Articles From the Team

Weather the storm and hope for the best?

Alongside the majority of the Midlands, I found myself at the mercy of good old Doris last week. As many of you will no doubt be aware, Storm Doris raged through the Midlands and other parts of the UK costing the country a staggering £400 million in a couple of days. Following a meeting, I found myself stranded in Bristol with all trains towards Birmingham being cancelled. With the end of the month fast approaching and deadlines looming, being stranded with no way back any time soon was definitely not ideal! Standing on the platform alongside all the other stranded passengers I could sense the exasperation and feeling of helplessness in the air. No doubt, I can’t have been the only one desperate to get back, whether it be work or family related.

Naturally, as a recruiter, this incident stressed the importance of commute and work life balance for me. I can only imagine the amount of people last week, upon whom the cost of their lengthy commute to work began to dawn! Those of us who commute in from a distance will no doubt have become increasingly frustrated with the gradual grinding to a halt of public transport to and from work. The reality is, when we’ve accepted a role for which we’ll need to commute a fair distance on a daily basis both to and from work, it will no doubt have an adverse effect on the other parts of our lives. Unfortunately, public transport isn’t the greatest at the best of times let alone during such a disruptive time. It’s at times like these we are afforded the opportunity to sit down and question, ‘is this commute really worth it?’

I appreciate that many of us feel that we need to sacrifice certain things in order to further our careers but the question remains… to what extent? How much importance do you place on your work-life balance? In a case of emergency, do you really want to be relying on public transport to be with your loved ones? I realise that occurrences such as Storm Doris are few and far between but nonetheless it should act as a stark reminder to help us judge where our priorities lie when looking for or accepting a new role.

Many of us may feel that we would be very unlikely to secure an equally as good a role, if we were to move closer to home but his could not be further from the truth! BCL Legal is consistently instructed on new roles in an abundance of locations. We work alongside a whole range of firms, from the niche, remote, family practices sprinkled across the map to the top tier powerhouses based in major city centres.

If any of the above resonates with your situation and you’ve considered relocation but not as yet taken the leap, please feel free to get in touch for a confidential, thorough chat of your personal circumstances and career ambitions. We have a range of consultants who focus on different areas or law in various geographical locations across the country. I specialise in the recruitment of Solicitors, Legal Executives and Paralegals in Personal Injury and Insurance Litigation roles across the Midlands, Southwest and London. I look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to assist before the next storm hits!

For more information contact BCL Legal or call 0845 241 0933.