People Stories
3rd January 2020
Claire is a Partner at Foot Anstey and talks to us about the firm's approach to flexible working and how she works flexibly to balance her family life with her career. As a Partner in our Employment and Pensions team, she also tells us a bit about the work she does with clients as well as her role in our Diversity and Inclusion Action Group.
What sort of projects do you work on/work do you do?
I work on a wide range of employment matters, ranging from advice on day-to-day employment and HR issues to board level employment and strategic issues, such as complex senior exits and restructurings.
My specialism is providing advice to Private Equity backed portfolio companies on transactional work and integration projects. This involves carrying out the employment due diligence on the business that the client is looking to acquire and making recommendations to improve the business, including advising the client on how best to structure their employment arrangements to achieve their commercial objectives.
The firm's approach to flexible working was one of the main things that attracted me to the firm, with its emphasis on agile working and innovative arrangements such as lifestyle hours.
Claire Holland
What appealed to you about Foot Anstey before you joined?
The firm's approach to flexible working was one of the main things that attracted me to the firm, with its emphasis on agile working and innovative arrangements such as lifestyle hours. This has continuously developed over the years with even greater flexibility around working patterns, as well as the introduction of the firm's sabbatical programme. The fact that the firm doesn’t foster a culture of presenteeism and actively encourages flexibility means that staff feel empowered to find a balance that works for them individually.
Tell us about your flexible working arrangement
Since I had my first child 11 years ago, I've always worked four days a week which has really helped with balancing work and home life. For me, it's meant that I've been able to spend more time with my children as well as giving me the time to get some of those boring life admin tasks done during the week rather than at the weekends. I now work four and a half days over five days which means that I can pick my kids up from school two days a week and start late on the other days so I can drop them off too (well, pre-Covid anyway!). Working part-time has also meant that I've had to be better organised and a bit more self-disciplined which isn't a bad thing!
What is your role in the D&I Action Group?
The firm recently reviewed its approach to diversity and inclusion and set up the D&I Action Group which I became part of. We wanted to create a group which focused on initiatives to move the conversation forward and to try to action real change. One of those initiatives is the D&I day initiative which I've been tasked with leading on. Our first is going to be a day of interactive online sessions focusing on education and raising awareness and will be a fantastic event for our colleagues to connect on this important issue.
What three words would you use to describe the firm to a friend?
Ambitious, innovative and progressive.
