Member News

The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (Commencement No 11 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1860) came into force on 29 July 2013.

The Order brings into force provisions of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which apply new rules for calculating child support maintenance to certain applications made on or after 29 July 2013. Therefore, the new Child Maintenance Service (CMS) opened on 29 July 2013 to new applicants with two or more children.

The new and improved statutory service, which calculates and arranges financial support for children living in separated families, will gradually replace the Child Support Agency (CSA). The CMS is designed to be a safety net for difficult cases where parents are unable to work things out between themselves.

Once the CMS is fully up and running, all separated families currently in the CSA will be given a fresh start as their cases are gradually closed. They will be offered help and support to come to their own financial arrangements.

The CMS is designed to target the most difficult cases. It will be able to use new enforcement fines to encourage parents to pay what they owe. The new service will also charge a small upfront fee and have ongoing collection charges for both parents to encourage collaboration. Parents can avoid the ongoing collection charges altogether by opting to use a service called Direct Pay.

CSA will gradually close from next year over three years, as parents are given the chance to work things out between themselves.

Under the Government’s proposals, the CMS will begin to charge a £20 application fee, once the service is fully up and running. There will also be a 20% collection charge for non-resident parents on top of their calculation and a 4% charge on payments for parents with care of the child. These ongoing charges can be avoided if parents opt for Direct Pay, where parents pay each other directly at arms-length from the CMS. If payments stop, the CMS will step in and enforce payments.

For further information on children matters please contact our family team.

Leathes Prior is delighted to announce Sabina Haag qualified as a Solicitor on 1 October, after finishing a two year training contract with the firm. Having joined Leathes Prior as a Trainee Solicitor in September 2011, her training has covered a wide range of areas including Employment, Corporate and Dispute Resolution. We are very pleased that Sabina has accepted a permanent position as a Solicitor providing valuable support to our busy Dispute Resolution team.

Sabina is originally from Sweden, where she attended the Scandinavian Aviation Academy and gained a Commercial Pilot License at the age of 18. She spent a year working and travelling around Australia before moving to England. Sabina graduated from the University of East Anglia with a 2:1 law degree in 2010 and completed the Legal Practice Course in Cambridge gaining a distinction.

Leathes Prior Managing Partner Mike Barlow, who heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution team, said: “Sabina has made a valuable contribution to the team and her efforts have been much appreciated by her colleagues and clients. I am sure that Sabina has a very bright future ahead of her and I look forward to seeing her career develop. As ever, the firm is committed to ensuring that we recruit Trainee Solicitors of the highest calibre and I believe that the fact that so many of our Partners, Associates and Solicitors trained with the firm speaks volumes for the training and support we are able to provide.”

A local financial seminar hosted by Alan Boswell & Company the Financial Planning division of Alan Boswell Group, attracted over 100 guests from across East Anglia. The company, one of the largest independent Financial Planners in the region, held the event as a thank you to their clients. The evening was hosted by Anglia news presenter Jonathan Wills and included a motivational speech by Sally Kettle, the first woman to row the Atlantic Ocean twice. Organised in conjunction with investment management firm, Brewin Dolphin, the seminar also provided clients with an assessment of the current international and UK economic conditions.

The event was held at the Top of the Terrace at Norwich City Football Club and promoted the work of local charity Big C, Alan Boswell Group’s staff charity of the year. Guests heard first-hand about the work Big C do and the challenges of securing funding, in a speech from chair of cancer genetics, Colin Cooper who works with the charity. Attendees also helped raise further funds on the evening with a raffle. Top prizes donated by Alan Boswell & Company and Brewin Dolphin included football and theatre tickets, champagne, a hamper and signed NCFC shirt. Over the last decade the Alan Boswell Group has raised over £39K for Big C.

John Whitehead, managing director of Alan Boswell & Company, said: ‘”We are proud to be able to host an event which supports a great cause such as Big C but also supports our clients with valuable information about the economic market conditions and what factors may affect their future investments.

‘It was extremely interesting to hear from Colin Cooper about the ground breaking research they are able to undertake in the fantastic facilities we have in Norfolk’.

Find out more about Alan Boswell & Company Financial Planners visit www.alanboswellgroup.com Find out more about Brewin Dolphin www.brewin.co.uk

The BEST WESTERN Brook Hotel brings you the chance to come and visit their hotel for a chance to look around, meet the team and discuss your wedding ideas with a great selection of suppliers exhibiting their goods and services at the Brook’s Wedding Fair here in Norwich!

FREE ENTRY & OPEN TO ALL FROM 10am to 2.30pm

Book everything you need all under one roof on the day, why not take some of the stresses of the planning away? You will be in safe hands when you choose a Brook Wedding…

• Wedding Venue With Accommodation
• Wedding Packages, Offers And Deals
• Special Promotions Only Available At The Show
• Discounted Deposits When You Book At The Fair
• Speak To Us About Our Venue In Felixstowe Too
• Recommended Wedding Venue, Read Our Testimonials
• Licenced To Perform Wedding Ceremonies & Civil Services
• Meet Our Wedding Planners
• Get Advice, Tips And Ideas
• Book Your Mini-Moon In Our Luxury Suite

With over 20 local Wedding Suppliers exhibiting their products and services for everything else you could need to create your perfect day from your hair, the flowers and balloons to the dress and the car, your photographer, your toast master and your entertainment.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR YOUR WEDDING DAY

2 Barnard Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 9JB Tel: 01603 741161 Email: events@brookhotel.co.uk Visit: www.brookhotel.co.uk

I came back from the Lincolnshire Food Festival full of energy, the event was fantastic and spending time with Levi Roots was great. I have also been made Business Professor at the Grimsby Institute. I am looking forward to embrace Norwich and Norfolk and do the same here….Contact me, I would love to hear from you.

I came back from the Lincolnshire Food Festival full of energy, the event was fantastic and spending time with Levi Roots was great. I have also been made Business Professor at the Grimsby Institute. I am looking forward to embrace Norwich and Norfolk and do the same here….Contact me, I would love to hear from you.

The 2013 edition of the Legal 500, considered to be the leading independent guide to the legal profession, was released on 25 September with an unprecedented set of results for Leathes Prior.

The rankings show Leathes Prior now have three top tier practice areas, with Immigration and Debt Recovery joining Sport and in addition there are a further 14 areas in the East Anglian second tier, quite an achievement and reflective of the quality and level of service provided. The past 12 months have again proved exciting times for the firm as it continues to grow and excel in delivering legal services through its traditional core commerical and private-client services together with the range of innocative niche specialisms.

Key highlights from the 2013 edition include:

The Sports team, given a first tier ranking, continues to thrive as its boutique offering ‘Full Contact’ has a national following, and is praised for its ‘exceptional customer service’; Dan Chapman is an ‘amazing individual with outstanding knowledge’.

Debt Recovery also excelled with a first tier ranking, Darren Bowen’s team at Leathes Prior is valued for its ‘very attentive service, sound advice, and clear timescales’. Mike Barlow ‘impresses with his tactical and commercial flair’, and the ‘calm, collected, enthusiastic and driven’ David Richards also stands out.

In addition, Immigration receives a first tier ranking largely due to Tim Cary, who regularly sits as a judge in immigration cases, and is ‘excellent, with a robust but considered approach’.

The Corporate and Commerical team is ranked highly, with clients reporting ‘superb responsiveness, care, diligence, integrity and business acumen’ of Leathes Prior’s Paul Warman, Peter Sheppard and ‘rising star’ Richard Guthrie.

Within Commercial Litigation, Leathes Prior’s Mike Barlow is ‘efficient and responsible, providing sensible commercial advice’, and Darren Bowen ‘doesn’t miss any points and gives excellent advice’.

The firm welcomes a new ranking for Education, showing the team going straight into the second tier. The ‘responsive’ Mike Barlow, ‘outstanding’ mediator Martin Plowman and rising star Polly Langford are central to Leathes Prior’s schools team.

Within Intellectual Property, Leathes Prior’s team is built around IP expert Jonathan Chadd, and includes Mike Barlow, who has ‘extensive experience in franchising and licensing’. Rising star Kitty Rosser is also recommended.

Employment rightfully ranks highly, thanks to the ‘effective and efficient’ Dan Chapman who is said to have ‘exceptional knowledge and business acumen’; superbly supported by ‘authoritative and practical’ colleagues who provide ‘consistently good advice’. The firm’s innovative web-based ’employmentor’ service is ‘unrivalled in its value for money’.

Within Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate, Leathes Prior delivers ‘outstanding service with coherent advice’. For the administration of high-value estates and trusts, Hazel Gill is ‘second to none for speed and standard of work’. Also recommended are the ‘timely and approachable’ Tessa Bonser and William Riley, who provides ‘advice of the highest quality’.

Within the Regulatory and Defence field, ‘outstanding’ lawyer Tim Cary is a nationally recognised expert. The firm has a nationwide presence for motoring offences through its ‘Traffic Lawyers’ brand. Tim is also described as ‘robust and experienced’ leading a team that is ‘outstanding, and very attentive: they have an intuitive edge’. The practice ranges from minor offences to serious bribery, money laundering and corruption matters.

Within Insolvency and Corporate Recovery, the ‘practical and calm’ Adam McCaw is praised, and in Agriculture and estates, Leathes Prior’s ‘pragmatic’ team draws on the vast experience of Rob Sibley, William Riley, Darren Bowen, Paul Oldershaw and rising star Chris Hoxley.

In the field of Charities and not-for-profit, ‘the level of service is excellent’. William Riley’s team includes Hazel Gill and Tessa Bonser, who are ‘supportive and helpful’.

The firm’s Family team is said to be ‘prompt and proactive, and explains the options clearly’. Alisdair Douglas is ‘very knowledgeable, and guides clients through the process in a caring way’. He is one of Norfolk’s leading lawyers for complex divorce and Children Act matters.

Within Commercial Property Rob Sibley leads a ‘results-driven’ team at Leathes Prior whose standout recent work includes advising on a long-term lease of airport premises, worth £30m over its term. Chris Hoxley is a rising star.

We have been donating Off cuts of Rohacell to educational programmes for the past 13 years. Wymondham High School is just one of the many schools we have donated to along the way. We would like to say thank you to them for the mention in the latest issue of their school magazine! Check it out!

5,000 products were entered into this years Licensing Awards 2013, at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane and Icefresh were shortlisted in to the top 6 for Best Licensed Food or Drink Range, alongside the likes of Oreo Ice Cream, Cornetto Chocolates, J20 Confectionary, Pizza Express and Mickey Mouse – some massive brands and great innovation.

Icefresh Foods, a true David vs Goliath story, walked away with the Best Food and Drink range award – the biggest accolade they could ever achieve in their industry!

Brand Manager, Scott, continues the story, “It goes without saying the packaging design has given us the uniqueness that we needed in this competitive environment that has meant hundreds of engaged consumerson social media and hundreds of thousands of sales through Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. Very well done to everyone at Naked Marketing for your contribution to making this happen”.

Positive signs for the Norwich market as overall demand is at its highest in several years due to a number of larger requirements coming to the market in H2 according to the new research from Bidwells, the uks leading property consultancy.

Projection for annualised growth reflects the fact that GDP has grown for the last two consecutive quarters (q1 0.3% and q2 0.7%) This quarter on quarter growth will provide businesses and consumers with the confidence needed to boost the economy. Certain locations are stronger than others but there is hope that with the ripple affect these will soon see the benefit.

The report highlights a growing regional trend amongst major corporates – the rise of the owner occupiers which “build for purpose” for example AstraZeneca’s decision to build its 750,000 sq ft head quarters at Cambridge Biomedical campus and Amlim Insurance with their 85,000 sq ft headquarters in Chelmsford in order to address the issue of the shortage of development in recent years.

The industrial market was slow during 2012 with take up falling well below the annual average in the Eastern region. 2013 is looking healthier due to large pre-lets pushing take up to within 12% of the overall total in 2012. The 625,000 sq ft pre-let to John Lewis at Magna Park in Milton Keynes has boosted activity.

A lack of new development is bringing forward refurbishment opportunities with a number of new refurbished buildings having attracted tenants over the last 12 months. Grade A stock has reduced further representing 4~% of overall availability in the industrial sector and 12% for office.

William Jones, Bidwells ” We have seen a recovery in rentals with prime rents in Norwich increase to £16.00 per sq ft, this is on the back of the largest deal in H1 – the 7,567 sq ft letting to PwC at 3 St James Court”

Great Yarmouth electrical engineers, Softstart UK, have pulled out all the stops and supplied high-tech equipment for a massive clean water project in Nigeria in double quick time.

Softstart was asked by a major contractor in the UK via the Nigerian Development Agency if they could provide a solution for a seemingly intractable problem. The agency is building a new water and sanitation system for Zaria City in Northern Nigeria. Currently only half of the city (population 500,000, twice the size of Norwich) has clean running water and less than a third has sanitation. The aim is to get these figures up to 100% by 2020.

“Obviously this will make a massive difference to health and hygiene. It will also improve the schools, hospitals and other services and help secure industry and commerce,” says Stuart Harvey, managing director of Softstart. “We were very keen to give this project our all.”

The issue Softstart had to address was when the giant medium voltage pumps would be switched on; they tend to drag down the (somewhat temperamental) mains supply causing major power outages. The solution was to build a control panel for each pump which brings them up to speed smoothly over a period of a couple of seconds, like the dimmer on a light switch.

“We needed nine individual systems,” says Stuart, “so to meet delivery dates on time we set up a ‘mini flow production line’ from initial order /design and build in May 2013 we built them in 14 weeks instead of the usual 26. Every person in to company got involved and we were bursting with pride when we dispatched them on their long journey this month.”

Norwich International Airport reports passenger growth for September 2013 Norwich International Airport has just recorded its busiest week of the year so far with passenger numbers in the week ending 15th September being more than 17% higher than the same period last year and with growth across all sectors.

A major contributing factor to the boost in passenger numbers has been the increased demand for KLM’s services to Amsterdam Schiphol. This follows the addition of a fourth daily rotation which provides improved connectivity and an even wider range of connecting destinations. Passenger numbers for the period are up 20% year on year.

The summer 2013 season has also seen a huge rise in holidaymakers, growing more than 58% year on year. This has been driven by Thomson First Choice who have more than doubled the number of holidays on offer from the Airport this year, adding new destinations and more frequencies to the most popular destinations. Other tour operators including Thomas Cook have also increased their volumes this year.

Helicopter passenger numbers also continue to outperform last year’s record level, underlining the vital role that the Airport plays in connecting the southern North Sea gas fields. If the level of performance is maintained the Airport expects to deliver yet another year of record offshore passenger growth. Recent investment in new lounge facilities in the terminal building ensures many of these passengers continue to benefit from a high quality experience when using the Airport. Operators Bristow, Bond, Dancopter and NHV are all based at the Airport and together operate some 25 flights on a daily basis to the platforms offshore.

Andrew Bell, CEO of Norwich International Airport said: “We are satisfied with the level of growth we have achieved so far this year, and we have worked very hard to ensure that passengers’ experience when travelling through the airport has also improved. We continue our efforts to attract new carriers onto new routes to ensure the Airport offers the best possible network choice to the people of the region, whilst maintaining excellent levels of service.”

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