This September Guy Longhurst celebrates 25 years with Ellisons Solicitors; currently Managing Partner, Guy joined the firm in 1995, becoming Partner in 1999 and the firm’s Senior Partner in 2012. Ellisons Solicitors is one of the oldest, most established and fastest growing firms in the East of England having been founded over 250 years ago. It has offices located across Essex and Suffolk: Colchester, Chelmsford, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Tendring.
Guy specialises in all aspects of commercial property matters and says that Ellisons is a very important part of not only his, but also his family’s life. “Clients often say we’re like a family firm without being a family firm. We make sure that everyone is courteous and respectful to one another and we believe in giving clients honest, sensible, pragmatic advice and feel our clients respect us for that.”
In terms of career highlights, Guy talks about his colleagues: “The highlight for me is the people in the business now and those who have worked with Ellisons during my time here, who have helped take the business and our clients forward. For me working and growing as a team is undoubtedly the greatest achievement of the firm. We want to deliver excellence to our clients so in turn have invested heavily in training and development to ensure we provide the best service we can. Anybody joining Ellisons today knows there is a career path for them and they can fulfil their career objectives with our full support.”
Guy was born in Colchester and now lives with wife and daughters near Sudbury, although he considers Bury St Edmunds as his home town. He always knew that he wanted to be a lawyer, perhaps influenced by his father, Tony Longhurst, who is also a lawyer.
One of the biggest differences between when he joined back in 1995 and now is technology and the impact it has had on business. Commenting, Guy says: “Early on we used telexes, then with the internet we had a single email address where one person would be responsible for managing it. The speed at which things happen has changed dramatically; everything used to be on paper, whereas now everything is instant.”
He talks about how training has moved on as well: “I take a huge amount of pride in the talented people that we have at Ellisons. I think the training that we have now and the career opportunities that we can offer budding lawyers are so much better than when I joined. Then, I think we had one trainee solicitor a year, we didn’t have any trainee legal executives, and if we did, they were very much left to their own devices. There are also many more training routes now, such as apprenticeships rather than having to get a pure law degree, which is great.”
Too busy to play golf these days, he talks about what he likes to do in his spare time: “It’s pretty basic really; my mother’s Irish and I do enjoy spending time with family and friends with a glass in my hand and a smile on my face. I used to play a lot of sport – now it’s limited to running. My younger daughters are still living at home so I try to drag them out on a paddleboard on the river Stour a few times a week – and I walk our Labrador every day.”
Guy is clearly fond of the area in which he lives and appreciates how much the region has to offer: “We have a lot on our doorstep don’t we. East Anglia still has the pace of life where you can enjoy life – work hard and play hard.”
One client commenting on Guy’s anniversary said: “Since becoming senior partner in 2012, he has certainly not been idle, overseeing a massive expansion of the business, and adding several new locations to the business in the process. His quick wit and humorous disposition makes him everybody’s friend, and certainly is the highlight of the annual property breakfast, although sadly not this year. It was a big event for us to move our legal work away from our previous solicitors, but having dealt opposite Guy for many years, eventually I realised that he was the best commercial solicitor in the area for my business needs, so almost 7 years ago I moved all our business across to Ellisons and have never been happier.” – Malcolm Hobbs, Director, Earls Colne Business Park.
