Why retirement can simply be the next stage in a fulfilling career: Paul Berwin
Mostly people in business talk about their businesses; or what they do when away from their businesses. I’d like to share some post-business thoughts.
After some 45 years in the law, much of it in the law firm which I founded, I was able to step aside from that late 2025/early 2026. Are we talking about retirement? Be the judge.
Sometimes when people leave a business, they feel a void - a yearning still to be wanted, after so long feeling pivotal. Often there is financial anxiety. Sometimes a loss of identity when the phone stops ringing, the emails are silent. Sometimes people expect to be in demand as well-paid, low-responsibility non-executive directors – but those rarely come looking for you, even if that’s what they are. In my case I had a plan. Once I’d finished in the law, I didn’t want to continue there. In recent years it has become harder, compliance much more burdensome. The satisfaction of running a business or doing good work for a client was losing its bloom. We’d worked on succession, and the time was right. But in addition, there were other things I wanted to do. In anticipation of leaving the law, I qualified as a commercial mediator in 2022, with CEDR, one of the top international accreditation bodies. I’d helped found a mediation panel for technology disputes. I have had long involvement in communal work, and have, I hope, a wider hinterland – that’s important; history, politics, culture, music. These things matter.
Mediation has given me an off-ramp which has also got my entrepreneurial juices flowing again. As I’ve said before - it’s never too late to start a start-up, and that’s what I’ve done. Freed from the responsibility and cost of staff, premises, compliance and targets, I’ve been able to build my mediation business from scratch. I’m not looking to others to do the marketing – that’s always been something I’ve liked. Through conversations, I’ve been able to gauge whether “I can mediate anything” is the message, or “these are the things where I can really add best value”. I’ve been, as a commercial and corporate lawyer, a negotiator and deal maker, but never been a litigator, or really known litigators. I’ve made it my business to get to know scores of litigators and to do so consistently and (I hope) unobtrusively. I’ve created my own website, sorted my accounting software, developed my voice on LinkedIn (as well as continuing a long-running observation of the Leeds Station works). I’ve also created
connections with a broad range of other mediators – because other people know more, and mediation can be a lonely role – and tried to raise my profile amongst the professional mediation bodies.
I’m fortunate – though what I’m doing is different from what I’ve done, I’m not building on nothing. I have a transferrable set of skills, and can build on that. I have a certain existing profile and contacts. I have time, and can do this at my own pace, without needing to take whatever I can get. And at the same time I can contribute communally; I can run, I can cycle, I can exercise; I can cook, I can bake, I can read and research; and I can do school pickups, family support and family time. Retirement? Next stage
By Paul Berwin, mediator