It was, what has become known as, skip week at Jacksons last week. Later in the year we will be leaving our current premises in Stockton to move to a new office close by ( details to follow in a later blog) and so last week we decided to start the clear out of twenty years of accumulated “stuff”. It soon became apparent that we were dealing with more than 20 years of gathered papers and belongings as some indexes and schedules must have been moved from the firms previous homes since they dated back to the early 1900’s.
As with any clear out there were hidden treasures found along the way and many memories were unearthed causing nostalgia and amusement in equal measure. There was also a fair amount of scepticism and bewilderment from the younger members of the firm as we unearthed office equipment from years gone by.
Times have changed rapidly and the rows and rows of law books reporting cases and statutes and providing precedents to work from are no longer used or required as online reference facilities have taken over. Some of these books are classics of their time and most have the distinctive look of a law office of old. What to do with them was the question? We spoke to a few book companies and looked online – google has an answer for everything doesn’t it? However, without being able to get the books to London there seemed little interest until one enlightened member of staff rang Judges Hotel just outside Yarm. The hotel was previously the residence for judges as they toured their circuit hearing cases and is very proud of its legal heritage. Much to our delight they were thrilled to receive the boxes of books and are looking forward to decorating parts of the hotel with our volumes. A recycling result leaving both parties delighted.
In the course of our rummaging we uncovered also some amazing old deeds dating back to the 18th century which we hope to frame to adorn the walls of our new office linking past and present. Life must have been very challenging for legal clerks when they had to scribe the words of their masters without making a single mistake in beautiful handwriting decorating the parchment as well. There was no spell check then and no delete button when the wrong word was used.
However, none of these treasures were the main delight of last week. The true gift of last week was to see our teams working together in their scruffs clearing out old papers, moving furniture, clearing bookshelves etc. and then stopping together to enjoy a well – earned cup of tea , one tray of which was even made by the senior partner and at one point ice creams. This was truly an example of many hands make light work although I am sure those tasked with furniture removal may dispute the word light. All of this was accomplished with immense good humour and sets us up well for our move later in the year. If this is an indication of Jacksons working together then this move will go like clockwork.
To all the staff at Jacksons who joined in I am deeply grateful for your hard work. You are an A1 team. To anyone out there contemplating a team building exercise – save your money and just hire a skip!
