Probate: a COVID-19 update
Monday, 30 March 2020
Some of you may be wondering how the current crisis is affecting Probate.
Here’s what we know:
- Our People section of the MHA Larking Gowen website
Cindy Chaplin
Monday, 30 March 2020
Some of you may be wondering how the current crisis is affecting Probate.
Here’s what we know:
Cindy Chaplin
There has never been a better time to support the NHS than right now.
As a seasoned recruitment professional and small business owner, I am fully bought into our community all working together to ensure that the NHS is fully supported. Alongside the NHS it is all of our responsibility to ensure that businesses and employees remain supported and stable to ensure fast recovery in the future. From a personal perspective, my Mum worked for the NHS for her entire life and even though she is now 70, she would still return if she could. This is the main reason I am volunteering my services for this project and my driver to do what I can to support the NHS in such trying times.
Instead of furloughing staff, support your local health services with secondment to the NHS. 100% of pay costs covered.
Keeler Recruitment is proud to be working with Birketts Solicitors and East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH), a Community Interest Company providing NHS community healthcare in Great Yarmouth and Waveney, to offer continuation of service contracts for your staff. We’re looking for skills including care support, porters, housekeeping, cleaning and administration. (full job specifications available on request) Full training provided so recent experience not essential. To find out more about how we can all work together to support our local community and the NHS please call Mark on 01603 851840 or email; mark@keelerrecruitment.co.uk
www.linkedin.com/company/birkettsllp www.ecch.org/we-need-you/local-employers-secondment-programme/ https://keelerrecruitment.co.uk/keeler-recruitment-nhs-jobs/
One of the world’s top portrait photographers Rankin was in Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich this week filming a documentary for the BBC and Mustard TV. He’s presenting a programme about the Sheringham’s famous photographer Olive Edis. As part of the film Rankin was shooting scenes in Edis’s old studio in South Street where he was using her original camera to take pictures of Lord of the Rings star Bernard Hill.
“Olive took photographs in her studio using only natural light and it’s quite a challenge using her camera that’s over a century old to emulate her style,” said Rankin. “Olive was a pioneer of portrait photography and one of only a handful of female photographers making their mark in a male world. Her work is hugely inspiring for what I do today.”
Olive’s photography spanned the social spectrum but her work is largely forgotten today.
“She was equally at home taking portraits of Princes as she was recording ordinary working people like her evocative studies of fishermen. She had an innate ability to put anybody who sat for her at their ease. Her fame a hundred years ago was second to none and our film aims to bring her story to a wider audience,” said director Clive Dunn.
“Olive’s place in the history of photography has been overlooked but thanks to a recent exhibition of her work at Norwich Castle and the forthcoming TV film, this renewed attention will help reinforce her reputation,” added the film’s producer Charlie Gauvain.
Being made by Norwich production company Eye Film, Fishermen to Kings – the forgotten photographs of Olive Edis will be shown on BBC 1 and Mustard TV later in the year and you’ll have to wait until then to discover how Rankin’s portrait of Bernard Hill turned out.
For further information please contact: Producer, charlie@eyefilm.co.uk
When someone types in “[your service] near me” — who shows up?
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We are delighted to be working with the leading LGBT+ wedding guide: G Wedding Directory
The G Wedding Directory website, which provides the ultimate wedding guide information for same sex couples planning their big day, includes real life wedding features, wedding tips and trends, and a directory of gay friendly wedding suppliers.
The Norfolk Mead is listed under gay friendly wedding venues in East Anglia.
James Holliday, owner of the Norfolk Mead commented: “We are proud to welcome all couples to get married in our stunning Norfolk wedding venue. We can host your civil ceremony or civil partnership in our beautiful venue spaces The Georgian Room and The Garden Room. We are specialists in diversity and an inclusive approach and welcome guests from the LGBT+ community.”
G Wedding Directory also commented: “We are extremely happy to welcome; The Norfolk Mead as a diverse and inclusive venue onto our directory, and are excited to be working alongside them in order to provide a wonderful and beautiful venue for our LGBTQ+ audience in East Anglia!”
View our listing on G Wedding Directory or find out more about our wedding venue The Garden Room on our dedicated Weddings page. Call Francesca and Victoria on 01603 737 531 to book a tour or request our Wedding brochure.
Group Commercial Director Daren Moore has written to Rishi Sunak requesting he reconsider key elements of the government’s support and intervention packages.
Following the flurry of recent announcements from the Government on new initiatives to support small businesses and the self-employed, the TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre team has been working flat out to offer help and guidance to its network of accountants and their 76,000 clients.
While many clients will welcome the measures announced so far, large sections of the business community have been overlooked, without the help and funding they need.
In order to address this, Daren Moore has written a letter to the Chancellor to request that he reconsider a number of key issues missing from the recent announcements.
“Whilst we support many of the measures announced to date, we are concerned that large sections of the business community are suffering and that these measures will not provide the help and funding they need,” explained Daren. “We are already seeing our clients under stress and we risk seeing many thousands of small businesses fail without prompt action.”
Daren outlined four key issues that TaxAssist’s clients and its franchisees would like to see urgently addressed including:
Daren added: “As a proud and ethical franchisor we will take every available opportunity to use our voice to highlight the needs and concerns of our core clients – small businesses – the ‘lifeblood’ of the UK economy. In these difficult times, we need to support and protect them in any way we can, now, to ensure that the sector remains intact and fully functioning when the recovery does come.”
A copy of the letter that was sent to Rishi Sunak can be viewed here.
One of the world’s top portrait photographers Rankin was in Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich this week filming a documentary for the BBC and Mustard TV. He’s presenting a programme about the Sheringham’s famous photographer Olive Edis. As part of the film Rankin was shooting scenes in Edis’s old studio in South Street where he was using her original camera to take pictures of Lord of the Rings star Bernard Hill.
“Olive took photographs in her studio using only natural light and it’s quite a challenge using her camera that’s over a century old to emulate her style,” said Rankin. “Olive was a pioneer of portrait photography and one of only a handful of female photographers making their mark in a male world. Her work is hugely inspiring for what I do today.”
Olive’s photography spanned the social spectrum but her work is largely forgotten today.
“She was equally at home taking portraits of Princes as she was recording ordinary working people like her evocative studies of fishermen. She had an innate ability to put anybody who sat for her at their ease. Her fame a hundred years ago was second to none and our film aims to bring her story to a wider audience,” said director Clive Dunn.
“Olive’s place in the history of photography has been overlooked but thanks to a recent exhibition of her work at Norwich Castle and the forthcoming TV film, this renewed attention will help reinforce her reputation,” added the film’s producer Charlie Gauvain.
Being made by Norwich production company Eye Film, Fishermen to Kings – the forgotten photographs of Olive Edis will be shown on BBC 1 and Mustard TV later in the year and you’ll have to wait until then to discover how Rankin’s portrait of Bernard Hill turned out.
For further information please contact: Producer, charlie@eyefilm.co.uk
After a rapid adjustment following the government’s advice we have been able to set up all staff to work from home and arranged full access to all facilities to continue operating every aspect of our business throughout this continuing health crisis. We have also recently invested in various areas to strengthen our service departments (in particular our trade marks division) before these developments occurred as outlined below. First, in July of last year we acquired the well-known established trade marks practice of Oakleigh IP Services Limited together with its international client base and wider legal contacts – they are now fully integrated into ip21’s operations worldwide. Next, we have expanded our UK operational base to incorporate new client contact facilities in Cambridge and Ipswich with the first of these, in particular, bringing in a rapid take-up of new business from the scientific and academic community. Finally, we have in the last month been trialling a system in which we offer to supply, free of charge:
I hope this has given you a snapshot of how we view the current situation and what we are doing to service our clients’ needs and ensure we all emerge stronger from it.
May I please end with the sincere wish that you and those closest to you will come safely through this challenging period, and if you would like to discuss any of the services mentioned above, or any other IP topics, please do get in touch.
Richard Jones, Operations Manager for ip21 Ltd – info@ip21.com – 01603 457008
Pure has always been strongly committed to supporting local charities and to date, the professional recruitment specialists have raised over £120k for 24 charities in the region. This year the Norwich office has pledged to support The Big C by participating in the charity’s own key events and by organising its own fundraising, donations and volunteering activities.
Joseph O’Sullivan, Manager of Pure’s Norwich Office, said: “As part of our values as an organisation, we believe in supporting and taking part in the communities that surround us. The Big C is an exceptional charity, based on our doorstep, and one we are incredibly proud to support. Our first key fundraising event will be our annual quiz night in April. We’ve been running our annual charity quiz nights for seven years and they always prove popular. It’s a fun filled battle of the brains in which organisations get to pit their wits against each other in aid of a good cause. They are incredibly successful in raising funds and, with help from local businesses taking part, we are hoping to raise £2,000 during this fun evening.”
The Big C provides drop in support and information centres across Norfolk and Waveney. These are used by thousands of people affected by cancer every year and provide valuable information about diagnosis, treatments, side effects and recovery. The support also includes trained staff who can provide emotional help, support and complementary therapies.
Pure’s Norwich Quiz Night in aid of The Big C takes place on Thursday 13 April from 6pm at Sprowston Manor Hotel. Teams consist of 4 players and costs £40 per team with all proceeds being donated to the charity. To book a team place visit www.prs.uk.com or email April Gotts on april.gotts@prs.uk.com
Businesses processing personal data need to keep protection of customer and employee data at the front of continuity planning as they tackle the coronavirus threat.
The increased risk of data security lapses
Staff are likely to be working remotely or under different circumstances which could make customer information more vulnerable to data breaches with cyber-criminals ratcheting up their fraudulent scams. Alongside, data relating to employee health during the pandemic may be subject to special security requirements.
Businesses are implementing contingency planning with staff working from home and using domestic internet and possibly personal devices to access cloud-based software and systems, making it more important than ever to keep data safe and secure.
While data protection law doesn’t stand in the way of homeworking, or the use of personal devices, it demands even greater attention to security measures as the ones that you use in the office will need to be tailored to suit these new circumstances.
The human element is often the reason for most data breaches and without direct supervision and colleagues to consult, these may be more likely to happen. Certainly, there are reports of a steep rise in attempted cyber fraud, with many more phishing emails, malware and social engineering, where fraudsters dupe staff into revealing information or making money transfers.
Handling data belonging to affected people
The other major threat to data security during the crisis is the handling of individual information about staff and visitors, which might include who has travelled to high risk areas, symptoms, test results and when self-isolation has taken place. This is personal data protected by GDPR, but where it concerns health it may be specially categorised data under Article 9 of GDPR, which requires further grounds for processing this kind of data.
Employers will most likely want to rely on the ground in Article 9(2)(b) (“employment, social security and social protection”) to process special category data about their employees. In the UK the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 says that companies must take steps to look after the health, safety and welfare of staff. This means that it is reasonable, and normal, for businesses to collect certain information as part of their general duty to their staff. There is a clear limit to what employers can collect however, just as the new guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19 from the government makes clear that they expect most employers to collect data about coronavirus just for the purposes of assisting their staff, rather than making plans or a strategy for dealing with it, which are to be left to the NHS. There may be other grounds that businesses can rely on – these will depend on the circumstances and the likely impact of doing so.
Employers should also still be very mindful of the overarching data minimisation principle; that they should only collect what is strictly needed for the task in hand. This means applying limits to what they ask and not having a ‘one size fits all’ approach, since what may be relevant for one person could be irrelevant for another, and collecting that irrelevant information would infringe the minimisation principle.
The ICO has published guidance https://www.ashtonslegal.co.uk/your-business/gdpr-and-data-protection/
This information is correct at 10.30am on 25 March 2020.
A trade’s person or small business won’t do well if their business acumen isn’t up to scratch. Understanding how to gain and keep happy customers, how to keep the cash flowing for work done and keeping the tax man happy are important to ensure a business is to succeed.
Genix, Norfolk’s business support organisation understands the importance of local businesses, the self-employed and start-ups having access to free business advice and subsidised courses. It’s crucial that people gain the knowledge and information which is key to growing a business and is why Genix provide s their services in North Norfolk as well as in Norwic
Alex Till, chief executive of Genix, a not-for -profit organisation said, “Helping people improve their business knowledge can make a huge difference to both their business decisions and their confidence. I’m pleased we’re holding half day sessions covering both book keeping and understanding accounts in Fakenham and Cromer. We recently held a marketing course which attendees found very useful.”
Genix’s trainers are friendly and experts in their field, and aim to run their courses as informally as possible. By using venues in North Norfolk saves people having to spend time getting into Norwich.
The organisation are also planning a free session for people thinking of being their own boss, to be held in North Walsham during April.
For details and dates regarding Genix’s free advice sessions and business skills courses go to www.genix.org.uk or email info@genix.org.uk
Leanne @genix.org.uk www.genix.org.uk 07496713103
This morning Norfolk Chamber of Commerce supported the launch event for the Norfolk Skills and Careers Festival 2018.
The event took place at The Ideas Factory in Norwich on Monday 8 January from 8am with over 40 businesses in attendance.
Attendees were able to hear from the organisers of the region’s largest careers events and learn more about the festival and how they can help to inspire, motivate students.
Mark Nicholas, Show & Programmes Director at Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association steering group leader welcomed all guests to the event and gave an overview of the event.
The guest speaker was none other than our Chief Executive, Chris Sargisson who talked about the challenges with addressing the county’s skills gap.
Business can support this non-for-profit event by taking an exhibition stand, sponsoring or volunteering.
To be part of the largest skills and careers event in Norfolk, with 70 employers, 4,500 students, 100+ careers represented across the two days. The event takes place 7 & 8 March 2018 at Norfolk Showground. For more about the festival visit https://norfolkskills.co.uk