Exclusive: Apprentice Alex gets ready to fire up Dynamo Legal


Alex Mills and his famous eyebrows get ready for legal business

Alex Mills, who was last week fired from The Apprentice, has told Legal Futures that his fledgling brand Dynamo Legal has a six-month window to capitalise on the publicity his stint on the BBC show has generated.

His famous eyebrows – which even have their own Twitter account – are already forming part of its branding; Dynamo has also recently added a service for financial mis-selling claims with a picture of Mr Mills and the slogan: “All the confusion raising a few eyebrows?”.

As first reported on Legal Futures in April, Dynamo is looking to recruit 245 law firms across England and Wales to its collective marketing scheme and build a £7m advertising warchest.

Lord Sugar fired the 23-year-old and ended his hopes of a £250,000 investment in Dynamo after losing a task to create a ready meal. In the boardroom there were questions over what he knew of the law and about having a “bit of a grasshopper brain” – having initially set up and sold a slate sign company, before investing in a CCTV business and launching Dynamo.

Lord Sugar sent him on his way with advice that if he focused on a particular project, “you’re going to succeed”. On the companion show The Apprentice: You’re Fired, the entrepreneur added: “Alex is a young man with many admirable qualities but he didn’t stick to his guns on this task.”

Mr Mills said he had taken Lord Sugar’s advice to heart and had now disposed of his interest in the CCTV company (the episode was shot some months ago) to focus solely on Dynamo – he said he had only invested to secure some income while Dynamo got on its feet.

The initial plan had been to pilot Dynamo with 20 firms in South Wales and 30 in the south-west in May, but that was put on ice because of the show, with Mr Mills acknowledging that had the makers showed him in a negative light, it would have done a lot of damage to the business. “The Apprentice can make or break people,” he said.

As it was, he felt the exposure had been positive and Dynamo has had to turn down requests for legal help over recent weeks that came from the connection with him because it was not ready. The pilot will now begin next month.

Mr Mills said the show had also helped the talks Dynamo is having with potential member firms because they knew something about him, rather than it being a cold approach.

“We’ve got a six-month window to capitalise on the opportunity [arising from the publicity],” he estimated. “We see ourselves as a strong, effective and unique form of branding for the legal profession.”

He added that the aim was to make the law more accessible to the public. “We all know that dealing with a solicitor is not as complicated as the public perceives it.”




    Readers Comments

  • Simon Jones says:

    Alex has a problem, in that once the initial publicity has gone, no one will know about or find dynamo legal among the plethora of websites, lead generators and CMCs that populate Google listings. He has no first mover advantage, no domain authority and no way of rising through the rankings without expending huge amounts of money. What I suspect is that he will get 6 months worth of money from firms and then disappear into the ether unless he can get PE to bankroll the marketing.

  • sosr says:

    If they haven’t started yet, where have all the testimonials on the website come from?

  • Gary says:

    Did you ask him who wins?

  • Our business activity and its testimonials are from work we have been able to carry out. These are mainly testimonials from our insurance and financial claim management side of the business.

    From our advertising point of view, our website is rated as a 8/10 in credibility and reliability from Google. Due to this high publicity we have received more than 160,000 natural search unique visitors to the website in the space of 2 months. It is a shame that we have not already had the network of solicitors available to deliver the services that customers have requested.

    That being said, our business focus as reported is building up this collection of solicitors across the UK now in order to further push the brand and deliver the services that our customers are requesting. If anything, Alex’s publicity brings a sense of “Authentication” to our online business in that people will be able to recognise that the business is a real organisation with a highly recognisable public figure at the forefront. We’re not saying that people will use us purely because of Alex, but it does help consumers recognise that this is an authentic company, especially as our main focus of advertising is online.

  • Ah yes, because of course, it’s ALL just about branding. Sigh.

  • a adams says:

    new marketing technique? dynamo are offering a free ‘consolation’ [sic] from a solicitor

  • Well, like Alex or loathe Alex this story has received more comments than most articles. Is all publicity good publicity?

  • S Iqbal says:

    Not all publicity is good publicity contrary to what the marketing gurus would have you believe. The context of the original film was about the film industry, not law or legal marketing. While Alex Mills provided much entertainment, he may remain memorable for not being the most likeable of candidates. Herbert, his supposed creation as the ‘potential date from hell’, may well end up as a haunting premonition for this venture. Lord Sugar’s comment ‘grasshopper brain’ directed towards Mills should have been further analysed by the young man. Mills came across as impetuous, unable to work as a team player and most importantly, lacking in finesse in terms of creative ideas. For him to to succeed in the legal market that image has to be shed. He needs to make the most of his Welshness. Local small firms may well be interested in giving the ‘local lad’ a chance for a while. Allied to this, a little more time spent on his part in understanding the nature of law, how lawyers work, what lawyers dislike would go a long way to make a success. There is still a lot of money to be made through law but it needs an astute individual with a grasp of the providers and the provided.

    While I wish ‘Herbert’ the best in polishing up that infamous eyebrow, I think he needs to be careful and use his unbridled energy wisely. He will make a success of something but I am not sure if this present venture is that. That said, I wish him all the best in his chosen path.

  • Bored Solicitor says:

    My tip for Alex would be that if you can’t write decent copy pay someone to do it for you.

  • Gary says:

    Rob,

    Me you and Louise hardly constitutes a debate. We will comment on anything!!

    Gary


Leave a Comment

By clicking Submit you consent to Legal Futures storing your personal data and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy and section 5 of our Terms & Conditions which deals with user-generated content. All comments will be moderated before posting.

Required fields are marked *
Email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog


Use the tools available to stop doing the work you shouldn’t be doing anyway

We are increasingly taken for granted in the world of Do It Yourself, in which we’re required to do some of the work we have ostensibly paid for, such as in banking, travel and technology


Quality indicators – peer recommendations over review websites

I often feel that I am banging the SRA’s drum for them when it comes to transparency but it’s because I genuinely believe in clarity when it comes to promoting quality professional services.


Embracing the future: Navigating AI in litigation

Whilst the UK courts have shown resistance to change over time, in the past decade they have embraced the use of some technologies that naturally improve efficiency. Now we’re in the age of AI.


Loading animation