As a new start-up in the affordable homes sector, with an innovative solution for those in housing need, Agile Homes needed a company secretarial service and turned to Sue El Hachmi, partner with Carbon Law Partners, specialising in company secretarial services and employee share incentive schemes.
“As a values-led business with innovation in our DNA, we were looking for an access point to affordable and scalable early-stage legal services” says Linda Farrow, a founding Director of Agile Property and Homes. “Primarily, we were looking for a company secretarial service that was like our own products – affordable and with a rapid turnaround.”
“We also have a close eye on due diligence” continues Linda, “so secure record keeping is something we and our investors are focused on.”
Sue El Hachmi, who likes to work with companies of all shapes and sizes, but particularly growing SMEs, comments: “I enjoy the personal relationships that I develop with my clients. With a start-up that has already secured its first round of investment, it’s important to make sure future investment rounds are easy and quick to administer and implement.  The company secretarial service I provide has got to be affordable from day one for small companies and scalable as companies grow and attract more investment.”
One of the key aspects of Carbon’s service that attracted Agile was the satellite nature of the business and the ease of access to a range of cost-effective legal services from the Partner group. “When you’re growing rapidly and investing in new products, you want to know your professional advice is on tap and on message” said Linda. “Starting with a company secretarial package, we quickly went on to need contracts advice, property advice and HR input, especially on health and well-being to look after our biggest investment, our team.” Linda has been impressed with the service offered by Carbon and the personal nature of the support. “Sue has acted as the portal to put us in touch rapidly with the right CLP partner and has provided a clear internal brief to ensure fee proposals meet our needs and budget while managing risks proportionately.”
Michael Burne, Chief Executive of Carbon Law Partners, had always envisaged Carbon as a platform law company that was flexible and agile. These qualities enable its lawyers to build their practices, aligned to their client’s changing needs, with scalable resourcing and bespoke charging models.
Agile is now moving on to develop a framework for a tax-efficient employee share scheme, again with Sue’s help. “So the source of advice has come full circle” says Sue, “I’m really looking forward to seeing Agile grow further, with the help of a really good share option scheme to keep the whole team happy and focused on delivering high quality, affordable housing for everyone that needs it.“