Gemma Wilkinson, who has been with Winns for six years, recently became the go-to person for Complaints and Compliance. We caught up with her to find out about the path that led her to her current role, and what responsibilities she now has.

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My legal career really began when I completed my training contract with Ben Hoare Bell. That was when I decided I wanted to specialise in Personal Injury. I qualified as a Solicitor in September 2009 and thereafter I went to Sintons as a solicitor in their PI department. The majority of my work was Employee Liability/Public Liability personal injury claims with some RTA. I also supervised a small team of EL/PL fee earners. In 2015, I was made an Associate of the firm.

In January 2016, I moved to Winns, starting as a solicitor/supervisor in the EL/PL team and I’m very glad that I did!

Since I first started, the management team and my immediate line managers have always supported me in progressing my career; from starting in a relatively small EL/PL team at that time to then moving into Part 7 as a solicitor/supervisor and then ultimately supervising the fraud team. Training has always been given when I need it for any new role within the firm and I have learned so much in the time that I have been here.

In my new role as Complaints & Compliance Manager, I deal with the formal complaints within the firm. I am also the Data Protection Officer, so I handle the data breaches and the Subject Access Requests that we receive. In addition, I am the Money Laundering Reporting Officer. This is a complete change to my previous role and a total shift from personal injury work.

I am really enjoying taking on something entirely different and expanding my knowledge of these key areas.

Over my time with Winn Group, I have been impressed by how committed they are to advancing the careers of existing staff; both internal trainee recruitment and my own experience of the advances I have made since I have been here. It is a forward-thinking company which is particularly relevant since the government changes to personal injury work and the challenges that personal injury firms face. The people are also great of course!

My favourite Winn Group staff benefit? I always look forward to my birthday day off!

I think all of the Winn Group values very much apply to my team. However, my team would not operate the way it does without the help of our Compliance Assistant and the word I always use to describe her has to be ‘reliable.’

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Congratulations on your new role Gemma!