Over 100 members joined us at Cooper Norwich BMW showroom for a free breakfast event. Guests were taken on an impressive behind the scenes tour of both MINI and BMW showrooms.
There was plenty of networking, coffee and breakfast to fuel guests for their day ahead. There were stands from local businesses including; Workplace Charging, MIGSOLV, Barnham Broom Hotel Golf & Spa, Big C, Flawless Faces, CMT Muscle Health & Wellbeing and Norfolk Gin.
Members heard from Andrew Bracking, Head of Business and Jennifer Sutton, Business Development Manager at Cooper Norwich BMW on business related services.
Jon Holland from Thrifty Car & Van Rental won the business card draw for the BMW Easter Hamper which included goodies such as prosecco, chocolate, and BMW branded merchandise.
Chris Sargisson, our Chief Executive closed the event with his entertaining on stage personna and reminded members how they could get involved in Norfolk Day and Just Dual It campaign for the A47.
As a local companymanufacturing blinds in Norfolk, we support local businesses whenever we can – including, in this case, local food producers.
Don’t you just love the array of local food that is available in Norfolk? With our abundance of Farmer’s Markets, the promotion of local food by Norfolk Food and Drink Ltd and the general interest in buying locally, Norfolk is a great place to be if you are a “foodie”.
Did you know, for example, that a minimum of 150 local producers within 30 miles supply food directly to outlets in Norwich, reducing food miles and related pollution? (CPRE report)
Wemake all our blinds in our Norfolk factory using components and fabrics sourced in the UK, andhave been in business, employing local people, for over 30 years, so itseemed very apt, therefore, to have a “Produced in Norfolk” theme for our stand at the B2B Exhibition this year.
Anyone who visits our stand on the day of the exhibition will go into a prize draw to win a hamper of local food worth £100.
The hamper, supplied by Norfolk Food Heroes, will be full of treats such as local beer, Norfolk Cordial, Kandula tea, Candi’s Chutneys, biscuits, Crush Food, Grey Seal Coffee…..and the wicker hamper can be re-used time and time again for picnics or storage.
Visit us in the Enterprise and Innovation zone – stand 14.
You may think that if the estate you are dealing with is not looking likely to breach the Inheritance Tax threshold that you don’t need a professional certified valuation of the chattels. Think again! Are you quite certain that an old master isn’t languishing in the attic? Are you positive that the old pot that holds dried flowers and sits in the corner of the conservatory isn’t a rare 17th century Chinese Imperial vase? If you’re quite happy in your ability to recognise one of these hidden gems thats fine,but if not……..read on!
Several years ago, a charity shop local to me at the time, had a large box containing various clothing and other bits and bobs left on their doorstep overnight…..quite clearly the residue from a deceased estate. On unpacking the items they found what they described as “an old broken wooden thing” and decided that they had better bring it along for me to take a look at. This, after it had sat on the shop shelves priced at £10 for twenty minutes or so.
This “old broken wooden thing” was quite probably the rarest Chinese carved bamboo brush pot ever to come up for auction and it subsequently sold for over £350,000………yes, over a third of a million pounds!
Now obviously this in itself meant that the value of the estate from which it originated breached the IHT threshold but there is something else of huge importance to factor in here. And that is that the sum achieved in auction was a ‘life changing’ amount of money, and with the contents not being checked by a professional prior to dispersal……..somebody missed out in a big, big way!
Did we ever find out just where the brush pot came from? No we didn’t although a few did come forward and ‘claim’ that it came from within their family. However without a ‘gift aid’ form being filled out there was no valid grounds for any compensation anyway, so it will remain a mystery.
So what is the moral of this story……..because there is always a moral to a good tale!
Well its quite simply this. ALL deceased estates should have the chattels valued by a certified professional prior to probate…….a service I offer throughout Norfolk, its neighbouring counties and beyond.
For the sake of the fees involved you can save a lot of potential heartache!
For further details take a look at my website mfvaluations.com Contact me via email at mfvaluations@gmail.com or give me a call on 07806 360312
Colin Cook, Hatch Brenner Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution commented: “As many Claimant practitioners will be painfully aware, Defendant legal teams, instructed by insurers, regularly seek to depart from costs budgets on detailed assessment to effectively use the budgeting process to gain a double assessment of the Claimant’s costs. This can open up opportunity to obtain additional reductions on costs bills where work has been genuinely and properly undertaken in accordance with the approved costs budgets. “In many instances this undermines the purpose to budgeting. “One of the latest tactics has been to use the fact that there has been an underspend on the budget as a reason to invite the assessing costs judge as a reason to depart from the budget. “It is a quite incredulous argument. “Imagine if you were provided with an estimate for building works and the final bill came in under the original estimate. Would you then challenge the costs because is was too low? “This is the point some Defendants have been making on costs assessments.” In the case of Utting v Norwich City College in which Hatch Brenner Solicitors was instructed in the High Court, Master Brown ruled against the Defendant legal team (DWF LLP) seeking to raise this point in his written judgment: “… if an underspend were to be a good reason for departing from a budget it would be liable to substantially undermine the effectiveness of cost budgeting. As the Judge effectively observed, solicitors who had acted efficiently and kept costs within budget would find their costs subject to detailed assessment, whereas less efficient solicitors who exceeded the budget would, absent any other “good reason”, receive the budgeted sum and avoid detailed assessment. There is however nothing per se unjust if a receiving party were to receive a sum by way of costs which is less than the budgeted sum. This is, of course, to be contrasted with the situation where a phase is not substantially completed, where it would, to my mind, be unjust for a receiving party to receive the full amount of a budgeted sum in circumstances where only a modest amount of the expected work had been done. ” “… one of the perceived benefits of cost budgeting is that the need for, and scope of, detailed assessments would be reduced … – an aim which is liable to be thwarted if ‘underspend’ could of itself be a “good reason” for departing from a budget.” “Even if ‘underspend’ were a “good reason” for the purpose of CPR 3.18, it does not follow that there should be a deduction from the sums claimed. Plainly, the fact that a party has spent less than its budget for a phase does not mean there is therefore in fact a good or appropriate reason for any further reduction and I was not satisfied that there was any additional “good reason” for any such reduction.” Colin Cook is a Personal Injury Solicitor with specialist experience in Brain Injury legal cases. Email colincook@hatchbrenner.co.uk or call 01603 660 811.
We currently have two Solicitor vacancies. Would you like to join the small and friendly Hatch Brenner team on Theatre Street in Norwich City centre?
Part-time Employment Law Solicitor Vacancy
Are you looking for a new challenge? We have a flexible opportunity for a Solicitor within our Norwich city centre office. We are currently looking for a Solicitor with particular expertise in Employment Law to join our Dispute Resolution team on a part time basis (minimum three days a week). With at least three years PQE, the successful candidate will be equipped to support employer and employee clients on a range of legal matters. Some business development experience and an existing network of local contacts would be ideal to continue to develop our Employment Law services.
Residential Property Solicitor Vacancy
We are currently looking for a new Solicitor to join our busy Residential Property team. With at least three years PQE, the successful candidate should have an extensive network of local contacts to help develop our residential property services and provide guidance and support to the existing successful team.
Please send a copy of your CV to Ian Johnson at ianjohnson@hatchbrenner.co.uk
Employers could be forgiven for having forgotten about some of the Employment Law changes which came into force on 6 April 2020 amidst the COVID19 pandemic. However, this is unlikely to provide a defence to any claim which might arise as a result. Below we summarise the changes which employers must action, if they have not already done so.
Written statement of terms
A written statement of terms must now be given to employees on or before the first day of employment, rather than within two months of employment starting.
In addition to the information that was already required by Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the written statement must now also include:
the days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the working hours may be variable and how any variation will be determined;
any paid leave to which the worker is entitled;
details of all remuneration and benefits;
any probationary period; and
any training entitlement provided by the employer, including whether any training is mandatory and/or must be paid for by the worker.
Furthermore, the right to a written statement of terms now extends to all workers, rather than just employees.
Holiday pay reference period
The reference period for determining an average week’s pay (for the purposes of calculating holiday pay) has been increased from 12 weeks to 52 weeks, or the number of complete weeks for which the worker has been employed.
Parental bereavement leave and pay
A statutory right for employees to take one or two weeks off work following the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth now applies (‘Parental Bereavement Leave’). A new statutory payment may be payable during parental bereavement leave, depending on the individual’s length of service and earnings (‘Parental Bereavement Pay’).
Repeal of the ‘Swedish Derogation’
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 have been amended to remove the ‘Swedish Derogation’. By no later than 30 April 2020, temporary work agencies must provide agency workers whose existing contracts contain a Swedish Derogation provision (which, in some circumstances, allows employers to pay contracted workers less than direct employees) with a written statement advising that, with effect from 6 April 2020, those provisions no longer apply.
Key information documents for agency work-seekers
Employment businesses must provide agency work-seekers with a key information document, before agreeing the terms by which the work-seeker will undertake work. The document must include information such as the type of contract under which the work-seeker will be engaged, the minimum rate of pay, any deductions that will be made to their pay, how they will be paid and by whom, and annual leave entitlement.
The Hatch Brenner team of Employment Solicitors in Norwich has experience in advising employers and employees across a range of Employment Law matters. Call 01603 660 811 to speak to one of our specialists.
As for many businesses across the country, we have been working hard in line with the most up to date Government guidance, as we prepare to reopen our Norwich city centre offices to clients and staff from Monday 15 June. We have completed a robust risk assessment covering our client facing reception and meeting room areas, as well as our internal risks due to staff work areas, transport needs, office cleaning and maintenance requirements and, importantly, the impacts on staff communication and well being.
This has led to the implementation of the following reopening measures:
Clients will be seen face to face by pre-appointment only. Appointments will also need to be made in advance for document signing including obtaining certified copies of documents for property transactions
Only two client meetings to take place in the office at any one time, with calendar management allowing sufficient time between appointments for cleaning routines and to avoid crossover
Distance signage reminders installed throughout the offices
Perspex screen installed at the 4 Theatre Street reception
Increased cleaning routines with hand sanitiser and bacterial wipes available
Masks and gloves will be available for staff to use as required
On site staff numbers will be reduced with some remaining working from home and a staff rotation system for those on office premises
No member of staff will be required to return to the office to work if they do not feel comfortable to do so pending the further easing of restrictions and the provision of additional government guidance
Staff have been briefed and will be required to maintain social distancing
Staff workstations will be in individual office rooms where possible
Client deliveries will not be accepted at Dencora House. Please direct any post to 4 Theatre Street
Please do not attend the office if you are unwell. In line with the most up to date guidance, anyone with coronavirus symptoms must self-isolate for seven days from when their symptoms started. Anyone who does not have symptoms must self-isolate for 14 days from when the first person in their home started having symptoms. See: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/
We would like to reassure clients and contacts that we feel confident in maintaining our historically high level of client service within the new normal circumstances. Our staff remain accessible and ready to help you navigate your legal issues – whether you would prefer to continue to liaise via phone or email, or if you would feel comfortable to arrange a face to face meeting.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions at all. Please call or email your usual Hatch Brenner contacts, or our Managing Partner Dawn Parkes is available to discuss any concerns via dawnparkes@hatchbrenner.co.uk
Freebridge Community Housing is encouraging local charities and community groups to apply for grants from their Freebridge Community Fund.
The fund provides local groups with the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £1000 and welcomes applications from a wide range of charities and community organisations whose aims include:
· Promoting health and wellbeing
· Tackling disadvantage
· Supporting local solutions to local needs
· Promoting community cohesion
· Developing sustainable and supportive communities
· Improving the environment for Freebridge tenants
The final decision on funding will be made by a panel of Freebridge employees and tenants.
Last year the fund awarded almost £6000 to six groups including the Docking Playing Fields Association, Home-Start King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Methwold Parish Council, the King’s Lynn & District Group of the National Osteoporosis Society, The Pandora Project and West Norfolk Riding for the Disabled Association.
Chief Executive of Freebridge, Tony Hall, said: “Although our main role is to provide good quality affordable housing for people across the area, we feel strongly that we have a responsibility to play a role in supporting stronger, vibrant communities in West Norfolk.
“The Freebridge Community Fund provides grants to organisations on a very local level which we feel fills a need not met by either public funding of the more major charities.”
Groups that are interested in applying for a grant from the fund can make an application online at www.nofolkfoundation.com/funds/freebridge-community-housing-fund/
The application process for this year’s funding will close on Wednesday 31 May 2017.
Stories. We all have them. They have the power to capture imaginations, impart wisdom, engage and excite. Ours began in 1989. Along with Taylor Swift, The Simpsons and the World Wide Web, Image Development was first born. Our offices on Norwich’s Cathedral Street housed our design and admin, whilst an unassuming garage belonging to the father in law of Managing Director Iain, housed our production facilities. From this first humble chapter, our story unfurled. We grew from our passion of helping clients share their very own stories. Getting them noticed with striking displays, immersive events and a knack for finding that interesting angle.
As we grew, we became even more specialised in events and exhibitions, incorporating as Image Display & Graphics Ltd. in 1996. From there, we gained a reputation as award winning exhibition stand design and build contractors, with this fast becoming over 80% of our business. In recent years however, our wider marketing expertise has taken a more central role in the events we deliver for our clients. Many have touted the ‘end of events’ as we know it at many points in our history. Of course we’ve seen events change. Yet far from ending, they have evolved, with more integration of digital and the wider marketing mix. Importantly we never lost sight of our roots, allowing us to evolve with this growing need for a cohesive understanding of marketing in all our work. It was natural as more clients came to us for their events needs, we had grown in a specific direction, but our multi-talented roots were never far away. So what does this have to do with a new marketing brand in 2020?
Inspired by the bustling community of creatives, independent businesses and entrepreneurs of our home city of Norwich, we knew it was time to grow. In order to do so we looked back to our roots, our story. From here we took the design, marketing and brand development services we were originally built on and injected them with the experience and event led work that has come to be our mainstay. The result? An experientially driven creative marketing service built around you, our wonderful clients, collaborators and colleagues.
So what is #NorfolkBiztory?
To mark our launch and share the power of stories in building brands, we want to hear yours! To share the network of incredible people and brands in our local business community, we’re asking you to use the hastag #NorfolkBiztory to get involved.
As we reopen and recover, making clients a part of your story will be more important than ever, so let’s start sharing them together…
Business Advisory experts Mark Curtis and James Lay, partners at MHA Larking Gowen, have been speaking about their understanding and explanations of the guidance being offered from the Government. Their podcast series explains guidance in more detail and also offers sound business advice to help you through these uncertain times.
Click here to listen to the first 3 episodes – ToFurlough and Beyond, Pricing in a Pandemic, and The Office is Dead, Long Live the Office!
The May NatWest UK Small Business PMI pointed to an improvement in business activity since April, with the downturn in private sector output levelling out from the record pace reported at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
However, small businesses continued to experience a severe shortfall of new work in May and reported widespread business closures across their supply chains, despite a boost as some parts of the UK economy began to reopen with social-distancing measures. While employment trends among small businesses appeared more resilient than in other areas of the economy, a reliance on the government’s furlough scheme was widely cited as helping limit redundancies.
“The data and economic findings in this report help build the picture of why it’s so important to stand behind our small businesses and help them through the difficulties,” said Andrew Harrison, head of Business Banking at NatWest.
Stephen Blackman, NatWest’s principle economist, added: “The slight uptick in May’s Small Business PMI tells us that, at least, the worst should be behind us.
“The pandemic’s longer-term and wider impacts depend, in large part, on the scale of permanent job losses as businesses operations and models adapt to new rules, behaviours and options.”
With summer 2020 shaping up like no other, BDH Tullford is helping its clients find innovative solutions to unique challenges.
The Norwich-based company was recently contacted by Kelly’s of Cornwall, part of the Froneri group, which was seeking a way to support small shops and confectioners post-lockdown.
Due to social distancing measures, small outlets can only accommodate one or two people at a time, which is unfortunate if you want to buy treats for the whole family. Customers may be put off buying cones if they have to dash in and out of the store to deliver ice-creams before they melt.
Rising to the challenge, BDH Tullford developed a cone carrier, which allows customers to carry several ice-creams at once.
Designed to compliment our countertop ice-cream holders, which are distributed to companies across Europe, they’re lightweight and easy to use.
The server simply places the carrier over the holder, before putting cones in the slots and stepping away, leaving the customer to lift the carrier by the handles and distribute the ice-creams outside.
Not only is it ideal for social distancing, but it’s:
Cost-effective
Fully branded
Recyclable
Flatpack
Light
Needless to say, Kelly’s of Cornwall is delighted with the product!
Got a post-pandemic challenge? Give us a call to find out how we can help you!