Personally I am glad to see the back of 2017, even though a lot of great things happened last year. My daughter fulfilled her long term objective of becoming a Methodist minister and has settled into her new home in Carnforth. My other daughter had a better year as Daniel turned 1 and began to sleep properly. It has been a continuing delight to see both Aidan and Daniel developing. Aidan has been shocked to find that school required his attendance day upon day for the foreseeable future. This was certainly not in his plan. But he has got used to the routine now and is making some good friends. Caroline and I continue to enjoy good health which is another thing we are very grateful for. It has nevertheless been a frustrating year and not just on the political front. Sadly political opinions based on economic logic are no longer welcome and hard to get into the public arena. Where we will end up as a nation is difficult to predict but we are being impoverished in more senses by Brexit.

I admit that I am not the most patient of people. I like things to happen quickly once a plan has formed in my mind. The coming together of Jackson Canter with Lees has been a great success. Two firms with strong foundations had a lot to give to each other. We are truly blessed with wonderful people who care about what they do and buy into our ethos of making a positive difference. Our leadership team and departmental heads have done a great job in melding the two outfits into something much stronger than the sum of its parts. However there was so much more that we wanted to achieve, so it hasn't been easy for Mr Impatient. We have such great plans but it is only the foundations we have laid. Where is the bright shiny new ship? True we have given a new lick of paint to our fledgling hull and our new branding has been very well received. We have an improving IT infrastructure but there is still so much to do. We want to give everyone better working conditions in a modern environment but our plans remain largely unfulfilled. The wiser voices urged us to slow down. I questioned “Do the foundations really have to be built before you build the walls?” In the end, even I had to admit that it sounded like a good plan. So that's why I want to look forward rather than remember last year’s frustrations. We have a lot still to do to make us a law firm that is a real leader in the legal services market with a distinctive way of doing things.

So having got 2017 out of the way, I am sure that good things will happen in 2018. It's quite a responsibility to be on the Board of a company like ours. We have the livelihoods of 260 people in our hands as well as hundreds of dependents as our recent Christmas grotto showed. It was great to see so many significant other halves with their children in the office. We have no intention of letting them down. We will make the right decisions to ensure we thrive economically, pay fair salaries and make sufficient profit to invest for the future, whilst at the same time making a difference through our Foundation and the other work that we do. So I am full of hope and optimism for the future. 2018 is going to be a great year for Jackson Lees and its staff and its clients. The tough decisions of last year will translate into steady progress in the next. We have a great leadership team and our strategy is clear. We will continue to do the right things for the right reasons and that will provide for a good future for us all in the longer term.

So here's to 2018. It's going to be a great year for Jackson Lees and my earnest wish is that it will be a great year for you too. Happy New Year.