From 26.2 miles to a new beginning: Ten years of building something that lasts

By Sarah Buxton

In April 2016, I ran the London Marathon for the PSP Association.

That sentence still makes me pause. Not because of the medal (now safely tucked away), but because of what that weekend represented. After months of early mornings, long runs in all weathers, and more than a few moments of self-doubt, I crossed the finish line on The Mall exhausted, emotional, and utterly spent.

What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time was that the marathon wasn’t the biggest test of endurance that weekend had in store.

Because the very next day, my husband Thomas Coates and I opened a law firm.

The Day Before Everything Changed

Anyone who has run a marathon knows that the final miles are less about physical strength and more about mental resilience. Somewhere after mile 20, the body protests and the mind has to step in. You stop thinking about the full distance and focus on the next lamppost, the next corner, the next step.

In hindsight, that mindset was perfect preparation for starting a business.

On marathon day, surrounded by thousands of runners and cheering crowds, I learned something deeply personal: big challenges are rarely conquered all at once. They are met through consistency, grit, and the willingness to keep going when the outcome is still uncertain.

At the time, I thought the marathon was the finish line.

It wasn’t. It was the warm-up.

Opening the doors (despite the sore legs)

The morning after the marathon was surreal. My legs ached, my body felt heavy, and sleep deprivation was real. But alongside the physical exhaustion was a quiet sense of determination.

We set up our own firm because we believed in doing law differently - putting people first, building genuine relationships with clients, and creating a business we would be proud to be part of. It was exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.

There was no large team, no plush office, and no guarantee of success. Just the two of us, a shared vision, and a long list of things to work out quickly.

Much like marathon training, there were no shortcuts. You show up, you do the work, and you trust the process.

A decade of change

When we opened our doors in 2016, the employment law landscape looked very different to the one we navigate today.

Over the last ten years, employers - particularly dental practice owners and managers - have had to contend with a steady stream of legal, cultural, and operational change. Employment contracts, family-friendly rights, flexible working, discrimination risks, wellbeing, grievance handling, and expectations around leadership have all evolved significantly.

For our dental clients, this has had a very real impact. Running a practice has never just been about clinical excellence or patient care; it also means managing teams fairly, confidently, and lawfully in an environment where expectations are higher than ever.

The pandemic accelerated that shift dramatically.

COVID-19 changed the way many people think about work. It caused employees across every sector to re-evaluate what they want from their jobs, their employers, and their lives. People began to place greater value on flexibility, wellbeing, boundaries, and feeling respected and heard at work. They became more aware of their rights, more willing to challenge poor workplace culture, and less prepared to tolerate outdated management approaches.

In dentistry, where remote working is rarely an option and team dynamics are everything, those pressures have been especially acute. Practice owners and managers have found themselves dealing not only with legal compliance, but with more complex people issues - retention, resilience, absence, conflict, burnout, and shifting expectations around work-life balance.

How we’ve evolved too

We know that our clients do not just need legal advice when something has already gone wrong. They need practical, commercially sensible HR and employment support that helps them prevent issues in the first place.

That is why we have continued to evolve our services alongside the changing needs of the businesses we support. For example introducing our Oracle HR service - a subscription model designed to give clients exactly what so many practice owners and managers need: an experienced HR partner by their side.

It’s about providing ongoing support, not just one-off answers to help clients deal with day-to-day people challenges as they arise, navigate difficult conversations with confidence, and make informed decisions before small issues become expensive or disruptive ones.

Because in today’s workplace, employers need more than documents and policies. They need trusted, strategic support that reflects the realities of modern working life.

Growth isn’t instant - it’s earned

The early years were about survival as much as ambition. Every new client mattered. Every referral felt like a small victory. We wore every hat - solicitors, business owners, administrators, marketers, and occasionally IT support.

But slowly, momentum built.

One team member became two. Two became five. Five became a firm built on collaboration, trust, and mutual respect - not as buzzwords, but as daily realities.

What I’m most proud of isn’t just the growth of the team over the last ten years. It’s the kind of team we’ve built: talented, thoughtful people who care deeply about clients and about one another.

Looking ahead

It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since that extraordinary weekend in 2016.

The firm has evolved. The team has grown. The employment landscape has shifted dramatically. But the values that started it all - commitment, integrity, resilience, and care - remain exactly the same.

If you had told the marathon-version of me that ten years later I’d be reflecting on a thriving team and a business built with my husband, I’m not sure I would have believed it.

But then again, I once doubted I could run 26.2 miles.

And if the last ten years have taught me anything, it’s this: with the right people beside you and the willingness to keep putting one foot in front of the other, you can build something that truly lasts.