People Director, Browne Jacobson - 'A five year career break landed me a top role'

Marine biology's loss was the legal sector's gain. Shelley Sutton, Chief People Officer at Browne Jacobson, talks recruitment, reinvention, and why parenting skills are the ultimate business asset.

‘It began with recruitment’

Shelley Sutton studied marine biology at the University of Swansea. “I thought I’d go off and spend my life swimming with dolphins but that proved to be a challenging career path to pursue,” she laughs.

Her ‘instead’ was recruitment. She moved to London and worked for Michael Page, where part of the role involved talking to HR. “It wasn’t a job I’d previously considered but it made me think that it could be really interesting,” she explains. The thought lingered and she approached an HR recruiter. “They asked me if there was a business I wished to work in and I said anything but law because it’s too stuffy.”

The irony was that the job that came up was in a legal firm. She took it. “I joined as a recruitment advisor working with trainees and early talent and studied whilst there for my CIPD qualification.” The shining light was that the more she understood the job and experienced it, the more she grew to love it.

In 2014 Sutton took a bold move - a five-year career break. “I wanted time with my children and so I took it.” Part of the trigger was working at Olswang, a law firm based in London but with a commute from Surrey - in a pre-Covid working environment where working from home was not the norm; it was too much of a strain on family life.

“I thought to myself that if I was going to be with my children I’d throw myself into every aspect of parenting and I did and, at the same time it made sense to have a second child while I was off work,” she says.

‘We moved house and that’s when I found Browne Jacobson’

“Just as I was looking to go back to work, we moved to Rugby, Warwickshire. Again, I thought about going into a different industry but then I got an interview at Browne Jacobson, Nottingham and the people focused culture really appealed to me,” explains Sutton.

There were moments of doubt and imposter syndrome when she was advised by some recruiters that she ought to take a more junior role to ease herself back in, but Browne Jacobson assured her it was the right fit. “I live in Rugby and the office is in Nottingham, we moved to be closer to grandparents and get help with going back to work, it was the support we needed.”

In January 2019 she started the new year with a new job – HR Business Partner. “I got a year under my belt and then lockdown happened and schools and nurseries were shut. It was really challenging; my husband and I set up office in the same room so we could work the childcare between us. There were many occasions when my daughter, who was just three at the time would run in and we were in the middle of a meeting!” Her son was also only six and there was homeschooling to navigate.

They survived and positively Sutton highlights the new skills she learned. “I became an expert in furlough, and we restructured our legal support function during that time.”