MUSIC and dance mean a great deal to employment law adviser Charlotte Lloyd.
The 26-year-old is carving out a career for herself at the Cleckheaton offices of Howarths Employment Law Ltd. But when she isn’t tackling employment tribunals or advising client companies, she takes to the dance floor with partner Tom.
The popularity of TV’s Strictly Come Dancing has an influence, she says, but stresses a love of ballroom dancing is something she and Tom have inherited from their grandparents.
“Tom’s grandfather used to dance and so did my grandparents,” she says. “It was Tom who suggested we going to dance classes. I am quite lucky, I suppose. A lot of women would have to hassle their fellas to go dancing. In my case, it’s the opposite!
Charlotte and Tom both hail from the Midlands and began taking dance lessons 18 months ago before their move to West Yorkshire.
“We were given the name of a dance school in Bradford and we have just had our first lesson there,” says Charlotte. “Our grandparents were competitive dancers in their youth. It is an aspiration to follow in their footsteps and although I’d definitely like to compete I don’t think we are quite good enough.”
While Charlotte has been able to resume her dance lessons, she has had to forego her other musical pursuit. “I have played the electric organ since I was four,” she says. “Unfortunately, our flat in Cleckheaton is too small, so I couldn’t bring it with me.”
Charlotte was born and brought up in Stourbridge, a glass-making town in the West Midlands and home to Johnny Briggs, alias Coronation Street’s Mike Baldwin.
Charlotte attended Redhill School and went on to study four A-Levels at the town’s sixth form, King Edward VI College.
After leaving sixth form, she went on to study law at the University of Birmingham before going on to further her legal studies at the University of Wolverhampton.
She says: “I always wanted to be a lawyer. I quite liked the Ally McBeal-type lawyer and loved the TV programme. It was hard work and there were certain aspects of it I didn’t like, but I have never regretted it. The law was the career path I wanted to follow.”
Charlotte’s hard work was rewarded when she gained a masters degree in law in 2009.
She began her training contract with FTSE 250 company Rentokil Initial in September of the same year before qualifying as a solicitor in September, 2011.
Says Charlotte: “During my training at Rentokil Initial, I worked as part of the in-house legal team and predominantly dealt with commercial law, employment law and civil litigation matters.
“The training I received at Rentokil Initial was fantastic and it soon became clear that employment law was the area of law for me. In the final months of my training contract I dealt solely with the company’s employment law issues, advising the company’s in-house human resources team about various issues and independently conducting employment tribunal hearings in hearing centres countrywide.
“The company had in the region of 40,000 employees and I enjoyed being involved in the numerous issues which having an employee base of this size presented. I really enjoyed the diversity of the tasks and the fact that I got to work alongside different people.
“It really was a case of being chucked in at the deep end! I got the opportunity to do things that I wouldn’t have ben able to do if I had trained in private practice.”
Nevertheless, Charlotte decided it was time to move on – and discovered an opportunity to head north.
“I knew that employment law was the way forward for me and I was looking nationally,” says Charlotte. “I saw an advertisement for a post with Howarths Employment Law and it seemed to fit the bill.”
She was interviewed by directors Andy and Gavin Howarth and was offered the post. Charlotte admits: “I’d never even been to Yorkshire before and I had never even heard of Cleckheaton. I had to look it up on Google!” But she says: “I felt that the role fit in well with my skill set and I thought it would enable me to utilise my existing knowledge whilst allowing me to gain new experience.
“Thankfully my interview with Andy and Gavin went well and I was offered the position the following week. I was over the moon.”
Now, Charlotte has made Cleckheaton her home, saying: “I’ve settled in really well and, of course, Tom has moved up.
“We are getting our bearings and finding our way around. We went to Scarborough and we have been looking around the neighbouring towns “
Charlotte is also enjoying her role with the company, saying: “It’s different every day. My biggest reservation was that the work would not be as diverse as it was at Rentokil Initial, but I am still dealing with tribunal cases and the issues that come through are just as complicated.”
She says: “Although I have only been at Howarths for an extremely short amount of time, I already feel at home. The team have made me feel very welcome and I am enjoying getting to know everybody. I can genuinely sense the excitement that everybody gets from working here and the passion that everybody has for driving the business forward.
“I’m really looking forward to see what the future has to hold for both myself and Howarths.”
Charlotte says employers are increasingly aware of the issues at stake.
“There are companies that struggle with their legal obligations in terms of employment law, but once they have been given some guidance it becomes easier for them to manage,” she says.
“Quite often, companies are not aware of their obligations. They are not aware that they have breached the rules if they are not seeking advice.
“But it is silly to be blasé about issues such as retirement age agency worker regulations.”
Role: Employment law adviser
Age: 26
Holidays: My last holiday was a three-week inter-rail trip around Europe
Car: Fiat 500
Best thing about job: The diversity of the role and not knowing what is coming next
Worst thing about job: Having to look across the corridor from my office at the boss!
Business tip: Be vulnerable – open yourself up to new learning experiences
