Member News

Tom Bailey, a Barrister from Steeles Law’s dispute resolution team, will be joining the ranks of local competitors in this year’s London Marathon. The Marathon itself needs no introduction. On 21 April 2013 at 9.30am, 35,000 runners will begin a 26 mile course around the River Thames. Like thousands of other runners, who have together raised over £500 million for good causes since the race began in 1981, Tom will be competing in the Marathon in support of his chosen charity – Shelter (www.shelter.org.uk).

Tom has been involved with Shelter in a professional capacity in the past, working on pro bono cases in order to assist people who were either at risk of homelessness, actually homeless or in crisis need. The charity’s mission is to alleviate the distress caused by homelessness and bad housing. In its most direct form, this is by way of free advice and representation to those most in need.

Commenting on Shelter, Tom said: “I believe very passionately that the work they do is vital, particularly in difficult economic times and given the ever deepening cuts to legal aid, they provide a truly vital service to those in real need.”

At the time of writing, Tom was at 94% of his fundraising target (£1,700). Donations of any amount to help Tom reach his goal would be gratefully received, and can be made online at: https://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Bailey5.

Monday 8th April 2013 – New Airport App launched Norwich International Airport has launched a free Smartphone app to complement the existing iPhone App which has also just been upgraded to accommodate the iPhone 5 requirements. With over 50% of the UK now owning a Smartphone* this new app will make it easier for holiday makers and business travellers to access real time flight information and the latest airport news and provides a real alternative to calling the airport or visiting the website. Andrew Bell, CEO of Norwich International said: “Following customer feedback regarding accessing up to date flight information, we have now extended the airport’s app to be available on all Smartphone’s, so that anyone with this app can have access to instant and up to date flight information at their fingertips. We see this as the essential app for anyone using Norwich International Airport.” The app is available via the iPhone App store and the Google Play store for users of Smartphones and in the first 24 hours it had received over 500 downloads from the iPhone store. *understanding the UK’s mobile consumer behaviour, Google.

It’s been a blast but 11 years after their release Microsoft are finally ending support for the ever popular Windows XP and Office 2003. At 12:00am on 8th April 2014, Microsoft will be ceasing support for any device still running Windows XP and Office 2003, this means any bugs or security holes found in the products after this date will no longer be fixed by Microsoft. Furthermore there will be no more Windows updates, security updates or modifications to these products by Microsoft.

How will this affect you?

Your PC will still continue to work in the same way it did prior to this date. However, after Microsoft ends support of Windows XP you will no longer be provided software updates, security fixes that protect against malware such as viruses and worms or any new drivers that require writing by Microsoft. Office will continue to function too but with many people now upgrading you will be left behind in terms of functionality and in the months and years after April 2014 you will be open to security bugs which may be found but never be fixed.

What can be done?

Ultimately the best thing to do is to upgrade Windows XP to the reliable Windows 7 or Microsoft’s latest Operating System, Windows 8. Also, the latest version of the Office suite is now 2013 so to stay current it would be advisable to look at Office 2010 or 2013. At some point Windows 7 and Office 2010 will cease to be sold and you will only be able to purchase Windows 8 and Office 2013 so if you don’t like the new look products then now is the time to act!

Can Breakwater help me with this?

Of course, get in touch on 01603 709300 or drop an email to enquiries@breakwaterit.co.uk. We’d be happy to discuss your requirements and help you with protecting yourself.

Breakwater IT can help with IT Support in Norwich, Norfolk and all over East Anglia. Or maybe you require a free Business Telecoms audit to see if your Business can be the next one that we help to save significant amounts of money.

This will be the 11th year of the annual Business Continuity Seminar run by Normit.

Presenters will share their experiences and practical case studies that can help Norfolk business owners improve their Business Continuity Management arrangements.

The seminar will be beneficial for any type or size of organisation. This is an ideal opportunity to find out more about Business Continuity, pick up some useful information and best practice in this area and use it to enhance the resilience of organisations in Norfolk. There will also be an opportunity to network and share your experiences with peers.

NORMIT Members are entitled to one free place, with additional places and non-NORMIT Members at £25.

Gary Doulas-Beet of the Business Shaper Group will be one of the keynote speakers at this event, bringing his experience of working as a management consultant with the UK’s fastest growing disaster recovery company, Tempest Restoration.

This event takes place at the Abbey Conference Centre, Norwich, NR1 2DD, on Wednesday 1st May 2013, starting at 10am and finishing at 4pm.

Leathes Prior is pleased to announce that we are sponsoring the Pedal Norfolk Cycling Festival, taking place at Holkham Hall on May 4th, 5th and 6th. Although centered around cycling this festival is being designed to attract all the family with activities and entertainment for a fun day out.

For more information please see:

https://www.pedalnorfolk.co.uk/

https://www.holkham.co.uk/

Breakwater have been working with local schools as part of the Business for Life scheme that’s running in association with our client, Almary Green Investments, which aims to give teenagers real life experience in marketing and selling their own products and services.Mark Poole, our Commercial Manager, has been mentoring pupils from Norwich High School for Girls as they prepared to present their business ideas following around 6 weeks trading with an initial start-up budget of £100 that was donated by Almary Green. The teams aged between 14 and 15 made their presentations on the 21st March and now eagerly await the decision that the judging panel will announce on the 25th April. The winning team will receive £500 for their school. Mark says “It’s hard to know what to expect when going into meet a group of Year 9 girls and I certainly didn’t expect to come away feeling positive and inspired by what they had achieved. The professionalism, collaboration, creativity and eagerness I witnessed was enough to put a few real businesses to shame.”

The launch event was covered by both Mustard TV and the EDP. See the video of the event here

Breakwater IT are based on the Meridian Business Park and offer IT Support in Norwich and all over East Anglia as well as Business Telecoms Solutions and IT Consultancy.

Michael Fahy, head of Steeles Law’s real estate team and David Merson, head of planning and environmental, are to speak at the forthcoming Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) West Midlands Conference on Wednesday 17 April.

The RICS has developed a range of regional one-day CPD conferences aimed at providing property professionals across the built environment, land and commercial property streams with essential guidance that they can use in their daily practice.

On 17 April, this conference will be held in Birmingham, offering property professionals the opportunity to not only update their professional knowledge and skills, but also the chance to network with other property professionals within the region.

With a mixture of plenary sessions and focused streams delegates, will be able to tailor their day across a choice of 18 sessions. The broad programme offers an in-depth examination of the developments, challenges and opportunities affecting the industry, from updates on building regulations, residential and commercial property to planning and environment to disputes and risk management across land, built environment and commercial property.

For further information, please see the RICS brochure or visit: www.rics.org/westmidlandscpd

KLM NORWICH SERVICES INCREASED – KLM sees passenger figures increase and adds a fourth daily frequency –

KLM has announced a fourth daily service from Norwich Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for summer 2013. Increased frequency on the popular route will further cement Norwich’s position as one of KLM’s most successful departure points on its extensive UK network.

Via their award winning hub airport in Amsterdam, KLM offers the East of the UK over 100 worldwide destinations on its intercontinental network and over 650 destinations across KLM’s Skyteam partner networks. Better connections to destinations such as Dubai, Lima or Toronto are made easier with KLM via Amsterdam and at very attractive fares. In addition, point to point business travellers can benefit from the convenient flight schedule out of Norwich, which enables them to conduct a full day’s business in the Netherlands.

Says Henri Hourcade, AIR FRANCE KLM General Manager UK & Ireland: “We are delighted to further improve the KLM service on such an important regional route, and hope it will be warmly welcomed by our passengers. We are very happy to provide better connectivity to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for both leisure and business passengers, and our three daily frequencies will increase to four from today. We are pleased this is happening in Norwich where KLM has been present for so many years not only as a Scheduled Airline but also with our Engineering Unit.”

For more information on KLM visit www.klm.com or call 0871 231 0000.

-Ends- Timetable* Flight number Frequency Departure (local time) Arrival (local time) KL1502 Daily 06:15 08:10 KL1506 Daily 09:40 11:35 KL1508 Weekday 13:55 15:50 KL1512 Daily 17:15 19:10

Flight number Frequency Departure (local time) Arrival (local time) KL1505 Daily 09:15 09:05 KL1507 Weekday 13:30 13:20 KL1511 Daily 16:50 16:40 KL1515 Daily 21:15 21:05 *Summer schedule valid from 31.03.13 until 26.10.13. Subject to change

For further press information please contact the KLM press office at the Red Consultancy on: Email: KLMteam@redconsultancy.com / Telephone: 020 7025 6625

Notes to Editors: About KLM KLM offers the choice of 17 UK departure points. KLM is part of the AIR FRANCE KLM Group which was voted Best Short haul Airline 2013 at the Business Travel Awards. KLM flies via the multi-awarding winning Amsterdam Airport Schiphol whose wealth of accolades include Business Traveller’s ‘Best Airport in Europe’ award 2012. Voted Best Airline for Staff Service at the 2012 World Airline Awards, KLM offers passengers the opportunity to fly in Economy, Economy Comfort and World Business Class. Passengers can book online at www.klm.com as well as save time by checking in online up to one hour before departure.

NORWICH, Thursday 4th April 2013 – New service to Turkey starts today from Norwich. Oska Travel officially marks the launch of their low cost luxury holidays to Turkey from Norwich International Airport today. The flights to Antalya, Turkey will operate during April for a short season in advance of the main summer flying program from Norwich International. The holidays include guided tours and accommodation in 4 and 5 star hotels for a touch of luxury at affordable prices. Andrew Bell, CEO at Norwich International commented “Turkey is an exceptionally popular destination from our region, and we are delighted that these flights have proven to be a hit with our customers. This service compliments the summer flights offered by Thomson and Thomas Cook to both Antalya and Dalaman during 2013 and we hope to work with Oska Travel to offer another short series later in the year. Andreas F Forsthuber, Director KENBA Group said “OSKA Travel will do our best to make customers as happy as possible during their Turkey vacation. We do hope that word will spread and the interest for these off season offers will even increase in the near future.”

Photo: James and Valerie Kirkwood with Gary Blake, Customer Services Manager at Norwich International. All passengers received Turkish Delight pieces at Check-in today to celebrate the launch of the short series with Oska Travel.

The new Children and Families Bill passed its second reading on 25 February 2013 in the House of Commons. The Bill extends the statutory rights that both parents have in their children’s upbringing.

The new Children and Families Bill passed its second reading on 25 February 2013 in the House of Commons. The Bill extends the statutory rights that both parents have in their children’s upbringing.

The Bill provides statutory recognition that it is in the child’s interest for both parents to remain involved in the child’s life, unless the child is at risk of harm, stating, “to presume, unless the contrary is shown” that the involvement of each of the child’s parents in his or her life “will further the child’s welfare”.

The Bill also replaces the current “residence” and “contact” orders with a single “child arrangements” order. This will set out where the children live and how much time they spend with the other parent. This is a welcome change as too often separated parents focus on whether one parent should have the label of a contact or a shared residence order, even though they have agreed the division of time. It will also help parents to move away from terminology with implies that there is a winner or a loser in disputes concerning children.

The Bill also contains further rights for employees in respect of parental leave and more rights for couples expecting a child. Flexible working requests will be considered from all employees, not just those who are parents or carers.

Further updates will be available on the Steeles Law website as the Children and Families Bill progresses through Parliament.

For advice on children matters, contact our friendly family team.

Catherine joined Leathes Prior in March 2011, and during her period of training she undertook seats in Employment, Wills Trusts & Probate and Dispute Resolution.

Catherine is originally from Barnsley, where she gained 5 A levels at A grade, before graduating from the University of East Anglia with an 2:1 law degree in 2006. She completed her Legal Practice Course in Leeds in 2008 before joining Rotherham based law-firm Waring Associates as a Legal Assistant where she worked for three years gaining extensive experience particularly in the field of employment law. It was perhaps no surprise, therefore, to discover that Catherine found her feet within Leathes Prior’s Employment Team, where she will now remain.

Catherine comments on her appointment: “I am delighted to have secured a position upon qualification both at Leathes Prior and within the Employment Team in particular. I have a very keen interest in this area of law and have greatly enjoyed working with the Team as a Trainee. I look forward to committing myself to our busy Team and the firm and assisting in future growth and development”

Dan Chapman, Head of the Employment Team commented: “I am thrilled about Catherine’s arrival. She is a good lawyer with excellent technical skills and will be a great addition to the team; her experience in employment law already far exceeds her level of qualification as a Solicitor and she will be a real asset for us and our clients.”

bmi regional celebrates the anniversary of two of its most popular UK routes this week. The Aberdeen to Manchester and Aberdeen to Norwich service has carried more than one million passengers since the routes were established.

The first flight from Aberdeen to Norwich took off from Aberdeen Airport on March 31st 2003. A decade on, the regional airline now operates twice daily flights Monday to Friday and two at weekends. Now, 15 years on the Aberdeen to Manchester route continues to be integral to bmi regional’s UK schedule, providing direct links between the two cities, with up to 17 flights per week, using the Embraer 145 jet fleet. Both services have been extremely popular with both business and leisure travellers visiting the city whilst also providing seamless connections to key business centres across the world.

Cathal O’Connell chief executive of bmi regional, said: “Since the launch of the Aberdeen to Manchester and Norwich service, we have had consistently strong load factors, thanks to the continued support of our customers. “With frequent and convenient flight times for business trips and extended family breaks, the service has allowed people living in Aberdeen the opportunity to travel to a wide range of worldwide destinations from their local airport. Flights from Norwich to Aberdeen start from £140 one way including taxes. Flights are available to book now at www.bmiregional.com.

bmi regional operates over 450 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe and received the accolade of being the UK’s most punctual airline for the seventh year in a row. The airline’s extensive route network spans across Europe, with flights from the UK to Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

The company is committed to retaining the airline’s iconic brand values and high levels of service which include check-in up to 30 minutes prior to departure, a free 20kg hold baggage allowance and complimentary catering on board.