Matthew Drew is managing partner of Goughs Solicitors, the firm founded in Calne in 1882 that now runs seven offices across Wiltshire. In May 2026 Goughs was named in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work for the third year running, two months after being crowned Legal Provider of the Year at the Bath Life Awards 2026. A practising family lawyer who joined the firm in 1991 and became managing partner in 2021, he still handles complex financial cases following divorce and separation. He tells Business Matters why Goughs wants to stay mid-sized, why it now recruits for attitude, and what a leading family barrister taught him about humanity.
What do you currently do at Goughs Solicitors?
I am Managing Partner of Goughs Solicitors, a firm founded in 1882 which now has seven offices across Wiltshire and employs around 140 people, including more than 70 lawyers.
Alongside leading the business, I am still a practising family lawyer. I help people through marriage breakdown and what can be an extremely difficult period of their lives, towards a new chapter.
As Managing Partner, much of my focus is on delivering our five-year strategy, maintaining profitability and ensuring we continue investing in our people, offices and technology, including the emerging opportunities presented by AI.
Growth is important, but growth for its own sake is not. We consciously want to remain a mid-sized firm. There is a sweet spot where you have the resources and expertise of a substantial business while retaining the relationships and culture of a smaller one.
As firms become larger and more geographically dispersed, there is a danger of individual offices becoming businesses within a business. We want Goughs to feel like one firm.
I am incredibly proud that people who joined us early in their careers have gone on to become owners of the business. We see ourselves as temporary custodians of something that has existed for nearly 145 years, and our job is to leave it stronger for the next generation.
What was the inspiration behind your business?
I inherited a remarkable legacy rather than starting a business from scratch. My inspiration has therefore been about asking: how do we take something with such strong foundations and continually make it better?
One of my greatest influences was our former Senior Partner, Dr Nick Davis. He was one of the smartest lawyers I have known, somebody who seemed capable of mastering any area of law. More importantly, he constantly challenged the partners to think about how Goughs could evolve into a modern law firm.
A major part of that is developing the next generation. We have invested significantly in trainee and apprenticeship routes, because there should not be only one path into law.
We increasingly recruit for attitude rather than simply capability. Technical knowledge can be taught; curiosity, resilience, empathy and the instinct to support other people are much harder to teach.
Who do you admire?
A lawyer I admire enormously is Stephen Wildblood KC. I worked with Stephen on several extremely sensitive and challenging cases which ultimately reached the High Court.
He was exceptionally intelligent and a formidable lawyer, but what stood out to me was his humanity. He was attentive, compassionate and genuinely caring towards clients.
As people progress through any profession, there can be a danger that status and hierarchy create distance from the people they ultimately serve. I think that is especially true in law.
Stephen never allowed that to happen. Despite progressing from barrister to KC and ultimately judge, he retained an extraordinary ability to connect with people. He never lost sight of the fact that, while a case might be one of many for a lawyer or judge, for the person before them it could be one of the most difficult moments of their life.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
I would have recognised earlier just how important attitude and cultural fit are when recruiting. We have hired people with outstanding CVs and impressive records of financial success, only to discover that individual excellence does not necessarily translate into team success.
I also think there have been times when I have been too cautious. Careful decision-making protects a business, but sometimes you need the confidence to make a decision and move. Even when something does not work exactly as intended, you usually learn from it.
I have also come to recognise the importance of playing to individual strengths. I introduced Patrick Lencioni’s Working Genius model, which identifies six areas of natural ability: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement and Tenacity.
It has helped us understand where each Equity Partner naturally adds the most value, and build a leadership team in which those strengths complement one another.
What defines your way of doing business?
People, attitude, trust and teamwork.
I encourage my fellow partners to remain curious. We are good at reflecting on challenges, looking for better solutions and being prepared to try something new. Failure is not necessarily a bad outcome if you understand why something did not work and use that knowledge to improve.
My leadership style is ultimately about enabling other people to perform at their best. We provide a framework, clear expectations and a shared sense of purpose, but within that I believe strongly in autonomy and ownership.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Focus as much on your attitude as your capability.
Be ambitious and want to become excellent at what you do, but do not allow personal ambition to come at the expense of the people around you. Being curious, dependable, generous with your time and willing to learn will take you much further.
Individual talent can take you a long way, but if you want to go far, you need a team.
