A Gloucestershire-based solicitor has taken the plunge and set up his own practice with his wife providing legal services.

Paul O'Flynn has 15 years' experience as a solicitor, having previously worked in private practice and, for the past two-and-a-half years, doing legal work for Forest of Dean District Council.

Now Paul has decided to branch out and open O'Flynn Legal at an office based in his home town of Lydney, with another office in Gloucester.

Paul's specific expertise lies within property and business legal matters, while his wife, Lucy, handles the development and management to ensure smooth running of the business.

Paul said: "I've been a solicitor since 2007 and I've also been a Notary Public for 11 of those years. We moved to the Forest of Dean 10 years ago. During that time my wife and I launched our first business, Gloucestershire Notary, in October 2019.

"We've been running it very successfully for the past two-and-a-half years offering notarial services to business and individuals for things like buying and selling properties abroad or if people want to emigrate and work in a different country.

"Working at the council, I realised there were aspects of my private practice that I missed like going out and getting the work, socialising with other people, networking and we decided to take the plunge and set up our own business which is what we are doing now.

"I turned 40 last year and I felt that I didn't want to go another 10 years and find that I had missed an opportunity to have a go at becoming probably one of the biggest providers of property and company commercial services in the Forest of Dean. I believe it is important to connect with other businesses within the community, to provide assistance, and to go with that we will also provide a small amount of residential conveyancing to assist the local businesses."

Paul added: "The aim and ideas behind what we are trying to do is to offer business and property legal services to businesses and individuals with a prime focus on the client rather than looking for volume.

"In the Forest of Dean there are not many solicitors to choose from and certainly not that many that offer the expertise in commercial property and commercial business advice.

"It's early days and we've been established in the Gloucester office before because of the notary work and that's continuing to do well due to the fact that I'm the only notary with an office in Gloucester.

"During the pandemic we had to adapt and we were seeing people on our doorstep or on our drive or front garden in Lydney yet people were prepared to travel to get it done. We aso embraced the use of things like Zoom and WhatsApp where regulations allowed us to."

Paul said the new serviced office at Office Base, off Regent's Walk, Lydney, was also home to various other businesses such as a mortgage broker and property investor.

"It's a very small serviced office but we've made it our own," he said. "We're in a building with other professionals who want to do business and network. It's also a two minute walk from my house."

As for the Gloucester office, based at Regus building in Worcester Street, Paul said they were trying to fit in with people's work-life balance when offering notary work, which involves carrying out things like signature checking and document checking.

"We will always try to adapt to people's needs," he said. "To give an example, we run our notary business one day a week in Gloucester but we also run it on a Saturday in Gloucester. Clients can book us on a Saturday and get it done and they don't have to worry about taking time off work during the week."

He added: "This is a really exciting time and I'm looking forward to the future. No business can stand still and we hope as many people as possible can benefit from our experience and passion for doing a good professional job - all they need to do is get in touch."

To find out more about O'Flynn Legal, call 01594 782021 or 07341 256299 or visit http://oflynnlegal.co.uk/