In our latest, ’Ten Minutes With,’ series of interviews we’ve been speaking to Russell Dutton, the Managing Director of Newcastle based Beeston Shenton Solicitors.
Here he talks to us about being a sports agent with the firm, how that means he gets to combine his passion for sport, with his career and why a golfing legend is his inspiration.
Give us five words that describe yourself?
- Determined
- Friendly
- Honourable
- Loyal
- Committed
Tell us about yourself.
I’ve been married for 21 years, and we have one daughter Keira who’s nearly fourteen years old. I joined Beeston Shenton in 2019 as the Managing Director and have worked in the legal profession for over 30 years.
I absolutely love sport in general, in particular football and am a Stoke City season ticket holder.
My first game was at the old Victoria Ground back in 1977 so that might give you a clue to how old I am!
Tell us about Beeston Shenton Solicitors?
We were founded in 2004 and are based in Newcastle-under-Lyme. We focus on all areas of law including:
- Family
- Residential and commercial property
- Litigation
- Personal Injury
- Wills and Probate
- Sports
We’re a growing company and have taken on a number of new staff over the last few months and have big expansion plans for 2022.
What did you do before you joined the company?
My whole career has been in the law profession. I was with another law firm Beswick’s for 20 years and managed their personal injury team. I left in 2009 and set up my own law firm Dutton Law which I ran for a number of years.
I sold it in 2016 and took some time out to do some volunteer girls football coaching which was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Seeing my daughter and the team lift the City Schools Cup twice in consecutive years at the Bet 365 Stadium was incredible.
Not long after that I joined Paul Shenton at Beeston Shenton to take over the Sports Team and have been with the firm ever since. It’s a great firm to work for – friendly, supportive and ambitious.
I became Managing Director in 2020 and the role entails everything you would expect it to when you’re running a company, but I also head up our Sport’s Department which is growing all the time.
What do you love most about your job?
I’m very lucky because the role I have means I get to combine my passion for sport with my other roles. Getting out and about, watching players and games is fantastic. This year already I’ve watched around 150 games in varying sports. Take today for example I was in Nottingham watching a player win a cup before I came back to the office for this interview!
Spotting a player, whether that’s a footballer, a cricketer or in any other sport and getting them on our books and then seeing them and their careers develop is brilliant.
What are your plans for 2022?
Covid was tough for many businesses, and it was hard for us too particularly when the sports programme was initially decimated, but we’ve come through it, are stronger for it and are really growing. We’ve recruited for a number of posts this year already and will continue to recruit.
We’ve got exciting plans to open a new office in Penkridge at Dunstone Business Village in the summer and we’ll be recruiting for that with a brand-new team focusing purely on new build property.
In terms of the sports side – we’ve got around 80 players on our books already in all areas of sport and we are keen to grow that further.
By the time the Commonwealth Games starts in Birmingham in July we will hopefully have Olympians, athletes and up and coming judo stars on our books too as initial discussions have already taken place.
Fingers crossed there’s exciting times ahead for us.
Who are your sporting inspirations?
It would have to be initially the golfer Nick Faldo. He won major titles in the 80’s and 90’s, when winning and being British didn’t seem to go together in world sport. He had a new brand of professionalism and was focused on his sport above all else. He wasn’t content to just win one major title. He went onto win six and I admire that ambition and winning at all costs mentality.
In the more recent past Lewis Hamilton is another inspiration – someone who is amazing at what they do and wants to carry on achieving over and over again. The drive required to consistently perform at his level is immense.
What would you spend your last £100 on?
It would definitely be something sports related – probably tickets for a major sporting event but you probably guessed that.
And finally, what was your dream job at school?
You probably get this answer all the time – I wanted to be a professional footballer but was never a good enough centre half – representing Staffordshire FA is as good as I got.
