Shipping law firm moves into new riverside home

A law firm specialising in shipping, transport and insurance has moved to a new office after meeting its growth targets in its first five years.
John Habergham: We decided we could provide a better service if we were on our own.John Habergham: We decided we could provide a better service if we were on our own.
John Habergham: We decided we could provide a better service if we were on our own.

Hull-based Myton Law has moved into Riverside House overlooking Victoria Pier following a £650,000 restoration.

John Habergham, director at Myton, told The Yorkshire Post that the shipping law market’s situation was not ideal, as the global recession continued to drag on the shipping sector with many firms struggling with overcapacity.

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He also said the same case could be applied to the haulage sector with an overcapacity of vehicles making it tough on firms.

Mr Habergham said that they had experienced growth, despite the difficulty of the sector, by positioning themselves.

“We started the business at the height of the recession but we did so with a business plan in mind, and a business model that was to make ourselves competitive to insurers and shipping lines, who we knew would be anxiously looking at their spend, so we positioned ourselves to take advantage.”

Myton Law was set up in 2010 when Mr Habergham and Scott Yates left the full service law firm where they both worked. The two had worked together for over 20 years in the shipping and transport department. Mr Habergham said: “We decided we could provide a better service if we were on our own rather than being shackled by a full service firm.”

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Mr Yates, director at Myton, said that understanding between the was incredibly important to the success of Myton.

Although the firm has no intention of abandoning its core specialism it is looking at the renewable energy sector for growth. Mr Yates said they want to provide general, commercial and corporate support to companies. “That will be an area that will be very ripe for us,” he added.

Despite the difficulties that the shipping sector has faced in recent years Mr Habergham believes that it will once again pick up. “Once the global recession recedes it will pick up as night follows day,” he said.

Mr Habergham hopes that Myton, which is expecting turnover to be just under the £1m mark this year, will continue to grow but says it would be ambitious to expect growth experienced in the first five years. “We’ve bought the building with expansion in mind and certainly we hope to achieve this expansion,” he added.

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