southampton: growth & opportunity Paris Smith on board with
Williams Shipping Law firm Paris Smith and its client Williams Shipping are both stalwarts of Southampton’s business community. The Business Magazine found out how their relationship developed and how the Williams family has steered the company for 125 years
Colin Williams modestly suggests that the success of his family’s marine and shipping business has been due to “a lot of luck”. But then, you make your own luck. The family’s determination and acumen over five generations is evident as it celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2019.
Williams, a director, and his brother Eric, the chairman, run the business set up by their great grandfather. Eric’s two sons and Colin’s son are also directors. Colin Williams recalls dashing back from school to his father’s office and sitting in on company meetings as a youngster.
“We all genuinely want to be part of the business. My father loved the sea, as do I. Ours is a 24/7 business, so it is constantly discussed at home,” he said.
If luck has played a part in the company’s success, so has hard work. Conducting research for a book celebrating the company’s anniversary Colin Williams was reminded how hard it had been at times.
“I hadn’t appreciated how difficult it was for my father,” he said. “He was running the business very much on his own for a lot of the time. Nowadays, we have a strong management team who we can share things with. And communication today is quicker and easier. When there was nasty weather in the Solent my father couldn’t just pick up the phone to check on his crews. He’d go down to the port and wait to make sure all our boats returned safely. After a severe storm in 1955 smashed up five of our vessels in the harbour we might have lost the business.”
Shared outlook
The relationship with Paris Smith spans decades. “Colin recently showed me an old bank statement dating from before World War Two that included a £34 payment to Paris Smith,” said Peter Taylor, managing partner at the firm.
“We firmly believe in what Williams Shipping stands for. The family dynamic is wonderful. We are doing increasingly more work with Williams, which we thoroughly enjoy.”
Paris Smith provides mainly commercial support to Williams in a team led by partner Crispin Dick. This includes reviewing its customer contracts to assess if they continue to be fit for purpose.
Williams said: “We have many long- standing customers so it’s a good discipline to regularly review their contracts. As the business expands and
Eric and Colin Williams
moves into new areas we expect this type of work for Paris Smith will increase.”
The firm also advises Williams on its property leases and negotiates long-term leases for the company. This is another area of legal support that is increasing.
Discussing the company’s decision to work with Paris Smith, Williams said: “They are a well known and respected firm with a very long tradition. I’ve been aware of them since my training as an accountant in the 1960s. We see our relationship developing further in the future.”
For Taylor, it’s a question of helping clients to achieve success and overcome challenges through a positive engagement with its legal expertise. “We talk regularly with Colin and his team about their goals to make sure what we do adds value for them. We also help open doors in the local business community through our networking,” he said.
Taylor highlighted another aspect where both Paris Smith and Williams share the same passion. “The vision for Southampton is a global city of excellence with a marine focus. Williams Shipping is a key element in that vision, given the nature of its business and understanding of the dynamics of the city,” he said. “Both our futures are tied to Southampton and the region. It’s home for us and always has been.”
Taking a long-term view is natural for two businesses with a combined age of 325 years. “We’re not just in it for today. We make business decisions based on the impact in the long term,” said Taylor. “Like
22
businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
