Nikki Whittle is a partner at law firm Brabners and is the Brabners Lancashire head of corporate. She handles a broad range of corporate transactions, acting for a range of clients from SMEs to large companies.
In 2021, Nikki was named one of the region’s top 25 female entrepreneurs and innovators to watch by Lancashire Business View. As part of Boost's celebration of International Women's Day 2023, she shares the story of her career and advice for other women in leadership.
Brabners is an independent law firm which provides legal services to large and mid-sized businesses, SMEs, public sector bodies, charities, business owners, entrepreneurs and high-net worth individuals.
The firm has been in business since 1815 and has an independent grant-making charity, the Brabners Foundation. The company employs over 440 colleagues across the North at its Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds offices.
Brabners Lancashire relocated from Winckley Square, Preston, to its new Grade A office at Sceptre Court Business Park in Central Lancashire in 2021.
There has been two key breakthroughs in my career. The first was being made a partner, something that I have always wanted to be and which I feel is really important as there are still not enough female partners across the UK legal professional.
The second is being able to chair our Together Action Group (TAG), an internal committee at Brabners consisting of five sub-groups which push for positive change across the company on equality, diversity and inclusivity.
I am passionate about helping to ensure Brabners is a firm that allows everyone the same opportunities, whatever their race, gender or sexuality – leading our TAG helps me to be part of that.
My proudest achievement is not strictly related to Brabners – it is the birth of my son. With me and my partner there had always been something going on in our lives which meant the time was not quite right to have children.
It took a global pandemic for us to see that having a child was really important to us. Initially, we were worried we had left it too late, but Stanley is 15 months old tomorrow – we couldn’t be happier!
Praise. When I was a trainee, I worked working closely with one partner in particular. As you are learning, there are a lot of times where something is not quite right and needs correcting, which they did, but they also always made sure to praise me when something was done well – that has stuck with me to this day, 15 years later.
The colleagues that I have are fabulous. The Brabners Lancashire office is a great team and we all look out for each other. We also have a lot of women in the Lancashire team and it’s great to see women building up women – that is really important in business.
Do not give up when things get hard. When you are starting out in your career you will make mistakes – at the time they may seem major but when you look back, you will see that they are not as big as you thought.
You will also see that dealing with and correcting those issues helped to make you a more experienced professional and person. www.brabners.com
Boost is helping Lancashire businesses. We have a range of funded support programmes and a team of business advisers you can talk to. To speak to someone from the Growth Hub about business support, contact Boost online or call 0800 488 0057.
The website uses cookies.
Some are used for statistical purposes and others are set up by third party services. By clicking 'Accept all & close', you accept the use of cookies. For more information on how we use and manage cookies, please read our Cookie Policy.
