Portcullis Legals – Plymouth’s Best Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Trevor Worth (centre) with his team at Portcullis Legals

You can tell a lot about a person from the books they have on their shelves, writes Duncan Little.

And 51 year old entrepreneur Trevor Worth, of Portcullis Legals, certainly has an impressive array of literature in the reception area of his offices in Cornwood, Ivybridge.

On the top shelf there is a copy of Hillary Clinton’s 2003 memoirs, Living History, which neatly nestles alongside Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom.

There’s Roy Jenkins’ highly acclaimed biography on Churchill’s life. As a quick aside, Trevor’s middle name is Winston as he was born on 30th January 1965, the day of the former Prime Minister’s state funeral.

Near to Jenkins’ work is one of Trevor’s favourites: Bill Walsh’s The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership.

Bill was a NFL manager who successfully turned around the fortunes of the San Francisco 49ers and set down a blueprint of how to successfully manage teams.

The book is practically required reading in some boardrooms and, at its heart, it contains a clear message of how to properly treat your fellow human beings – a key part of Portcullis Legals philosophy.

On the walls in the adjacent meeting room, where I am about to interview Trevor, are framed and signed football shirts – including one with Pele’s autograph on it.

Football is an important part of Trevor’s life. Growing up in Devonport, Trevor would often play in the back streets with his friends for hours and went on to run the Umbro Total Soccer Academy for 13 years and ‘scout’ for a number of professional teams – including Blackburn, Watford and Wolves.

He aspired to build his own business and, at school, he realised he could achieve his goals in life and be a fundamentally sound person in the process.

“For me, it’s important to be a good person that’s doing good whilst doing business,” explains Trevor. “I think it’s really important to be a decent person with integrity.”

Trevor Worth

And that integrity has certainly paid off. Awarded the accolade of The Herald Small Business of the Year 2016, it’s been 28 years of hard graft on a business which he started at the age of 23, with all of the ups and downs inbetween.

“I could see a gap in the market to provide legal advice for people at home at their convenience in a friendly and affordable way, and we still provide that service in tandem with the opportunity to visit our Law Store in Plymstock.”

“Our business is focusing on Wills, Legal Trusts and Power of Attorneys and delivering it in a friendly but innovative way with longer opening hours that suit our customers lifestyles.” It’s an area of business which Trevor has made to be his own.

He qualified in Trust and Estate planning to the gold worldwide standard with The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He also gained his Master’s degree in Business and Administration at Exeter University.

In short, he really knows his stuff which means he’s also developing a business platform which allows people to cut through the jargon associated with legals and be able to do it themselves through an app. Trevor has designed an app which allows you to quickly complete questionnaires for straightforward Wills and Powers of Attorney.

It is good news for clients as it’ll provide a massive saving on solicitor’s high street fees and it means people can complete their affairs in their own time and pace. “It’ll disrupt the market place,” explains Trevor. “The difference will be price and convenience. It’s all about the customers and what is best for them.”

Portcullis Legals will also be launching a specific search tool in September dedicated to helping you find the right lawyer for your needs and in your locality across the UK, in partnership with a Canadian based Google Partner. It’s called ‘Lawyer Locate’ and, in short, it’ll ensure easy access to a fully-qualified legal professional whose expertise can help you.

Innovation is a key factor in Trevor’s achievements. His business has a retail store, Portcullis Law Store, based in Plymstock, designed for people looking for estate planning advice.

It’s a simple idea which Trevor describes as showing that his team are effectively “disruptive innovators” and he is often quoted in national legal publications as an innovative entrepreneur.

The Herald Small Business of the Year 2016, awarded to Portcullis Legals

“We are different to traditional lawyers,” he explains. “We are totally focused on the customer and we’re certainly not vanilla. We are thinking and acting differently for the benefit of the customer. We are definitely not the same old tired model that customers are used to on the high street. So, we don’t charge for phone calls or letters. In short, we are good people who are good at what we do, specialising in one area of law”.

“Innovation is the oxygen of business. You need to challenge what is there as it can always be done a better way. You just have to find that way.”

It means his unique approach to business can provide help in a number of ways.

From the traditional face to face meetings – either at home or in their office through to their legal store with its longer opening hours – and, finally, with the use of apps which allows an internet savvy market to engage in their product on a 24/7 basis.

“We are very excited by it,” he says. “The feedback from focus groups is phenomenal. An app means you can get what you want when you want it and where you want it and allows us another route to market – at home, in store or online with Portcullis”.

His upbringing in Devonport helped to mould him into the person he is today. He is hugely proud of the city and his working class background which saw him grow up in Bennett Street, near Devonport Column. “Happy days with some great people”.

“It taught me respect, hard work and integrity. I saw lots of mums, but particularly dads go to work in the dockyard and realised that you need to graft hard and if you had lots of drive and motivation then you can do well for yourself.”

His childhood was a happy one as he grew up in a one parent family where his mum worked all hours as a cleaner, which has always provided him with that positive work ethic and a motivation to challenge convention.

“I love it when someone says “you can’t do that,”” he says with a gleeful smile. “Last year I did the Arctic Husky Challenge with a close friend and which raised £12,500 for charity. It was very tough, both emotionally and physically, but I wanted to do something to raise funds for a charity that is close to my family’s heart and to challenge myself.”

“The trek was a life defining moment and it has made me more tolerant of other people’s challenges. I saw kindness from other people around me as they helped me through it all.”

It’s that foot up the ladder approach which he is now introducing into the business world with the creation of an Academy for young entrepreneurs.

His aim is to help 50 young people a year to develop their talent and provide them with mentoring and allow them to fulfil their potential and put their ideas into action. It’ll provide assistance with marketing, strategy and accounting in partnership with two close business associates.

He actively recruits team members from the City College and also the University of Plymouth as he is keen to support the ‘great job’ which both establishments are doing.

His mum is now 74 and is very proud of both Trevor’s achievements and those of his sister who works as a nurse practitioner at Derriford Hospital.

“My wife Michele and my very young children Alex and Grace give me all the momentum I need to keep driving forward, innovating and helping others.”

Sitting in his office, nestled in Dartmoor National Park, sipping coffee under Pele’s signed football shirt, I feel the sense of drive, enthusiasm and determination which has seen Trevor’s meteoric rise in the business world.

At a young age he decided he wanted to go into business as he got a ‘spark’ from it. It’s a spark which is still igniting today, which will go on to provide inspiration for future generations of zesty innovators.

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