Associate Director, Jo Amos, recently celebrated two decades with Winns, so we caught up with her to find out how much things have changed.

When did you start working with Winns and what had you been doing before you started?

I started at Singleton Winn McDermott (SWM) on 12th July 1997 as a 2-year qualified solicitor, having done my training contract and two further years at McKeags in Gosforth. Prior to that I completed the law conversion course and finals for 2 years and before that I was a civil servant for seven years in London and then briefly in Newcastle.

What led you to make the decision to work with Jeff and the others working with him at the time?

Although I enjoyed working at McKeags, I wanted to move to a new firm where I had not been a trainee solicitor. SWM was a high street firm dealing with Crime, Family, PI claims and other civil matters with about 20 members of staff. I knew Jeff from appearing in the Magistrates court in Gosforth where he was good enough to give me advice as I felt my way as a criminal advocate and I decided it would be a good career move. The PI team was very small initially but gradually the PI work expanded and in January 2002 Jeff parted company with SWM and took the RTA/PI team with him. That’s when we became Winns and we moved into premises on Heaton Road. We were still few in number (between 5- 10 people) but expanded quite rapidly.

How did working at Winns shape your career?

Working at Winns for so many years has enabled me to develop my career as a PI lawyer dealing with high value cases and more recently as an Associate Director.

What would you say has been your strongest reason for staying with Winns?

I believe we provide an excellent service to our clients and work hard to achieve the best outcome for them which makes Winns a company I am continually motivated to work for.

What is the biggest change you’ve seen in your time working with Winns?

The increase in the number of people working here!!

What do you see as being of most importance to the future of Winns?

The people. To retain and keep motivating staff is crucial. It is exciting to see the increasing employee development and engagement through initiatives such as individual training plans and the introduction of the staff-led core values which I am proud to say include Integrity, Respect, Loyalty and Reliability.