Ted Flanagan: Giving Entrepreneurs the Confidence to Grow Through People

Employers often share that “the number one problem in business is people.” For Hull and East Yorkshire entrepreneurs, that’s exactly where Ted Flanagan comes in - not to add to the fear, but to remove it. As the Head of Employment Law and a Partner at Gosschalks, who are a Key Partner of For Entrepreneurs Only (FEO), Ted has a simple mission: to give business owners the peace of mind they need to employ people, grow their teams, and let their businesses thrive.

“Reassurance is what we’re about”

Ted is the first to admit he’s not an entrepreneur. He followed the traditional legal path: joining a firm as a trainee, qualifying as a solicitor, then working his way up to partnership at Gosschalks, where he’s been since 2002. But while he hasn’t “struck out” on his own, he has spent years working alongside those who have - the founders, risk-takers, and prosperity generators who make up FEO.

In his world, employment law is too often used as a stick to beat employers with. “There are lots of people out there who make a living in employment law by scaring the living daylights out of you,” he observes. That’s been particularly true in recent times as a new Employment Rights Act evolved. “We don’t need to scare people to be our clients. Reassurance is what we’re about.” That word - reassurance - crops up again and again when Ted talks about his work with entrepreneurs. His goal is not to drown people in jargon, but to help them sleep at night.

The calm voice at the end of the phone

Within FEO, Ted has become known as the calm voice at the end of the phone when a “people problem” threatens to overwhelm a business owner. Often the call starts with a worried message to FEO’s CEO, Jan Brumby, about a tricky employee situation. Jan then reaches (confidentially) for Ted, knowing he will quietly give someone half an hour of his time, talk them through what’s really going on, and strip away the drama.

For many smaller employers, these issues are deeply personal. When a business first starts employing, staff are often friends or family, which makes any conflict feel like falling out with a loved one. Ted understands that emotional weight. He doesn’t dismiss it – he acknowledges it, then helps people find a path through. Success, for him, usually looks like nothing spectacular: no claim, no fuss, just an obstacle removed so the entrepreneur can focus on building again.

Giving entrepreneurs confidence to grow

If FEO exists to help entrepreneurs start, adapt and grow, Ted is particularly focused on that last word: growth. Time and again, he meets business owners who are experiencing “people problems.” They’ve heard horror stories about employment law, or they worry that taking on staff will simply mean more stress, more debt, more risk.

Ted wants to turn that thinking on its head. His message is clear: good employees are not a liability, they’re the engine of almost every successful business. “People buy people. The press may insist that everything is stacked in favour of the employee,” but Ted is adamant that this is not the case – and it never has been. With a bit of patience, fairness, and straightforward record-keeping, employers can hire with confidence rather than fear of getting it wrong.

That positivity fits perfectly with FEO’s ethos of “entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs.” While Ted is not an entrepreneur himself, his professional support and emotional reassurance give founders the courage to take that crucial step: to stop working alone and start building a team.

Deeply involved in Ignition and the FEO community

Gosschalks has been a Key Partner of FEO for around a decade, and Ted is at the heart of that relationship. Together with colleagues such as Steve Savage and others from the firm, he regularly contributes to FEO programmes and events, particularly the Ignition and 360 programmes that supports those at the beginning of their business journey.

He has delivered countless talks and Q&A sessions over the years, including pandemic-era webinars that FEO members still mention today as “fantastically helpful.” One fellow business leader even interrupted Ted mid-presentation to call his advice “absolute gold” – not because it was flashy or theoretical, but because it was practical, simple, and immediately usable in the real world.

What keeps Ted so engaged?

The answer is the energy in the room. He talks about FEO sessions as “energising” – a chance to be surrounded by people who are building businesses, facing problems head-on, and never pretending everything is perfect. For someone who describes himself as supported and “cosseted” within a law firm structure, he has genuine admiration for those who shoulder the full responsibility of a business and their employees’ livelihoods.

More than law: optimism, culture and community

Ted’s view of work goes far beyond contracts and case law. He cares deeply about culture – the sense of being “amongst” others in an office, the informal learning that comes from poking your head round a colleague’s door and asking for five minutes’ advice. While he recognises the benefits and inevitability of hybrid working, he worries that too much distance can turn teams into isolated silos. For him, a successful organisation is always more than the sum of its parts.

That belief carries over into how he sees FEO itself. He’s proud to be involved in an organisation where over 220 members, many of them major business leaders, freely give their time to support others. In his experience, FEO’s model – with just a tiny paid team and a large, committed volunteer base – is “pretty much unique.” The result is a community with what Jan Brumby refers to as a “magnetic pull”. At events, people naturally gravitate to the FEO table because they feel part of something bigger than themselves.

Ted and Gosschalks are an integral part of that community, not as headline-chasing lawyers, but as steady, trusted partners. Many FEO members are already Gosschalks clients; many more know that if Jan suggests “give Ted a ring,” they’ll get honest, human advice.

Giving entrepreneurs permission to employ

In the end, Ted’s contribution to FEO can be summed up in one powerful idea: he gives entrepreneurs permission to employ. Permission to stop listening to scare stories. Permission to see employment law as a framework, not a trap. Permission to believe that growth through people is both possible and desirable.

He is not there to wave a magic wand or pretend problems don’t exist. Instead, he offers something more valuable: calm, experienced guidance and a genuinely optimistic outlook. For a community built on entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs, Ted Flanagan – the non-entrepreneur who champions them – is exactly the kind of ally you want at your side when “people” feel like your biggest problem.

Because with the right support, people don’t have to be your number one headache. With the right support, they can be your greatest strength.

To find out more about becoming an FEO Key Partner, please visit HERE.