New Southampton office sets stage for growth at established Solent law firm

At the start of this month, Hampshire-based law firm Warner Goodman moved into their new office premises at Compass House.

While a number of other firms are either moving into business parks on the edge of cities or downsizing with more of their staff working from home, Warner Goodman made the decision to invest in new office space.

We spoke to Managing Partner and Chartered Legal Executive Andy Munden to find out why.

“We think the future is hybrid,” he said. “We don’t think the future is everybody at home, but we also don’t believe the future is nine to five in the office for every member of staff.

“Because we own the building, we’ve been able to fit it out to suit our needs. It was originally open-plan offices upstairs with a medical centre below. It’s now all one building, and it’s all ours.

“We had been planning to modernise our offices since late 2019 to help strengthen our position in Southampton and Portsmouth.

“We purchased our Portsmouth office, a building we were already renting, in 2021, but had been searching in Southampton for around two or three years. When Compass House became available, we immediately saw the potential.

“It has lovely spaces for in-person meetings and a built-in infrastructure for online meetings. Many court hearings are now done online, so we needed to create a better tech environment to enable our lawyers to give excellent service.

“You can actually see our new office from our previous building, which was important as we feel we can serve our clients better if we remain inside the city centre.

“We also considered the perspective of our staff. Staying in the same area makes it much easier for those who use public transport compared to a business park which can be fairly inaccessible for those who don’t drive.”

One thing which became clear as we spoke was the extent to which Andy cares about the well-being of Warner Goodman’s staff.

Andy joined the firm in 1995 “stuffing letters” before working his way up to become the first-ever non-solicitor Partner at Warner Goodman in 2010. His passion for providing a positive environment for staff to work, collaborate and grow was repeatedly evident as we spoke.

“Warner Goodman has worked really hard to grow and be more modern, and the Partners have invested in the staff and their workplace to ensure we’re relevant, comfortable, current and somewhere people want to work.

“This naturally creates an environment our clients want to come to, where they’ll be treated properly. Happier and more comfortable staff who feel valued and respected do that.

“The team at Southampton have been excited to get into the new office. They were enthusiastic when we first announced the news and had been on many visits to see the progress. It’s been even better to get in with all the works now complete to make it even more as we would want it.”

Andy went on to explain the benefits of having a physical office for staff members, particularly those at earlier stages in their careers.

“The office provides a place for collaboration and learning, particularly for new and younger staff for whom working alongside others is crucial for their development.

“More than that, though, across the entire team, it helps to build a social cohesion which is more challenging to foster when everyone is working remotely. More than just colleagues, people become friends. This was why we wanted to invest in office infrastructure and do it in a place suitable for our staff.

“Generally, we don’t require staff to come into the office five days a week. We recognise the work/life balance of working from home is something many people find beneficial.

“But ever since we reopened our offices after COVID-19, we noticed a gradual creep back into people spending more and more time in the office, not just in Southampton but across all our locations. But our principle is to allow people to work however they feel is best and in the way that gets the best out of them.

“All the technology in the world can’t create the cohesion of having people together at some points in the week, but insisting on everyone together all of the week loses some of the benefits of the work/life balance some people have found works best for them.”

With their move now complete, the firm is looking to continue its recent growth. Since 2020 Warner Goodman has grown its turnover from 8 million to 9.3 million and its staff from 155 to 170.

Warner Goodman appointed Keygrove Chartered Surveyors to acquire their new office, which was bought from Cavendish & Gloucester Properties and marketed by Lambert Smith Hampton and Realest.