Welcome!
I'm Zia your Premier Advocacy Consultant
Present, Persuade, Prosper
With our 60 plus years of advocacy experience we know how to connect and communicate, skills that are invaluable in a fast-moving and often bewildering working environment, but also skills that can be learnt.
Zia Chaudhry
Advocacy experience
Our Values Define Us!
As professional advocates operating in the world of criminal law we have had to deal with the most challenging scenarios and circumstances, and engage with and give voice to people from vastly different backgrounds to our own. As private citizens we have always endeavoured to contribute to our communities in ways that uplift them - helping individuals whilst having an eye on the collective good.
Premier Advocacy uses these experiences to operate in harmony with a wider society that increasingly recognises that we are all interconnected and interdependent, and that the success of these relationships depends on the extent to which we understand each other. In this way PA ensures that its efforts contribute to wider society as well as individual organisations.
We appreciate that true understanding does not come from simply completing diversity modules and other such box-ticking exercises but rather from real engagement.
We appreciate that many current training offers leave attendees feeling uninspired, having connected neither with the subject matter nor those delivering it.
We appreciate the need to concentrate our time and effort on facilitating the necessary open and inclusive conversations required for true understanding.
STEP ONE - We take the time to understand our clients and their needs
We appreciate that organisations can often operate in environments with intense pressure and insufficient time to deliver on their outcomes. In such situations it is easy to concentrate on the bottom line and overlook the wider implications of our habits and behaviours. Our success in various sectors has been built on our approachability and ability to establish a rapport with our audiences. We take the time, therefore, to develop the insightful relationships, both in the UK and abroad, that enable our clients to deliver on their organisational priorities.
STEP TWO - We identify practical solutions
It is perhaps easy to overlook the importance of understanding our stakeholders but this can ignore the positive business case for such understanding. We articulate these benefits for our clients and help them to identify the steps unique to their situations that they can take in order to achieve them - from individual efforts to changing workplace cultures.
STEP THREE - We deliver memorably
Our 60 years’ combined advocacy experience ensures first class keynote speeches and engaging training courses which will uplift your organisation, inspire individuals, and lead to increasingly confident positive contributions to wider society. The key outcome is individual and collective success.
Our
Services
Keynote Speeches
It’s what we excel at, having addressed audiences as varied as criminal juries, International literature festivals and the European Parliament in Brussels. From Cultural Competence to the Do’s and Don’ts of Business in the Middle East, if you want to move on from the same old offering at your conferences then you have come to the right place.
Training
Whether it is specifically on cultural intelligence or wider EDI-related issues we can assist. From overviews of the applicable legal frameworks to the daily practical steps required to achieve culture change, we are here to help your organisation in navigating territory which may otherwise seem daunting.
Bespoke Coaching
Confidence and presentational skills are vital to success in every walk of life - from the personal to the professional - and our track record in a variety of sectors has equipped us to help others develop these skills.
And throughout all of our services we are guided by your needs.
About Us
Zia Chaudhry
For 27 years as a barrister Zia prosecuted and defended criminal cases at all levels of seriousness. His experience as an advocate coupled with his interest in inter-faith work, led to a number of approaches being made to him as a British Muslim able to explain issues concerning Islam and Muslims, issues which often caused concern for the wider public. This led to speaking engagements at venues as diverse as local schools and community groups, to the European Parliament in Brussels. He subsequently gathered his thoughts into his book, “Just Your Average Muslim” which led to him speaking at the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature in Dubai as well as other national literature festivals.
For many years Zia has been appearing in local media leading to national recognition when he joined the panel of newspaper reviewers on BBC Breakfast in 2015. In the same year he was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations in Merseyside.
In 2017, Zia was made an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University and, in 2018, after 27 years at the Criminal Bar, he took on a new full-time role in leading the University’s civic engagement work. He has since founded Premier Advocacy – a consultancy which utilises his extensive experience in order to advise organisations seeking to improve their engagement with, and understanding of, their diverse stakeholders.
In 2019, Zia’s community engagement was further acknowledged when he was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside. In 2020 Zia was invited to join Liverpool’s Race Equality Task Force to help consider the extent of race inequalities in the city. He also joined the local Education Improvement Board and in 2021 was appointed a Non-Executive Director at the Liverpool Women’s NHS Trust.
About Us
Steven Swift
With over 30 years’ experience at the Criminal Bar, Steven is highly regarded and has a successful heavyweight criminal practice. He is regularly instructed in the most serious, complex and high profile criminal cases, being a Grade 4 Prosecutor as well as on the panel of Rape and Serious Sexual Assault prosecutors.
He balances robust and effective cross-examination with a calm and persuasive manner that is highly effective with juries. His ability to reassure and inspire the confidence of clients is carried over into the way he delivers training and keynote speeches with audiences finding him engaging and informative.
Steven’s academic acumen was evident when he completed his Masters at Liverpool John Moores University and thereafter he has been contributing as a Visiting Lecturer at Lancaster University.
Outside of the law Steven is an active member of the wider community, keen to ensure that he uses his expertise and experience to inspire and uplift others.
Out of 5
- Our Reviews
What Our Clients Say
Fascinating to hear Zia talk about his experience
“What an absolute privilege to hear Zia talk at our national EDI training workshop! It was fascinating to hear him talk about his experience of law and draw parallels with surgery. His words resonated with us all and the participants were thoroughly impressed. With humour, honesty and simplicity, his thought-provoking talk was the highlight of the day and we couldn’t be more thankful to him for his contribution.”
Kiran Altaf - EDI Chair for the Association of Colorectal Practitioners of Great Britain and Ireland
Authentic and Humorous manner
“It was wonderful to hear Zia talk to our whole team at one of our “knowledge sharing” get togethers. His fascinating life and career (to date) experiences, delivered in a down-to-earth, authentic and humorous manner allowed him to connect effortlessly with us all and we got a lot out of it as he made us think and reflect. His contribution prompted some of us to share their experiences as they felt comfortable doing so. Others purchased a book Zia had written to carry on reading more on this subject. So glad he was able to give up some time. It is always lovely to meet successful people who have remained so humble.”
Gary Jones - Director of Totum Partners
Steven delivered...
“A very effective, tailored, in-house training programme.”