Founded in 2008, Family Law Decisions provides high-quality, cost-effective support services to help individuals and families navigate the England and Wales family court system. This includes a specialism in McKenzie Friends – professionals that accompany litigants in court and throughout legal proceedings but are not solicitors or barristers – across both private child law and non-molestation orders.
Jeff Botterill, founder of Family Law Decisions, knew that he wanted to continue helping people and expand the practice nationally to provide greater support and flexibility for customers engaging in litigation through the UK courts system. However, Jeff lacked the knowledge of the best way to sustainably grow his business. To understand how to best approach his growth phase, he enrolled on the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course, which is designed to help business leaders and senior managers to increase resilience, innovation, and growth.
The course was delivered by Nottingham University Business School – a recipient of the Small Business Charter accreditation that recognises institutions that support small businesses – and gave Jeff the skills he needed to grow the business sustainably.
Since Jeff completed the course, Family Law Decisions has more than doubled its turnover and is on track to hit seven figures by the end of 2024. Jeff has also grown his team from seven to 17 people and plans to continue expanding by bringing on a further 15 paralegals and support staff over the next five years.
Jeff Botterill, founder of Family Law Decisions, said: “Although the support and services we provide have remained top tier, we’ve wanted to help more people across the UK for some time now. In order to do that, I needed greater knowledge of how to expand my business in a way which could be sustained for the future.
“Since graduating from the Help to Grow: Management Course, it’s clear to see the impact it’s had on my business. When I first started the business in 2008, there were just two of us. We have slowly scaled the business over the last 15 years, but the insight I have gained from the course has springboarded both our turnover and talent growth beyond what I thought was possible.
“My advice for anyone considering this course is to take the plunge. There’s so much to learn that can help you and your leadership team to really excel.
"I’m still coming back to plans that I made with my mentor that are now helping me to deliver operational efficiencies across the firm. I’ve no doubt the skills I’ve gained will play a key role in the business’ future growth trajectory.”
Michael Hayman MBE, Chair, Small Business Charter, added: “The Help to Grow: Management Course was designed to give leaders the knowledge to design organisational change and the confidence to act on it, so businesses can evolve and grow in a sustainable way. From everything that we have seen this programme deliver, it is clear that investment in leadership teams has the power to transform the way businesses operate, creating resilient, innovative, and more productive SMEs across the UK.
“Like many business founders across the UK, Jeff and his team have the technical skills and experience to provide a high-quality service within a challenging sector, but they did not have the knowledge required to confidently scale their company. Through the support of Help to Grow: Management, Jeff has acquired the tools and expertise to expand his team and achieve record levels of revenue growth. I’m looking forward to seeing Family Law Decisions continue evolving and delivering crucial support for its customers.”
Business leaders can find out more about Help to Grow: Management and sign up for the course here.
About Help to Grow: Management:
Help to Grow: Management is a 12-week course designed to support business leaders and senior managers to increase resilience, innovation and growth within their organisations.
Delivered by Small Business Charter accredited business schools, the course is available in more than 50 locations across the UK and is 90% government funded. It is designed to fit around existing work and personal commitments, providing business leaders with more than 50 hours of online and in person training including 10 hours of one-to-one mentoring.
Individuals completing the course automatically join the Help to Grow: Management Alumni Network, where they have access to exclusive events, content and partner offers, as well as the support of a UK-wide peer network.
The Small Business Charter, which oversees Help to Grow: Management, is an award for the UK’s world-class business schools. The Charter was developed by Lord Young, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Chartered Association of Business Schools to celebrate business schools that play an effective role in supporting the UK’s 5.8m SMEs and their local economies by extension.