as are we – so our cultures were perfectly aligned. It’s a proper partnership,” adds Nick.

“It might be a bit of a stretch to use a football analogy here but they’re keen to expand their supporter base and we’re keen to increase our client base, and to reach more of Kent, so hopefully something like this will help us to do that.

“This has not just been a really good opportunity for Lewis, but for us as a firm, as this type of partnership will feed into all our departments. We really couldn’t have hoped for any better.”

Having such a high-profile Premier League partnership is something you would expect from a glitzy London practice, and without wanting to sound rude, not necessarily something you’d expect from a regional one. But Nick agrees, saying that’s what makes it all the sweeter for him and his colleagues.

“I never wanted to work for a London firm. I grew up in Hong Kong and saw how hard lawyers there worked, coming out of their offices at 3am. I promised myself I would never be like that.”

Nick ended up moving to the UK and studying at Manchester University. Sticking to his guns about not working for a London firm, he decided to apply for roles in the South East. 

“One of my aunts lives in Tunbridge Wells so I knew the area fairly well and applied to Thomson Snell and Passmore.”

He was accepted on a traineeship and eventually settled as a resident in the town and says he has ‘never looked back’ after doing so.

From early on in his career Nick says he really enjoyed working on the corporate side, looking after clients in business and helping them build and go onto the next stage.

“That type of role is my natural fit as a lawyer. Business was always my personal preference.”

Nick and his Thackray Williams colleagues mainly work with clients based in London and the South East, but they do also have a number of others across the country.

“It’s a natural thing if you have helped a client they will come back to you – even if they have relocated. It’s all about word-of-mouth reputation. I’ve acted for people all over the country, especially when they’re on the acquisition trail. Again, geography is not a problem for us.”

When Thackray Williams launched 20 years ago, the practice was very much focused on property, private clients, wills and probate. 

And then around 10 years ago the firm’s partners decided to specialise in areas of more commercial law. Over the past decade this has steadily grown thanks to new client wins – and of course Nick’s vision.

The business moved from its original offices, which were located above a shop in Bromley, and upgraded to the swish new premises on London Road a couple of years ago.

That, says Nick, was a key turning point for the firm becoming a more corporate outfit.

“The team were just ready to move to the next level,” he adds.

The senior team’s vision for creating a new HQ with the wow factor has paid off as business has never been better. And according to recent figures, the firm is well on its way to achieving its growth objectives over the next few years. 

“We’re ready to be seen and recognised as a firm who people can trust for a myriad of different services.”

What would Nick’s chief aims be for his department?

“I’d like to grow the team, preferably by two more by the end of this time next year. And exponentially thereafter.

“We’ve just had Thackray Williams’ year end results and our turnover was £12.2m And our strategy is to grow to £15m by 2027. And then to £20m by 2030, that’s our goal. And the good news is we are on target for all that.”

If there is one challenge, Nick says it’s recruitment. “But I think every firm experiences this. We’re competing with London for the best recruits but there are a few things that make us stand out and that’s our commitment to work/life balance and to our staff. 

“In terms of our employee benefits, we don’t just say ‘this is what we can do for you’. In fact we flip it on its head by asking ‘what can we do for you?’

“And our employees are constantly giving us feedback on everything from our private medical insurance to gym membership. If people come to us with an idea then we will consider it.”

Nick reveals that other ways they have ripped up the traditional solicitors’ rule book is by carrying on with encouraging employees to work both remotely and from the office. They must do the latter for a minimum of two days a week. 

But the funky Thackray Williams offices are not just to tick aesthetic boxes or immediately impress guests. In the meeting room area the cool chairs and tables dotted around also double up as hot desking spaces if capacity is ever reached in the main, open-plan office.

Nick adds that the firm has also done away with the traditional hierarchy of having ‘secretaries’ and instead prefers the terminology of ‘legal assistants’.

“Every person has their strength here,” he acknowledges. “And there is always the opportunity for promotion, whatever department you are in.

“In fact we are looking at that structure in both the fee earnings side for lawyers and also the support staff. The latter see opportunities that maybe those of us who are immersed in the nitty gritty detail-focused work often don’t see. It’s about collaboration and communication.

“Often our support staff will come at things with a better view from the eyes of the client than we do as lawyers, so we host regular team meetings where people can vocalise their thoughts.”

Nick states that he and his colleagues have an ambitious growth strategy, but that its success comes down to how you deliver it. 

“Others can have the same ambition but get stuck on delivering it; we have a very clear vision of how this can be achieved.

“It’s a really exciting journey we’re on. Just this morning I was interviewing someone for a corporate position and I was telling them that we are not yet the finished product. Why did I say this? Because we are still growing in order to achieve what we want. But we are on our path to doing what’s necessary to achieve our ambitions and that is very exciting.”

As we start to wrap up our conversation, Nick tells me that within 18 months of joining such ‘a young, vibrant partnership’ he was invited to join the equity partnership. 

“I was really flattered to be asked to join because it was obvious the senior team saw that what I was doing was key to the firm’s success. My piece of the jigsaw fitted what they needed. And given the fact that I had so much experience from another firm for so long meant that I could bring some really valuable lessons in. It really is a close-knit equity partnership here and I’m proud to be part of it as everyone sitting around the table wants the same thing.”

www.thackraywilliams.com