Derby HR & Employment Law company celebrates prestigious award win

A leading Derby business is celebrating after being named Small Business of the Year at a prestigious regional awards ceremony.

Precept, a HR & Employment Law firm based on Mansfield Road, were triumphant in the East Midlands Business Masters Awards that took place last week at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nottingham recently.

With a record number of entries and more than 300 business leaders from across the region in attendance Rob Tice, director of Precept said that the award has capped off a hugely successful year.

He said: “It really has been a fantastic year for Precept and I’m so proud to have such a brilliant, committed team supporting me. This award is so special because it represents external validation of the highest form and proves to us that we really are doing law differently.

Starting a business is a tough gig, but just stepping back to look at what we have achieved in a relatively short space of time is amazing.”

Rob spent 20 years working for Flint Bishop before setting up Precept in 2019 with Alan Watson, Executive Chairman and Owner of the Barron McCann group of companies. The pair have been friends for several years.

Alan said: “This is a fantastic achievement by Rob and the wider team. What they have accomplished over the past few years is excellent.”

As the company grew, so did the Precept team which now consists of Rob’s wife, Emma, who joined Precept from national law firm Geldards and has been recognised in the Legal 500.

She heads up the rest of the lawyers that includes Senior Associate Philip Pearson-Batt; Associate Robyn Smith, Executive PA Catherine Harrison and Business Development Executive Lucy Laughton.

Emma says: “I am so pleased with our win. I am just so proud of the whole team – they really are the best.”

Their ethos is to ‘support employers of all shapes and sizes with all sorts of HR and employment law problems’ by doing law differently, dropping the jargon and giving simple solutions.

This no-nonsense attitude, friendly approach and ability to create and nurture trusted relationships is what has seen their business boom, particularly over the past 12 months.

Rob added: “What we offer at Precept is quite unique,” he said, “we’re trying to get the business to be a 50/50 split between HR and employment law, and offer qualified lawyers at Precept who are also capable of taking on your HR issues, too.

We’re very hands-on and we want to continue to stick to our core principles and continue to build relationships with our clients.”

Other winners on the night included Abacus Flooring Solutions, who were named Start-up Company of the Year, Ward Recycling, who picked up an award for Sustainability and A.W. Lymn Funeral Services. They were named Family Business of the Year.