Pot grown privet pruning?

I am finally decided on privet hedge for our front garden to provide some privacy from the street/ neighbours.

I have bought pot grown privets. Having read the forum, many seem to suggest pruning bare root plants by 1/3 to encourage thickening and avoid the "stick" effect. 

Is this the right way to go? The plants are curently c. 120cm tall and have a few branches but are not overly full (it is also only spring...) so they will need some further branches over time so not sure if that's the way to go or wait until a bit later? I was planning on also putting them c. 30cm apart to fit the "3-5 plant per meter guideline" with an aim of achieving c. 6ft/ 180cm height eventually.

I'm a total newbie to this so any advice would be much appreciated!