Stewarts is the UK's leading litigation-only law firm. I first came across them when I was still a lawyer and was incredibly impressed with their dedication to their clients and the results they achieved. I was delighted then when I was given the opportunity to run a training course for their marketing team.

This led to me working with Stewarts in a number of capacities: helping them with their rebrand and producing or editing much of the content on their website, editing the articles written for their website and external publications, producing a firm writing style guide and running training courses.

I love working with Stewarts as they have a dedication to excellence and an incredible 'can- do' culture that rubs off on everyone who works there.

Testimonials

"The combination of Simon’s journalistic training and background, and his legal training and background has been hugely helpful. The work he has done for Stewarts has been excellent and he is always responsive and turns things around quickly. Simon has also been running workshops for our fee earners and internal comms teams on writing articles, blogs and news stories. These workshops have been extremely well received and have contributed to an improvement in the non-legal writing produced by members of the firm." Stuart Dench, Managing Partner, Stewarts

"Simon came in initially to deliver some writing and content training to our marketing team. Off the back of this excellent session we have used Simon to deliver similar training to fee earners, help with copywriting services during our website project and provide ongoing editorial support. Simon delivers an excellent service and is fun to work with." Andy Hooper, Digital Marketing Manager, Stewarts

Harbour Underwriting provides commercial dispute insurance.

Our first project for Harbour Underwriting was refreshing its brand assets and designing and building a new website. This had to be done on a tight timetable to meet new marketing initiatives set by the company.

After completing this, the company asked us to continue working for them by providing external marketing services. This has included planning the company’s marketing strategy, running events, producing marketing collateral, writing and editing blogs and articles, producing adverts and assisting with networking.

We have provided outsourced marketing services for Portner for several years.

This has included setting up a marketing strategy and implementing that strategy each year by writing and editing website articles and producing marketing collateral. To improve fee earners’ writing skills we have also run our article writing training course for the firm. This has greatly improved the quality and quantity of articles produced.

We also assisted with editing and writing content for the firm’s new website launched in October 2023.

mgr is a chartered accountancy practice based in central London.

Our first project for them was editing their website at extremely short notice immediately before launch. The firm felt that there was no consistency in the website’s tone and messaging and we were tasked with rectifying this as best we could within a few days.

We continued working with mgr after this, writing and editing blogs and articles for the firms website and assisting with marketing collateral.

The Brief

Rays of Sunshine is a wonderful charity that grants wishes to children in the UK with life-threatening or serious illnesses. Initially, they asked us to produce a brief annual report document that they could show to potential corporate partners. It soon became clear that what they really wanted was a full brochure that showed everything the charity did.

Even though this was primarily a “corporate” brochure, we were keen to make sure that as many pages as possible included details of wishes granted by the charity. It was important to put across the incredible difference the charity makes to the lives of so many children and their families. To do this we used detailed case studies and pictures of wish children with detailed captions.

The Result

The final document was a 24-page full-colour A4 brochure. It included a summary of the work the charity does, details of wishes granted over the previous year, a financial overview and calls to action for corporate partners, individuals and volunteers.

Testimonial

“Ink & Dots produced our first ever Annual Report document. This was no small undertaking but they made the process as painless as possible and helped produce a publication that we are all hugely proud of. We have worked together to create several publications since. They have always been a pleasure to work with and help take the pressure of our team.”

Laura Barnett, Head of Communications and Development

The Brief

39 Essex Chambers is a large set of barristers’ chambers based in Chancery Lane, London.

I was asked to help 39 Essex Chambers with its new website and worked closely with the marketing team on the content for the website over several months.

The Result

One of the challenges was that the content had been produced piecemeal over several years with no consistency in terms of style and tone of voice.

I started by producing a writing style guide to ensure consistency in style and tone across the website.

I then rewrote and edited all the existing pages and wrote some new pages, where required.

Another challenges was making sure all the barristers’ profiles were in a consistent format and style. I created a profile template for all barristers to complete and then edited each profile to ensure consistency with the style guide.

The Brief

Sanders is an chartered accountancy firm based in W1.

Our brief was to design, build and write the content for a new website for the firm’s three main areas of operation: business clients, individuals and private office clients.

The Result

We worked closely with the partners and team at Sanders to ensure the website’s content accurately reflects the firm and the work it does.

We produced a design that works with and enhances the firm’s existing branding.

The result is an easy-to-navigate website that highlights the work Sanders does, its ethos and how the firm communicates with clients.

The Brief

Harbour Litigation Funding is one of the world’s leading providers of litigation funding. Our brief was to refresh its website with a new design.

The Result

We produced refreshed branding for Harbour Litigation Funding and a revised website, brand assets and style guide.

The Brief

Harbour Underwriting provides commercial dispute insurance. It’s a niche insurance product that can be difficult to explain to non-lawyers and those not familiar with litigation and arbitration. Our brief was to produce a video for general insurance brokers that would explain what Harbour Underwriting does and the products it offers.

The result

We wrote and produced an explainer video using examples to demonstrate how dispute insurance works in practice.

The Brief

Currell is a firm of estate agents with offices in Islington, Clerkenwell, Hackney and Victoria Park as well as a New Homes division and a Commercial section.

They wanted  to produce a new publication that would connect with their audience and promote their brand. lt was important that the publication reflected their community-based approach and their love of the areas in which they are based.

The  Result

Working with Currell's in house marketing and design team we come up with the name and concept for a newspaper, The Linen Draper. This lifestyle newspaper is produced three times a year and delivered to more than 56,000 homes and businesses in and around central, north and east London.

Together with Currell's team, we wrote and edited the newspaper.

Testimonial

"Simon's insight into the property world combined with his journalistic writing style has been invaluable. He is great to work with and I cannot recommend him highly enough."

Anne Currell, CEO

The Brief

Clark Howes is a firm of accountants with offices across the Thames Valley. They asked us to provide the content for their new website.

The Result

Before we started work, we spent some time with the partners and key members of the firm in order to get a good understanding of its culture and the message they wanted to project. We then worked closely with their web designers and marketing team to fine tune each page of the website. 

Testimonial 

“We have used Ink & Dots for various projects, including drafting of company brochures and copy for one of our websites. His knowledge of how best to apply the written word, together with how to layout the pages is excellent, and we will be using him for all of our future projects. He also brings a commercial perspective to all of the projects, which means that we maximise the return on our investment. I have recommended Simon to other companies and would not hesitate to do so again.”

Tim Shaw, Partner, Clark Howes, Accountants

The Brief

IWG is an 11-partner commercial law firm based in Holborn, London. The partners believe the firm is different from other firms of similar size due to the quality of its work, the strong relationship it enjoys with its clients and its “tell it like it is” attitude. IWG wanted the website to emphasise these factors. It also required interesting copy that went beyond the boring, self-obsessed platitudes common to the websites of most law firm. 

Our idea was to ask each member of staff to fill in a questionnaire about the firm, carry out an in depth interview with one of the senior partners and obtain testimonials from the firm’s major clients. We then wrote each section of the website from a third party viewpoint (rather than from the firm direct) using quotes from staff, partners and clients to bring life and colour to the content.

The Result

The firm was delighted with the result.

Testimonial

“We used Simon Manuel for the copy on our firm’s new website, as part of the firm’s re-brand this year. Simon understood our ethos and values from the outset and the manner in which we wanted to convey them. In particular, he was quickly able to pick out the elements of the firm that we wanted to emphasise and reflected that in the copy.

“Simon is very easy to work with, has a friendly and no-nonsense approach, and is always full of original and helpful suggestions. He encouraged us to take a fresh and interesting approach to the content of our site (which in the legal industry is a challenge!) to make sure our website gives the best account of the firm. In addition to the copywriting work, Simon provided invaluable feedback on the other elements of the website and on various aspects of our firm’s re-brand.

“We have ended up with a website that we are proud of as a firm and Simon’s work and input was a major factor in that.”

Ben Manners, Partner

The brief

The brief was to produce a property brochure for the marketing of nine new flats being built in an old Victorian property in Ealing. 

The result

Working with Ian Crawt of the New Homes Consultancy and graphic designer Debbie Vayanos we produced a 32-page brochure that the agents used in PDF format and as hard copies to market the property.

Testimonial

"I have now worked with Simon and Ink & Dots on three different projects and we are about to undertake a further three schemes together. I have known Simon for many years in different capacities and he has always demonstrated professionalism and integrity. With the companies I work with I need someone I can trust and who will do the best for my clients at all times. I have this confidence in Simon and his company. His foresight and ability to do the job are second to none.I would have no hesitation in recommending him and have done so to many other contacts I have. All of which are extremely impressed with Simon as an individual and his company as a whole."
Ian Crawt, The New Homes Consultancy

The Brief

Peacock & Co is a firm of solicitors with offices in Putney and Wimbledon.

We were asked to assist with the content for the firm’s new website.

The Result

We worked closely with one of the firm’s partners to produce content that reflected the firm’s services and the way it communicates with clients. This included writing and editing pages of the website and creating a template for lawyers’ profiles.

The Brief

The brief was to produce a brochure for the sale of new apartments in Lee Green on behalf of Peter James Estate Agents. The client wanted to use a ladybird for the development’s name and logo.

The Result

After showing the clients various logo and mood board options, they chose a colourful, classic ladybird design and an orange, red and grey colour palette.

Testimonial

“Ink & Dots produced the brochure for the Ladybird Apartment development we acted on. This is the third brochure I have been involved in with them and once again the product was excellent. I find Ink & Dots very easy to deal with. Simon was always on hand, returned calls and emails as soon as possible and met our timescales without any problem. Simon made it a swift, seamless process which was useful as I had not put a brochure together before. I have no hesitation in recommending Ink & Dots to other developers and agents.”

Jim Power, Director, Peter James Estate Agents

The Brief

Bracher Rawlins is a commercial law firm based in Holborn, London. 

We have been working with the firm for around three years with a brief to update their marketing material, help them with their new website and improve their marketing generally. 

The Result

We have created new branding for the firm, designed and built a new website, written several Mail Chimp newsletters and blogs, and produced brochures and hard copy marketing collateral. 

Testimonial

"Bracher Rawlins and I have worked with Simon for the last few years and he has been a tremendous support in helping the firm to develop its business development initiatives. Simon has a progressive attitude and having run his own practice for a number of years, he understands the way that law firms operate and what clients are looking for. He is extremely hands on and is responsive to our needs whilst at the same time adding value and ensuring that the initiatives we run with are managed in a cost-effective way."

Lee Gabbie, Partner

The Brief

Tangent is a stationery supplier based in Bromley (although it covers all of London and the South East). It wanted to produce a brochure targeted at local schools. This needed to emphasise Tangent’s range of products, how easy it is to do busy with and its reasonable prices. We worked closely with managing director Chandra Sharma to make sure the wording had the right tone. We produced a design that showed off as many products as possible but without making the brochure look cluttered.

The Result

Chandra was delighted and used the brochure for extensive marketing to local schools.

Testimonial

“I wanted to thank you for producing our school’s marketing brochure. This is the first time we decided to focus on a campaign specifically targeted at schools so it was imperative that the copy and layout translated the message we were trying to get across to business managers and bursars.

“The work that you did from the initial conversation through to the copywriting was excellent. I also commend you on your patience and the time you took to understand our aims.

“You have adopted a similar approach on the various newsletters that you have produced for us and from which we have received some very positive feedback.

“I have no hesitation in recommending you to any of our clients.”

Chandra Sharma, Tangent Office Resources

The Brief

Properties of the World sells UK and overseas property to investors. They required a sales brochure to promote units in a new development in an exciting regeneration area on Kelham Island, Sheffield. This brochure needed to be done very quickly as time was of the essence to get the properties sold ahead of the competition. Also, this was the first brochure Properties of the World had produced so they were anxious to get it right.

The Result

We created a 16-page brochure for the client on a very tight deadline, working closely with Properties of the World’s managing director Jean Liggett on the copy and the design. Jean has a hands-on approach to properties she sells and likes to add her personal opinion to reassure her clients. We did this by having a detailed letter from Jean on the opening page. To give as much information as possible we carried out detailed research about both Kelham Island and Sheffield. Jean arranged for a professional photographer to take fantastic photos to bring the development to life.

Testimonial

“I asked Ink & Dots to write and design a brochure for me on Kelham Works, a development of flats in Kelham Island, Sheffield. I was worried about doing this as I never had done a brochure before! Normally, it is the developer who does the brochure. This fabulous brochure is the result, better than any brochure I have ever received from a developer. I showed it to the developer; he was so impressed that he wanted to use it for himself. Ink & Dots were easy to work with and very quick. The whole process gave me complete peace of mind and confidence.”

Jean Liggett, Managing Director

The Brief

I was asked to produce a series of brochures for Currell working with their in house designer. These included this brochure for residential sales and lettings, which are handed out to prospective sellers, buyers, landlords and tenants. 

The Result

We produced separate brochures for each part of the business, all different but with a similar look and feel. 

Testimonial

"Simon's insight into the property world combined with his journalistic writing style has been invaluable. He is great to work with and I cannot recommend him highly enough."

Anne Currell, CEO

The Brief

Central is a lifestyle magazine produced by Frank Harris & Co, a firm of estate agents with four offices spread across the City, West End and South Bank.

As part of their rebranding exercise they revamped their customer magazine Central. Our brief was to work with their branding agency to produce editorial for the first issue of the new magazine. 

The Result

We wrote and edited the magazine while their branding agency did the graphic elements and magazine layout. For the second issue of Central. We delivered the magazine completely, including all graphics and the layout of the magazine. 

Testimonial

“Ink & Dots have produced several newsletters and other marketing material for Frank Harris and Company over the last three years. We find them very easy to deal with and the work they produce is always of the highest quality. We would recommend Ink & Dots to anyone looking to improve the quality of their marketing materials and written communications.”

Tina Evans, Director