Amanda Stevens becomes chief executive of Hudgell Solicitors

Hudgell Solicitors has appointed Amanda Stevens as its new chief executive.

Stevens, who has a been a manager in the NHS as well as a partner at Charles Russell and Irwin Mitchell, joined the firm in January last year.

Neil Hudgell, the founder of the firm, has restructured the firm’s management team after running Hudgell Solicitors throughout its 20-year history. Stevens will now head up various new projects as part of the firm’s new strategy, including developing its management information tools, and undertaking a full analysis of how it treats clients.

Stevens will also oversee costs, “mentoring and talent identification” within the business, and lead the development of the firm’s rehabilitation services – an area in which she has played a key national role by twice overseeing revisions and updates to the Rehabilitation Code in 2007 and most recently 2015.

The move follows a three-month sabbatical that Hudgell took from the business in 2016.

“There has been a lot of talk about uncertainty in the claims sector, but what Hudgell Solicitors have been traditionally very strong at, and will be so in the future, is identifying times of change as opportunities,” said Stevens.

“When you come to a crossroads, you need to have planned your path and know where you are heading, and why. That is what this is all about. It is about ensuring our firm is a beneficiary of the changes, not a victim.”

Hudgell said that he will be working with individual members of the firm’s senior management team in ensuring the smooth running of their departments.

“We are lucky to have an excellent staff, with forward-thinking ideas to bring to the table. That enables us to stay agile and adapt our business model to changing needs,” he said.

“The next stage of development for us is in terms of efficiency savings and automation, enabling us to service more clients and continue delivering a first class service in our three locations, so that we can maintain our national position in the areas of work in which we specialise.

“I for one am very excited by the innovations and changes we are implementing and I know our team will do as they have always done before and work to further strengthen the business and help it maintain and grow our market position in times of change.”

Hudgell Solicitors has launched an aggressive acquisition strategy in the personal injury and clinical negligence sectors in recent years through the launch of www.webuyanyfiles.co.uk.

It has seen the firm take on caseloads from lawyers, insolvency practitioners, accountants and other professionals, with more than 6,000 files acquired at a cost of around £5 million.

Mark Dugdale