A former radio presenter has (more or less) given up the airwaves for life in the law. Jonathan Holling is set to qualify as a solicitor in September. Over the past 20 years he has been a familiar voice to thousands of people across Greater Manchester on stations such as Tower FM, where he was breakfast DJ.

But after completing a part-time law degree while still a radio presenter, in 2020 he landed a training contract with Manchester firm JMW Solicitors. ‘I knew I couldn’t go on doing radio forever and this was a great opportunity,’ says Jonathan. ‘A lot of the skills are transferable. Radio is all about communication – you are sat in a room essentially talking to yourself and you need to be able to communicate and have confidence speaking to people. That applies to law as well.

‘Plus you are always working around deadlines and multi-tasking.’

The switch has paid off: this month Jonathan was named trainee solicitor of the year at the Manchester Legal Awards and he has accepted a permanent role at JMW. But Jonathan has not given up the microphone altogether – he continues to MC at public events and this year did a four-day stint presenting at the dog show Crufts.

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