Richard Thurmott Bids Farewell to Treethorpe

Richard has helped shape Treethorpe into what it is today, as one of the first employees of our Cambourne office. As a parting gift, Richard allowed us to interview him and find out more about his time here at Treethorpe.

Some background…

Originally from Yorkshire, Richard spent most of his working life in various parts of Europe. Marketing, sales, financial management…there seems to be nothing he has not dabbled in.

How did you find yourself at Treethorpe?

At that point, I was doing consultancy work and I was travelling all over Europe. My kids were young adults, and my wife was home by herself. I was away most of the time, and I decided I wanted a change of lifestyle. I wanted to be at home to spend more time with my family and especially my wife.

I needed a better work-life balance and I had done some genealogy when I was around 17. I helped my mum and dad do family trees, and that was when we didn’t have online records; you had to go to Somerset House or to the parish and actually look at the records. When I helped my parents with our family trees, we managed to trace both sides back to the 1690s.

In 2010 I did some further family tracing in the UK, Ireland, South Africa and Australia. It was a hobby at that point, but then I saw this job at Treethorpe as a Cases Manager, I knew that this was the job for me.

I had done the research in the 1970s and I had done the research in 2010.

So that’s why I joined Treethorpe.

What is your best memory of your time here at Treethorpe?

I love the research…maybe all of it? [laughs] I think it’s the people, actually.

The feeling you get when you find somebody and engage with them and the difference you can make for a client.

You’ve been here almost 12 years, how has the probate scene changed?

When I first started, we didn’t do any probates, all we did were asset cases. We did have one or two probates, but it was all asset work. None of it was from any local authorities or other institutions.

So are you the one that first got in touch with the councils?

Yes, so I joined in August and then in September (5 weeks after joining!) I went out and met with our first Local Authority. It was a request from them — a previous colleague had had conversation with them.

I went to see them and then we got the work.

It wasn’t my job then; I was a Cases Manager. But I had the experience in a commercial environment and in sales.

If I said “the most difficult thing you’ve done in this job” what comes to mind?

The first big case I had. We didn’t have the technology we have now in 2012, and I spent around a year trying to find beneficiaries that moved to New Zealand. Turns out they had actually moved to Australia.

A piece of advice for new Cases Managers?

Enjoy yourselves.

If you could turn back time, would you join Treethorpe again?

Yes, absolutely.

What are your plans for retirement?

Family, travel, tennis and golf.

And with these last words of wisdom Richard leaves Treethorpe.

All of us would like to thank him; he has been a great support, a font of knowledge, and the best reader of old handwriting!

Thank you Richard, we will miss you but we wish you the best of adventures!