ELAINE Hurn still talks about her work with the passion and enthusiasm of someone new to the profession.

The reality is that she has been at the helm of Blackburn-based commercial law firm Taylors for more than 25 years.

Now among the four finalists up for the Business Person Award, Elaine said: “We’ve always tried to do what the city firms do – the difficult stuff - and now I think we’re recognised for that; it gives us a bit of an edge.”

This challenging legal work includes intellectual property law, something that is much in demand in East Lancashire where there is a concentration of industries that might be at risk from their designs being copied, for instance.

She said: “When we set up 25 years ago it was quite revolutionary to just have business clients.

"We do everything that a commercial client might want.”

Whilst she is still a practising lawyer, Elaine admits that she has a real passion for manufacturing, describing herself as a bit of a manufacturing ‘groupie’.

She said: “I love being in the thick of the commercial decision-making and I try to pass on that enthusiasm to the people who work here and encourage them to go out and see the client.

"Without that enthusiasm, they wouldn’t last long.

“Some people think that because we’re a small firm it’s an easy life, but it’s not. If you lose one client here in Lancashire because you don’t do a good job, you lose the lot.”