Meet the employment law specialist whose passion for justice came after family fled Uganda

Back in 1972, notorious Ugandan president Idi Amin ordered the nation’s Asian population to leave the country within 90 days or face being imprisoned in camps.

Bhayani, who was the youngest of four children, tells The Yorkshire Post her family was among those that fled to the UK. She says they were often subject to “hostility and racism” in their early days in Leicester and were then dealt a further tragic blow.

"My family would talk about how idyllic it had been in Uganda and how life had become so difficult, particularly because my dad then died quite suddenly in 1974 at the age of 46. We were really, really thrown into chaos.

"My mum is 90 now but she came here a very bright woman but without an education and not speaking the language and was a widow at 38 in a foreign country. It was a very hard life but she is a very resilient woman and I definitely get my resilience from her.”

The family’s tough circumstances led Bhayani to develop an interest in law and she ended up going to the University of Hull to study a degree in the subject.

“Growing up, what I realised was a lot of people don’t have a voice,” she says.

“It was a natural thing for me to speak up and justice always really interested me, coming from a place of real injustice after being kicked out of a country where you had everything. I had this schoolgirl idea about righting wrongs.”

She was initially interested in criminal law but during her studies realised her passion lay in employment law.

"Employment law touches everyone, whether employee, employer or on the management side,” she explains. “You see really bad behaviour in workplaces but more and more now, you also see good behaviour with lots of wellbeing initiatives and a genuine understanding you have to care for your employees.”

She moved to Sheffield in the early 1990s after getting a job with Watson Esam Solicitors.

Bhayani says one of her most memorable early cases involved representing a local female solicitor who had been the ‘golden girl’ at her firm but who fell pregnant and was forced out of her role.

Her client not only lost her job but also the baby and Bhayani, who herself was pregnant at the time, helped her win a claim of unfair dismissal and sex discrimination and secure compensation.

"That case has always stayed with me because she was a solicitor and in theory should have been able to speak up for herself but wasn’t when she faced this difficult situation. I was able to bring some justice and there were so many witnesses queuing up to give evidence for her.

"The sad thing is so many years on, we’re seeing not dissimilar behaviour because pregnancy-related discrimination and maternity-related discrimination still exists.”

She rose through the ranks at Watson Esam, eventually becoming its head of employment law, before deciding to strike out on her own and started her own firm.

Bhayani Law, whose staff are all women, now provides expert professional advice to help businesses and charities navigate the minefields of employment law and HR and has a simple motto; telling clients the firm is “in your corner”.

She started on her own in 2014 and worked on a fixed fee retainer model for clients rather than the more traditional method of charging hourly rates.

"It is a cheap cost for the employer but they are getting a whole lot of expertise. For me as a business owner it was great because it helped with cash flow because you were getting all these repeat small amounts.

"Before long the work was really coming in because I had been practicing for so many years.”

She initially took on three associates and steadily began hiring employees. Bhayani says she took a cautious approach to expanding the business, which now has a team of 12.

"The answer is not always to just keep employing people because before you know it, your overheads are so high. Profit is really important – you can have great turnover figures and not make profit. The reason my practice was attractive as an acquisition was because profit margins are high and the quality of advice is excellent.

"What clients like is they get the HR and legal advice, so a holistic approach to managing employees in a way you don’t really get if you go just to a law firm or just to an HR firm. We are truly a one-stop shop.”

The firm’s typical clients are SMEs across a variety of sectors but Bhayani says they do also take on some cases representing individuals.

"We tend to do that more on principle than routinely. For me it is an essential part of access to justice. I say to my team if there is something where somebody really needs our help with things like discrimination claims, let’s do that.”

Bhayani explains the recent Make UK takeover came about after she contacted a business adviser to help find out what interest there might be in the firm as part of her succession planning.

Make UK, which was previously the Engineering Employers' Federation, represents 20,000 manufacturing businesses and Bhayani says she was initially surprised at its interest in her firm, along with more-expected suitors like large law firms and HR providers.

"I couldn’t really understand the fit at first. But having spoken to Stephen Phipson the CEO I realised it was really interesting opportunity, particularly in this region. It is very well-known and well-regarded in Sheffield.

"I thought there would be lots of opportunities for us to ensure our future growth as Bhayani Law as part of Make UK.

"We’re not restricted in terms of working with Make UK members, in fact it is the opposite as we have a common idea of growing.”

Despite her selling the business, Bhayani is very much remaining with the firm.

"It is an ideal fit for me because it enables me to stay within the business, I’m not compelled to but I want to. It gives me a new opportunity and it almost feels like I have a new trainset if I’m being honest.

"For me it is really fulfilling. For my team it is great because I have got some very clever, ambitious women and I know I would lose them if there weren’t opportunities for them to grow and in a smaller firm that is difficult.”

She says the first few months with Make UK have been “really positive”.

"We are all really excited about the opportunities. Because we are a regulated law firm and Make UK isn’t, it opens up opportunities for different areas of work for us to deliver for their members.

"The deal ticked three boxes for me – one was looking after my team, the second was making sure my clients carried on getting everything they need and the third was giving me a new energy.

"People have asked me ‘Are you going?’ But this isn’t selling up to ride off into the sunset at all, it has actually really re-energised me to give even more to our clients and the business.”

She says the sale of the business has also given her a chance to reflect on her career journey.

"Sometimes I have worked too hard but you have to make some sacrifices. I feel really personally proud of where I have got to.”