In every issue of our Aycliffe Business magazine, we take a break and sit down with a different employee or business owner/leader to ask them 20 questions about a variety of subjects.
In our latest edition, Ben Healey from Greystone Legal answers our 20 questions over a cuppa…
1: What do you do?
A: I am a solicitor and partner of Greystone Legal, specialising in employment and commercial law.
2: Who have you worked for in the past?
A: Prior to setting up Greystone Legal in 2017, I worked for a law firm in Northumberland for almost 10 years.
3: Best part of your job?
A: I love meeting new clients and making a difference to our client’s businesses. Clients often approach us with an issue and it gives us a real opportunity to get involved, work out the issue and fix it.
4: Is there anything about your job that you really don’t like?
A: Anything to do with the accounts – there is a reason I studied law and not numbers!
5: Favourite thing about working on Aycliffe Business Park?
A: It’s a great location with a great community, with businesses of all sizes trying to help each other out.
6: Which company/individual on the park do you do the most work with?
A: We have acted for Ebac for the last three years. Over the last year we have prepared agreements for their clients in the UK, Japan, France, USA and Ireland – it’s a very exciting time to be working with Ebac.
7: Who’s your tip for future success?
A: We have also been doing a lot of work with Mobile Rocket and Adam Lee, the company’s managing director. Adam has huge ambitions for the Company, which has grown from strength to strength.
8: Four famous people you’d love to have round for dinner and why?
A: Right now, I cannot wait to see my parents, grandparents and my family and have a meal with them.
9: If you could do something else in business, what would it be?
A: I always wanted to be a pilot when I was younger, but my maths wasn’t good enough – see question 4!
10: Who’s your favourite Tweeter?
A: I don’t tweet.
11: Have you ever done anything really daring?
A: I used to do a lot of diving and once got caught by a fisherman when diving near a pier – I thought it would be funny to pull on his line and pretend he had caught a fish.
12: What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
A: Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is a reality.
13: If money was no object, what would be your ideal car?
A: It would have to be an Austin Healey 3000 – the “big Healey”.
14: Money no object, your dream holiday would be?
A: I should be going to Bali in April but the pandemic has put a stop to that. I would be happy being able to travel anywhere with a bit of sun at the moment!
15: Do you have a favourite band or type of music?
A: I love folk music- it really helps me switch off after a hectic week.
16: What is your greatest achievement?
A: Setting up and making Greystone Legal a success with Paul Humble four years ago has been a great achievement. My only regret is not doing it sooner!
17: How would you best describe yourself in four words?
A: Honest, hardworking, straight-forward, proactive.
18: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: We have recently launched a piece of HR software, called Eric. We are determined to make it a success and we aim to spend more time developing and promoting that.
19: Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever met?
A: Joe Pasquale at a hotel’s reception. He was trying to be incognito but his voice gave him away.
20: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
A: Cake and biscuits – I never had a sweet tooth until my twenties, and now I need to keep it under control!
