Business Administration Apprentice

Shoosmiths - UK Law Firm of the Year Winner at the Legal Week British Legal Awards 2015.

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Our Recoveries Services Group provides a complete range of debt recovery services utilising cutting edge technology and with specialists dealing with different debt types, all operating under a centralised management structure allowing us to deliver consistently excellent service. Our structure ensures we can provide a full range of volume recoveries and litigation options, whilst ensuring that we have the expertise and experience to deal with complex and technical issues arising from volume recoveries.

The Operations Team is based at the Lakes although the team work for all areas of RSG regardless of office location. It is made up up of five different areas;

• The new business team is responsible for opening and incepting new cases, conflict searching and obtaining HMLR official copies where required.
• The financial transactions team cover all of the financial aspects involved with running an RSG case.
• Our statistical analysis team carries out the reporting for the majority of our clients - these are standard reports but also bespoke reports created to meet the clients needs. They also provide internal analysis on various systems used within RSG.
• The Visualfiles team comprises of system administrators and business analysts. They work closely with the Business and IS teams to ensure the smooth running of Visualfiles.
• Best practice is also included in Operations. This involves reviewing current processes to see where they can be streamlined and improved.

Our Operations & Support Team are seeking a Business Administration Apprentice to join in a brand new position where you will play a key role support Legal Advisors within the Recoveries Services Practice Group.

This is an excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated individual, looking for their first office-based position. The Business Administration Apprentice will be required to provide telephone and administrative support to the Recoveries Services Practice Group, ensuring that client’s service level agreements are met.

In addition to your apprenticeship training, you will also receive a structured training programme delivered by our specialist in-house Trainers and work within a collaborative and approachable team. 

• To complete outgoing telephone calls to Customers on behalf of the Recoveries Services Practice Group (RSG), Completing Data Protection checks, updating case management system with full and accurate notes.
• Processing of incoming card payments via the telephone
• Inbound calls from clients setting up payment arrangements via the Direct Debit system
• Completion of teams daily MI
• Processing of daily judgements on Visual Files
• Adhoc administrational duties on behalf of RSG
• Adhoc telephony support to RSG
• Other tasks as appropriate

Progression opportunities

There will be excellent progression opportunities available once you have completed the apprenticeship – all Shoosmiths employees are encouraged to review the internal vacancies page to apply for roles. You are not restricted to apply to roles solely within your practice area, therefore you can expect different pathways into legal teams or business support teams (customer service, administration, etc.). Many of the more senior level positions advertised at Shoosmiths are only made available to internal applicants. 

Skills & Experience required:

• Confident telephone skills
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Good working knowledge of Excel
• Excellent organisation and time-management skills.
• Able to work as part of a team, but able to use own initiative when required

Qualifications required:

• You must have a minimum of 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at grade C  or above including English and Maths (grades 4 and above)

Benefits package 

Shoosmiths has an outstanding benefits package; we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm. These can include:

• A pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5.5%
• Generous life assurance cover for peace of mind, up to 8 times salary
• Up to 23 paid working days holiday per annum with the option to buy up to 8 additional days. You can choose to 'flex' twice a year - January and July
• 'Happy Birthday!' - have a free day off to celebrate and a £50 voucher to spend! (We won't take it from your annual entitlement)
• Childcare vouchers which are not subject to tax or NI
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Staff introduction bonus scheme
• Corporate discounts on a wide variety of products and services
• Discounted conveyancing and legal advice, for instance for wills and family trusts

The application process

We will aim to respond to you within 5-7 working days following your application. If successful, there will be one interview stage which will be held at our Northampton office.

Background checks

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted.  These checks will include employment references covering the last 5 years, proof of ID, proof of address covering the last 5 years, Personnel Vetting credit search (which will only highlight insolvency or County Court Judgments - should any adverse data show on the Personnel Vetting search then any offer of employment made will be withdrawn).Terrorism Check (against data supplied by the Bank of England) and a DBS check previously known as a Criminal Records check. 

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.