Patron News

New Faces at Fountain House

Well, not exactly ”new”, but certainly newsworthy!

Alex Copson

Elena Mitejko Congratulations to former trainee Elena Mitejko, who has completed her training and is now a fully qualified solicitor. Elena was admitted as a solicitor on 4 June and will continue to work in the Family Law department, where she deals with all aspects family issues.

The partners are particularly delighted that Elena has now qualified, as she started her training just as the first lockdown happened and it was a struggle for her to overcome the difficulties that lockdown presented. The partners are confident that Elena will show the same drive and perseverance in helping her clients deal with the challenges that they face.

Elena has lived in a number of different countries around the world and is fluent in three languages. She is passionate about social justice and Womens’ Rights. For a time she worked as a volunteer intern in Vienna, focusing on domestic violence in Europe and Womens’ Rights generally.

She is a keen runner and recently completed a half marathon in Richmond raising funds for charity.

Those of our clients who have made wills recently are likely to have met Alex Copson, who joined us as a paralegal in September 2021. The partners are delighted to announce that Alex has agreed to enter into a training contract with the firm, starting in September. Alex will continue to work in the Wealth Management department until that time. Alex completed a Masters in Law at the University of Law in London before starting his paralegal role with us.

Alex lives locally and is a former student at Kingston Grammar School. He has a wide range of interests, ranging from 20th Century history, acting as a volunteer at the Imperial War Museum and his local nursing home to travelling the globe with family and friends. Sadly, he has shown a lack of judgment in choosing to support Manchester United, but no one’s perfect!

Bringing live performances to the riverside

Over the first couple of weekends in July, the riverside had musicians performing as part of Fuse Festival (formerly IYAF), the amazing international multi-arts festival for young and emerging creative artists organised by @creativeyouthUK. There were over 50 events across film, music, theatre visual arts and more over ten days.

Riverside Walk was at the heart of the event hosting live music from young and emerging artists on the roof of our 60ft narrow boat, The Seven Saxons, moored right outside our restaurants. These were very successful, with the music really complementing a vibrant and buzzing riverside and even the sunny weather turned up and played its part.

All performances were free to the public. Free events are increasingly important to tempt people into Kingston whilst people struggle with the cost of living crisis and this is an approach we are keen to continue supporting. Keep watching the riverside as we will are planning more live music throughout the summer.

photographer Yue Wang

Five pieces of advice I would give

to my 16year old self

Phil Hobden, Head of Digital, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting UK

As a leader with a few years’ experience in business, I’m often asked what tips I’d give to those starting their careers. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

Love what you do

There are a million careers out there and even more jobs. But if you really LOVE what you do, then that passion will lead to success and happiness.

Interviews go two ways

Remember you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Ask questions about the culture of the business, and really dig into the opportunity.

Be willing to pivot

I started as a carer. I worked on a ferry. I ended up in sales – banking, recruitment and now technology. That’s not a bad thing – sometimes transferable skills make you stand out.

Education is important but it’s also a choice

University is the right journey for some. However, if you don’t get the grades or you are one of those people in life that does not flourish in an educational establishment, it doesn’t mean you won’t or can’t be successful. It just means you need to follow a different path.

Your difference is your strength

I’m dyslexic. I talk about this openly and even have it on my LinkedIn profile! Why? Workplaces are now embracing neurodiversity, as they should, and are even actively looking to hire those who ‘see things in a different way.’

Kingston College Adult ESOL learners

are recognised at Kingston Rotary Club Adult Achievers Awards

Kingston Rotary Club held their annual award ceremony on June 7th to honour adults who have achieved in further education despite overcoming personal difficulties.

Adult ESOL learners and tutors from Kingston College were invited to attend the event which took place at Guildhall and were presented with certificates by the Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Yogan Yoganathan MBE.

Tutor Alison Westenberger commented: “It was a wonderful ceremony which recognises the fantastic achievement of our students often in the face of great odds. They so richly deserved their awards; their stories are incredibly moving and it was wonderful to see them recognised in this way.”

IQ in IT- Inspiring the local youth

to follow their interest in IT

IQ in IT had a fantastic time at the Kingston Business Expo, holding two raffles with one of the prizes being a brand-new Lenovo Tablet (the winner being someone very familiar to us all, Amanda McLoughlin!). With the success of the Expo, IQ in IT had gone on to be at a mini “expo” at Chessington school.

Chessington School held a careers fair for all the students, giving them the opportunity to see what jobs are out there and could possibly go into in the future. IQ in IT were invited to be one of the exhibitors at the fair and it went incredibly well!

Being at the event gave us the opportunity to inspire and show young people that regardless of how well you do in school, if you have the passion and drive for it you can go into what YOU want to do. We discussed with many students interested in technology in any sense, encouraging them that they should go forth with their interest no matter where their current skillset lies. Our own team consists of many apprentices and showing the students that there is another option can be very reassuring. At such a young age you don’t know how the workforce is, only pictures painted at schools which are not always accurate.

With inspiring the future generation wanting to go into IT, we especially wanted to encourage females interested in tech. The industry can be very intimidating when you’re a newcomer, but there’s an element of intimidation that only women face when joining the industry. Our managing director, Katerina Damcova, has faced many such issues, she delved more into her feelings regarding this in our blog ‘ Women in Tech ’ on our website.

Nobody should be discouraged to go follow their ambitions simply because they are not in the majority. We strive to continue encouraging people, especially if they desire to go into the technological field.

Find out more about IQ in IT

https://IQinIT.uk/

email us: Team@IQinIT.uk

patron news Holland Hahn & Wills

go back to College

At the end of June, Katie Lovatt & Amyr Rocha-Lima delivered a Financial Literacy workshop to students in Year 11 at Eton College. It was a huge success, focusing on budgeting - as an enabler rather than a chore.

It was particularly pleasing to receive the following feedback from David Anderson, Head of Year 11 “Thank you for the amazing morning you put together on Wednesday. I know the boys took a huge amount from it and the conversations I have had with boys (and staff!) since make it really clear this is an area that they really value some guidance in. The feeling was that the material was well-balanced across the three sessions and pitched at just the right level.”

The workshop was interactive (we made the boys do the work!) so they were engaged and embarked on animated discussions about their ideal lifestyle and required budget! Some future plans were more modest than you would think (1 in 5 students are on bursaries, with 90 at the school paying no fees at all), and the morning definitely ignited interest in finance. Holland Hahn & Wills formed part of a carousel of discussions - City Pay It Forward delivered a lecture on student debt and Brewin Dolphin presented on the power of compounding.

Kingston Business Expo

On 23rd June Kingston welcomed back the Business Expo. Held at Kingston University School of Business, the event brings together local businesses to share ideas and promote their services. Holland Hahn & Wills donated stands to local charities: Kingston Hospital Foundation Trust and Kingston Charitable Foundation.

Both charities were extremely appreciative of the gesture, and managed to raise awareness of their causes. Chris and Katie enjoyed the energy of the room as the networking was in full swing.

enquiry@hhw-uk.com www.hhw-uk.com

Kingston School of Art students’ creative ingenuity enhances Unilever’s Four Acres

learning and leadership centre

Visitors to multi-national consumer goods company Unilever’s Kingston-based leadership retreat, Four Acres, are getting an added dash of inspiration thanks to creative Kingston School of Art students. A selected group of students and recent graduates specialising in subjects ranging from ceramics to illustration and photography have combined their talents to produce a collection of artwork based on a number of Unilever’s brands for Four Acres’ break-out rooms.

The high-profile commission came about after Unilever invited Kingston University’s creative agency, Studio KT1, to pitch proposals for the bespoke pieces as part of work to remodel the Four Acres site, a former country home set in spacious surrounds that serves as Unilever’s flagship leadership and learning centre. Nine successful students and recent graduates worked in collaboration with leading art and design studio Acrylicize, which had been entrusted with sourcing and curating works for the Four Acres site. Each student was assigned a specific brand and asked to create a piece that prompted curiosity, posed questions, provided answers and inspired.

The up-and-coming artists created sculpture, artificial intelligence imaging, illustrations, fine art and photography in response, working to the brand guidelines of such household names as Marmite, Lynx, Persil, Vaseline, Surf, Knorr, Hellmann’s and Lifebuoy.

Studio KT1 enterprise projects lead Claire Selby said the initiative had given the young artists an invaluable opportunity to work on a live brief, applying skills from their degree courses. “Studio KT1 gives our students a flavour of both the corporate and art commissioning worlds. Contending with the challenges of the pandemic throughout the process, our students have gained confidence, experience and resilience, while working with different stakeholders, including world class brands,” she said.