Michael Walby returned to his Cumbrian roots seven years ago to work at Burnetts in Carlisle and still hasn’t forgotten the warmth of the welcome he was given

Originally from Aspatria, Michael lives in Warwick on Eden with his wife Kate, a presenter and journalist at ITV Border.  They have an 11-year-old daughter Isabella, a five-year-old son Sebby, and a Labrador pup called Hugo.

 

He said: "I returned to Burnetts in 2015, after 10 years working as a corporate lawyer at International law firm Pinsent Masons.  My career was going well and took me as far afield as Mexico City advising Walmart.  In 2014, one of our partners Richard Miller called up out of the blue and

asked if I would like to return to Burnetts. The seed was firmly planted, and nine months later, I was back in Cumbria as a Corporate Partner.  Career-wise, it was my “sliding doors” moment and I have never looked back, and neither has my wife Kate.

 

I was brought up in and around business.  When I was young, I worked with my dad (John) every chance I could get, travelling with him to pubs, hotels and caravan parks around Cumbria where his business had amusement machines, pool tables and jukeboxes.  I think it was listening to the discussions he had with owners and operators which triggered my passion for all things business.  Looking back, they were great times – travelling all over our beautiful county.  We had so many laughs, from retrieving a set of false teeth from inside a pool table, to rescuing a child that climbed into a teddy bear grab machine.

 

Although our careers are totally different, I have always sought to emulate my dad - his strong work ethic, the relationships he built with his customers, and when it came to business, he always looked to do what was right and fair.  As a result, a lot of his customers have remained with him for over 40 years, including Stanwix Holiday Park Holiday, Armathwaite Hall Hotel and Ullswater Holiday Park.

 

The most important skills for a business lawyer are technical ability and commerciality.   I received ‘on the job’ training on these at Pinsent Masons from some first-rate mentors and lawyers.  It was a steep learning curve and was often tough, but I now realise it was an excellent grounding, and one which stands me in good stead as a lawyer, as I use these skills every day. 

  

In my job it is important to have good connections with accountants, banks and other intermediaries.   Aside from a handful of local professional contacts, I pretty much started from scratch when I returned in 2015.   The local business community in Cumbria was very welcoming towards me.  I will always remember and be very grateful for that.  We have a unique and friendly warmth in the Cumbrian business community.

 

I love working with boards of large companies, family businesses and entrepreneurs.  In addition to legal advice, the clients I work with often ask for my view on strategic or important decisions.  I really enjoy that aspect of my work, as it builds much closer bonds with my clients and helps me to better understand their business objectives.

 

I always wanted to become a business owner and that is where my career has taken me.   We have a very strong partnership at Burnetts, which was strengthened further during the pandemic.  As a group of partners, and as a business, we genuinely look after our colleagues and clients and work extremely hard to help them to flourish.   This was recognised by In-Cumbria when they awarded us “Professional Services Business of the Year” at last year’s awards, an achievement which all of us at Burnetts are rightly very proud of.