Member Article

“For us the most important thing is to create a happy place where SMEs can come to for help.? bdaily speaks to Deb McGargle from Particular C&L Limited and particular.pro

Deb McGargle isn’t your typical lawyer. Throughout her career, she has pursued her two passions – law and business – concurrently, but it is only in the course of her most recent project that she has finally managed to combine the two.

Deb and her business partner Matthew Rippon joined forces around two years ago when Matthew approached her to work with him at his previous firm. The pair then decided to form the two businesses, Particular C&L Limited, and particular.pro.

“Prior to meeting Matthew I’d had the idea for an online legal advice centre, but I had too much going on to focus on it properly,” she recounts “Then I met Matthew who was really the brains behind the business as it is today.”

While the pair intend to provide the traditional legal services to their clients, there is actually much more than that on offer; “Particular seems like a law firm – but its not.” She says. “While we do offer legal advice, we can also provide business mentoring and commercial support over time”.

The pair now hope to deliver legal services with the same traditional technical abilities, but in a far more innovative manner. Particular specialize in working with Start-ups and SMEs, areas of business that are close to Deb’s heart. “When I was 18 I bought into a classic car garage, and since then I’ve always been involved in small business in some way.

“While Particular isn’t a SME, the journey is the same. This means that when a client is worried, we can provide them with reassurance because ultimately we’ve both had the same worries and concerns.”

Their business, particular.pro is a unique concept for the legal market. It will provide members with online legal advice, specifically targeted towards the small business market.

Indeed, her own personal experiences have given her the insight to understand the value of working with small business owners.

“Lots of firms in the region don’t see the value of working with SMEs, even though its such a rewarding sector,” she said. “ It’s not just about the money, and its nice to see what businesses are doing. Much of the work we do it with people coming out of the public sector, and they have fantastic business ideas.”

While the business does have a regional focus, Deb has clients as far away as Bristol, Birmingham and London and much of their work is done online: “The market is changing, and businesses don’t have to be on your doorstep. We’re all home workers, which means we can also give good value for money because there are no massive overheads”

In terms of the future, Deb’s aim for now is to stay buoyant: “For now we just want to stay on our feet and sustain the business.

“For us the most important thing is to create a happy place where SMEs can come to for help.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .