One year on and Anthea Phillips and Catrin Phillips can look back with a sense of achievement on their first year as directors in Lewis Lewis and Co. Ltd., Solicitors, of St. Clears, Carmarthen and Tenby.

Anthea and Catrin became directors last April following the retirement of Ted Lewis and have since then been responsible for the running of the business with continuing director David Lewis.

Developing the business has been a challenge as the country has since entered into one of its worst recessions in history.

Nonetheless, David, Anthea and Catrin have been pleasantly surprised at how the company has continued to perform during the last 14 months.

The company is seeing the return of more conveyancing business over the last few months.

During the year, other departments have continued to develop. The company has attracted a number of established local commercial and private clients and continues to provide a quality legal service to clients in West Wales and beyond.

One of the main areas of growth has been debt recovery. The company is instructed by a number of well-established local companies and, due to the difficult commercial conditions, this service has been very much in demand.

The company has enjoyed considerable success in this area of the practice and any companies or individuals interested in this service are invited to contact the specialist debt recovery department for assistance.

David, Anthea and Catrin continue to provide experienced advice to clients in the diverse areas of commercial and domestic conveyancing, family law, general litigation and employment law.

They are supported by experienced solicitors Clive Mathias, as head of wills and probate, and Haydn Williams, head of commercial conveyancing.

In accordance with company policy of developing quality staff and giving staff the opportunity to develop their roles, the company now has three assistant solicitors who have trained within the company and who now bring a modern and enthusiastic approach to the service offered to clients.

Lisa Murphy assists Clive and Haydn and does a mix of wills and probate with commercial, while Carys Howells and Sally Spargo assist in the litigation department.

The company also has Ruth Pritchard-Jones, who has a first class honours degree, and is making excellent progress as a trainee solicitor.

The legally qualified staff are supported by Janette Jenkins, who is a qualified legal cashier and is in charge of the debt collection department; Ann-Marie Jenkins, who assists with domestic conveyancing; and Helen John, who assists Clive Mathias with wills and probate. All the fee earners are supported by experienced secretarial and receptionist staff.

David, Anthea and Catrin look forward to the future with a sense of optimism and enthusiasm and feel the company will continue to prosper through the commitment of offering quality legal services through maintaining and even improving standards and developing and maintaining a quality workforce.

The directors would like to thank all staff, clients and professional colleagues for their support and look forward to continuing to develop these relationships and the company over the coming years.