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We’re meeting more of our new Peak team, this time bringing together members of our Business Support team from both sides of the merger. We chatted to Jess McClelland (originally from the KE side) and Anne Tickell (originally from Paramount). We learned more about what they do, and what they feel is intrinsic to making Peak Costs what it is. Here’s what they had to say.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What’s your role at Peak, when you joined the team, and where you came from?
Jess
I joined the team in November 2024. My main role is supporting all fee-earners with things like preparing court documents and serving bills. Business Support is usually the first point of contact unless matters go straight to an allocated fee-earner, so a lot of the role is managing expectations and keeping workflow moving.
I used to manage invoicing, but the lovely Anne has taken that over now, she’s probably better at it than I was! People often describe Business Support as “the glue,” keeping everything moving from A to Z. I joined KE fresh after finishing my Master’s. I have an LLB in Law and Criminal Justice, an LLM in Law, and my LPC.
Anne
I joined Paramount in March 2025 as a part-time admin, working three days a week doing file logging and general admin. So technically, I’m the newest person at Peak! When we merged, I moved to five days and now work across lots of different areas, including supporting the senior management team, payroll, finance tasks, travel and accommodation bookings, a bit of everything really. A jack of all trades!
You seem to be the team that keep everything moving! Do you work closely together?
Jess
Definitely, yes. Mostly virtually through Teams, but we do meet at team-building days.
For me, the biggest change is learning other people’s communication styles and day-to-day routines. At KE, I knew everyone’s drafting preferences inside out. Now I’m learning how new colleagues work, which is great!
My role has also expanded, especially with the new IT system. I’ve helped people get used to it and created training documents. I now work more closely with the leadership team too. There’s also just a wider variety of work and skills, my learning has expanded. Overall, the structure is clearer now and people know where to go for help.
There’s still a lot to iron out, the volume of work in the past couple of months has been huge as we migrated everything from two systems to one. There were bumps, but people are getting into the swing of things now. It’s about breaking old habits and building new ones. There’s immediate value, and more to come.
Anne
There are four of us in Business Support: me and Gina in Carlisle, and Jess and Taylor in Liverpool. Mostly virtual, but I have been to Liverpool occasionally. There have definitely been mountains to climb. We’ve all had a lot to learn with new systems. I imagine any merger comes with adapting and changing, and we’re finding our way.
It’s been great going from just two of us in Business Support to having a larger team. My own role has changed a lot for the better, more responsibilities and more varied work. I’m really enjoying it and enjoying working with new people and learning from them. Coming from Paramount, we didn’t have the same systems that KE had. So although it took time to get used to, the systems have made things much more efficient. And simply having more people has really helped. The workload is now better spread and everyone has more structure.
Peak Costs has a strong set of values that run through everything we do as a firm. Which one of these resonates the most with you, and why?
Anne
“People like us care like it matters- because it does.” Everyone here genuinely cares about their job and goes the extra mile. We make sure every I is dotted and every T is crossed. Even with small things, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be to do with a case. For example, I once contacted our HR company to let them know they’d sent a card to Martin and “Rachel” instead of Karen, so they could fix it before it caused embarrassment. It’s the little things that show we care.
Jess
“People like us keep it human.” We’re very human with clients and with each other. Communication is friendly and personal, nobody is up on a pedestal.
Internally, the team is incredibly supportive. I’ve been unwell this week, and Becky immediately picked up that I wasn’t well and encouraged me to take the day off. That understanding means a lot. They're extremely understanding with flexibility. Everybody in the team is extremely helpful and will pick you up when you're down,
When I interviewed with John, I had no legal experience beyond my LPC. He looked past that and saw my work ethic, personality and values. That’s Peak; skills can be taught, but being good people is deep down, it’s not something you teach. And everybody’s human, and can understand that sometimes, things happen, that we do make mistakes, that we are human at the end of the day, we're not cost robots!
We’re relaxed but determined. Approachable, but professional. We treat clients like normal people, take the time to learn about them and what’s important to them, and they respond to that.
Why would you recommend Peak, either to clients or someone looking to join the team?
Jess
Individuality. No other firm I know offers the same combination of relaxed, personable communication, high-quality work, and speed. We have a niche way of doing things, there’s no other firm that I’m aware of that can tick all three boxes like that.
We’re a family-owned firm and it shows. Everyone is very visible, it’s not like the leadership team are people you never see, they’re out and about, working alongside everyone every day. It sets us apart. There’s flexibility, good benefits, and genuine trust. People all over the UK, even abroad, work smoothly together. You can join with no experience and never feel looked down on. It’s a supportive, happy place to work.
Anne
I would say it’s the people. Recommendations usually happen because one person has done great work, and clients trust that the same standard will apply with anyone else here. When someone is allocated a file, they deal with that same person throughout, not ten different people. It’s a real personal service. And it’s a great place to work. I wouldn’t have increased my days from three to five if I didn’t enjoy it!
Jess, Anne and the Business Support team are vital to the operations here at Peak Costs. It’s fantastic to see both teams gelling so soon and working so closely from the outset. It’s a fantastic start, and it will only get better …and we really value what Jess, Anne and the team are creating for us.
If you’d like to find out more about Peak Costs and what we’ve been up to, check out our insights and events page on our website. And if you want to find out more about working with us get in touch with the team on our contact page here.
