President & People
Corrine celebrates 15 years’ service at Alsters Kelley
The feel good factor At time of writing, I have just witnessed something that I had last seen back in 1966 when I was just a young lad. In the unlikely case you have no idea what I’m talking about, England have just beaten Germany at football 2-0 in the Euros at Wembley. What an incredible uplift it seems to have given a lot of people and I hope it continues all the way to the final, as the country needs something to feel good about. I also hope the feel-good factor continues way past the football finale with the Prime Minister finally opening everything up come July 19. In my personal opinion, we need to get going, we need to try and get back to some form of normality if only to repair the damage the pandemic has created to all types of businesses during the past 16 months. We also need to get going to stabilise the economy and more importantly people’s wellbeing. One thing is for certain, we cannot continue repeating the same cycle of events we have all endured since March 2020. What is interesting though, in talking to businesses involved in hospitality, is the number of vacancies waiting to be filled. They are desperate for staff and it has the potential to seriously hamper their ability to operate as we open up even further. They are not alone in potentially having the return to normality derailed, as there are also issues within manufacturing and construction with material shortages and price increases, with some items rising by an eye watering 125 per cent. Of course, other businesses continue to suffer and the government needs to keep a close eye on how things develop, and target help to those that need it most; especially those businesses that were functioning successfully pre-pandemic. Whether all of this is a result of the pandemic or Brexit is a matter for debate, or possibly as I believe, a mixture of both. Only history will determine how our politicians handled this pandemic, history will judge whether their actions were a success, an abject failure or something in-between. However, for now and going forward let us hope we will not have to endure any further lockdowns. Finally, as President of the Chamber, I want to offer my congratulations to the City of Culture team for their Coventry Moves Signature Event, it was an outstanding success and they have some great events lined up throughout the summer and beyond. There will be something to enthrall most everyone no matter what age, so join in and enjoy. Best regards Tom Mongan
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Corrine Seabourne, a chartered legal executive at Alsters Kelley Solicitors, has plenty to smile about as she celebrates 15 years’ service with the firm. Corrine who works within the private client department, first joined the firm in 2006. She specialises in helping clients with wills and lasting powers of attorney, Court of Protection work and the administering of estates. Based in the Southam and the newly acquired Stratford-upon-Avon office, Corrine regularly represents the firm at external events and participates in charitable will schemes that the department becomes involved with.
Commenting on her work anniversary, she said: “I thoroughly enjoy my role and career here at Alsters Kelley and the variety of work I get involved with. Most importantly, I love the face-to-face contact with our clients and ensuring we provide them with a very personal and high level of service. I also have many friends across the five offices; it’s definitely a great place to work and it certainly doesn’t feel as if I’ve been here for 15 years!” Neil Raiseborough, director and head of private client department who presented Corrine with gifts on behalf of the firm, said: “Corrine is the ultimate professional and as
such a very valued member of the firm. We really appreciate her loyalty and commitment to the firm and to her clients. We were thrilled to be able to recognise this milestone in her career.”
Chris celebrates anniversary with promotion A property professional at a Coventry-based commercial agency has celebrated three years with the company by being promoted. Chris Hobday joined Holt Commercial in the spring of 2018 as a surveyor and has now been made an associate director at the firm, which was established in the same year after a merger of two established companies in the region. The 29-year-old, who was raised in Warwickshire, qualified with Tapp Chartered Surveyors in Leeds before
heading back to home territory. He said: “Following some rewarding years up north, I moved to Holts to experience the market in a major city closer to home and with a wellestablished firm in the area. “Holts is hugely respected in the regional market and Coventry is a city which has seen considerable expansion and investment in recent times so it was always going to prove an exciting place to work. “I work predominantly within the agency department across a wideranging commercial instruction list for a variety of corporate and private clients. On a personal level, of course it’s fantastic to be rewarded for the hard work. It’s also exciting to be a key part of a company which has experienced considerable recent
success since the merger shortly before I joined.” The past three years has seen Chris involved in several significant transactions including the sale of multiple freehold industrial units and mixed-use investment sales with values of more than £1 million. He has also actively pursued acquisition opportunities for developer and investor clients. Peter Holt, director of Holt Commercial, said: “Chris is very dedicated and, as well as developing a very good market knowledge and being very proactive, he has built an impressive network of contacts inside and outside the industry. This has helped to secure some good deals for the company and our clients.”
Shakespeare Martineau boosts legal planning team with double hire Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has welcomed two new property specialists to its Midlands teams. Legal planning partner, Anna Cartledge, and legal planning legal director, Julie Russell have both joined the firm. Operating from the Birmingham hub, Anna has more than 15 years’ experience in legal planning, compulsory purchase and highways law. She has acted for a variety of public and private sector clients throughout her career including landowners, promoters, developers, local authorities, central government agencies,
regional development agencies and various NHS trusts. Anna has a particular interest in heritage issues and has advised several local authorities and private sector developers on various listed building consents. She is also highly experienced in negotiating planning obligations with complex cascade, review and clawback mechanisms, and frequently advises on the best way to structure large-scale sites to enable them to come forward on a phased basis. Meanwhile, Julie joins the firm’s Leicester hub with more than 14 years’ experience, working
on all aspects of legal planning, development and infrastructure work. She has particular experience in dealing with nationally significant infrastructure projects and negotiating complex S106 agreements and infrastructure and highways agreements as well as providing strategic planning advice to housebuilders, commercial developers, landowners and local planning authorities. She also regularly deals with planning enforcement, public rights of ways issues, planning appeals, planning due diligence on site acquisitions and challenges to planning permissions.
Alex Smith, managing director of the firm’s infrastructure and specialist markets business unit, said: “From small listed buildings to large development projects, planning is a complex area law and it requires specialist knowledge. Both Anna and Julie have great expertise and are well-placed to advise clients across the Midlands and nationally.”
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