Shaun Guppy’s Steele Raymond journey began as a placement student in 2011, continued through a training contract in 2014 and reached partnership in April 2023. “You can only speak from personal experience, but I love this firm and its people,” he says. What has never changed is “the willingness of the people to actually care about you – not just the work you are doing, but what is going on in your life.”
Even as a student Shaun felt hierarchy melt away. “It doesn’t matter what your position is within the firm, you’re a valued member of the team.” That authenticity kept him from chasing alternative roles elsewhere: “Whilst you can always find alternative roles with a higher salary, surrounding yourself with people who have your back and treat you as equals is everything. The firm, its people and the underlying culture meant that I never considered a move away.”
Shaun now leads a variety of corporate transactions, with mergers and acquisitions typically valued between £5 million and £30 million. He guides deals from heads-of-terms to completion with a team that works exceptionally well together, keeping advice clear, commercial and paced to the client’s timetable. Every promise about responsibility has been honoured: promotions arrived on schedule, including one in the middle of the pandemic.
As Training Principal, Shaun passes that ethos forward. Trainees join live matters from week one and are encouraged to “throw themselves into everything.” No question is off-limits; feedback is forthcoming and honest, helping confidence grow fast.
Support, not competition, defines the corporate group. “There’s not a day that goes by where any of us leave the office without saying, ‘Is everyone alright? Do you need me to pick up anything?’ ” He has “never once felt stifled,” because the team shares deadlines and redistributes work before anyone is overloaded.
Shaun’s journey shows how loyalty runs both ways when a firm keeps its promises. His advice to ambitious lawyers: look for a place where words match actions. “I wouldn’t find what I have here anywhere else – and I’m not willing to risk it.”
