10 minute read
Monthly News
from SBT issue 448
SBT
MONTHLY NEWS
Recognised businesses from the Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Sussex and other business leaders and guests
Top 50 Fastest-Growing
Businesses in Sussex receive accolades
Brighton & Gatwick based business specialist law firm, Acumen Business Law, hosted the first of their award luncheons for the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Businesses in Sussex on Friday at the private dining room of the Ginger Pig in Hove St in Hove.
Acumen Business
Monthly Law launched the
News Top 50 initiative to identify and provide recognition to local businesses for their outstanding growth year on year and celebrate their successes after one of the toughest years in the business world. Penina Shepherd, Founder & CEO of Acumen Business Law, said: “It was so great to see all these smiling celebrating faces around the tables. After a whirlwind year, it was a true celebration of positivity, tenacity and just a great informal Friday afternoon with like-minded business people. Hopefully, there will be more such positive events to come in all other aspects of our lives, both personally and in the world of business”. Among the Top 50 participants on the day were; Paul Cooper of Clearstone
Business Services
Ltd, Daniel Blackham of Gbvi Ltd, Chris Chadwick of Goodman Lantern Limited, Ryan Zhu of Houseen, Simon Fabb of Lease Group Limited, Natalie Thomas of Minton Young Limited, Steven Farrell of Nio Comm Ltd, Matthew Freeman of Numbers Studio Limited, Paul Mcmath of Prosper Home Loans Limited, Tom Jackson of Ramjam Limited, Terry King of TNK Engineering Ltd and Daragh King of Tuff-Trek Ltd. Guests enjoying a luncheon at the Ginger Pig Private Dining Room You can follow Acumen Business Law on social media and keep up to date with the latest news and initiatives. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Multi-award winning craft distillery Brighton Gin has announced their latest Artist’s Edition Pride limited release. Every year the distillery collaborates with an LGBTQ+ artist to not only platform their work, but to raise money for the Brighton Rainbow Fund.
They are delighted to announce that 2021’s collaboration is with the Brighton-based multidisciplinary artist and LGBTQIA activist Fox Fisher. For this year’s release, Fox has chosen to make four separate but themed artworks, inspired by and celebrating queer lives hidden from history. Released as an initial run of 4 x 100 bottles in each design and individually signed and numbered by the artist, every one is a unique artwork in miniature. Fox (he/they) says, “Brighton is a place I navigated to, as a place where I could truly be myself. Being able to explore myself through many incarnations, from being young queer working in the bars and clubs, to a drag king packing and posing, to a trans activist co-founding Trans Pride has been quite the journey. I’m proud of this city, which has been transitioning too. It’s important for people to have the space to explore their gender and sexuality and for me, Brighton has been the perfect place for this. There’s something special about this evolving city, and I wanted to pay homage to the queer people who lived and loved before me, during Regency times.” Every year since 2016, Brighton Gin has released a limited edition Pride bottle to not only celebrate Brighton Pride but also to support the work of The Rainbow Fund, the Brighton and Hove based grant-giving hub for local grassroots LGBT and HIV/AIDS organisations. Through their Community Spirit initiative, Brighton Gin has supported many hundreds of community organisations and charities across the city and beyond, and has donated thousands of bottles of hand sanitiser throughout the Covid pandemic. Kathy Caton, founder of Brighton Gin, said “with so many of the fundraising events that would usually support the Rainbow Fund having been cancelled, we’re really pleased to release this limited edition to support them. We’re long-standing
admirers of Fox’s work as an artist and Monthly as a campaigner and it is a dream to be working with them!”
News
Chris Gull, chair of the Rainbow Fund, says, “thank you so much Brighton Gin for raising funds, yet again, with these beautiful limited edition Pride bottles. All the money raised will be distributed as grants to the local LGBTQ+ and HIV projects that we support. It’s a tough year for all of them, trying to continue to support hundreds of LGBTQ+ people in Brighton & Hove between them who require their vital front line services”. The Brighton Gin Pride 2021 Rainbow Fund Edition bottles can be bought directly from brightongin.com and from independent stockists Quaff and Good News. Recognising what a challenging year it will be for raising funds, 9% from each bottle will be donated to the Rainbow Fund (to match Brighton Gin’s 9th birthday this year).
www.brightongin.com
Eastbourne Car Auctions hit the fast lane after Covid revamp
Car-lovers have come out of Covid lockdown firing on all cylinders and taken the fast lane to trade in their cars for newer models or search for bargains at Eastbourne Car Auctions.
Business has been brisk, as car owners are now able to attend auctions in person and feel the excitement of bidding for the car of their dreams. It is great news for Eastbourne Car Auctions, who celebrated 50 years in business just as lockdown seized-up crucial parts of the UK economy. “The Covid pandemic turned lives upside down and threatened the viability of key elements of the motor industry,” explained Jon Mitchell, owner and managing director of the auction house. “Car auction centres, which relied on the general public and car traders turning up in large numbers, stood on the brink of a catastrophe. “We took the opportunity to explore the online possibilities and re-position ourselves as THE place for the widest choice of cars online and the best deals available. It paid off.” The online auctions allowed the car professionals to continue buying and selling, but the ending of lockdown has seen a pent-up rush from consumers to trade-in their old cars and head to the auctions to spot a bargain. “It’s been great to see people turning up again,” Jon said. “The online auctions proved a big hit with our trade dealers, but our general customers love being able to come in and see the cars before they bid for them.” The swift actions of Jon and his team over the 14 months of isolation has meant that Eastbourne Car Auctions is now in a great place to meet the growing
consumer demand, while offering Monthly traders a wide range of new services. News Jon has set up nearly 1,000 new accounts with used car dealers and signed “disposal” deals with some of the larger dealers. This means that the choice of cars coming up for auction is larger than ever. “We now take used cars from Caffyns, the Eastbourne Motoring Centre, St Leonards Motors and many other dealers, so our customers get the top pick of the cars, Jon added. “We feared the worst when Covid struck, but we have actually come out of it a leaner, fitter and even more customerfocused business,” Jon said. “We’ve added a significant number of new services to our portfolio and I am delighted with how we are currently trading.”
Sackville Road: Demolition begins and local artists called
Moda is working with construction company Midgard to deliver 564 high-quality build to rent homes, turning a rundown trading estate next to Hove Station into a thriving inter-generational neighbourhood with extensive public gardens. The masterplan also includes 260 care community homes. The development is based on an intergenerational approach and will appeal to both small and large households of individuals - or families - as well as older members of the community. The proposals also include communal lounges, private dining areas, cafes, shops and 50,000 sq ft of office and co-working space to foster emerging businesses/SMEs, five communal roof terraces and open spaces - all designed to enhance community living. Moda Living do not charge deposits from would-be residents, do not levy service charges and the monthly rental includes an extensive range of amenities including access to the gym, internet and reduced electricity costs. Moda is also appealing for local artists to express an interest in producing artwork for an exterior wall at the site which overlooks Sackville Road. James Blakey, Planning Director at Moda said: ”Now that our regeneration of the Sackville Road site has received planning consent, we’re happy to announce that demolition will begin on Monday 12 July. “We expect demolition to take around three months to complete. We’re very excited to see this project get underway and look forward to delivering much needed high quality rental accommodation for the city, together with care home units and much more. “Moda is here to stay, so we want to be part of our local community and to support it. As a result, we are keen to hear from local artists who would like to
see their art featured in a prime position Monthly and showcase their talent. News “We’re really looking forward to seeing what local artists come up with to bring the wall to life and connect it with Hove’s history and culture.” Approximately 70 per cent of the site will include new streets, squares, amenity and open spaces. It will create the equivalent of more than 560 full time jobs and more than 150 full time equivalent construction jobs, with many people working on the site coming from the local area. Artists who would like to express their interest in a commission for the Moda site should contact: moda@midnight. co.uk by Friday 30 July. A brief for the artworks is available on request.
For more information, please visit:
https://modaliving.com/live/location/ brighton-hove
Probate fees set to rise despite continued delays, warn Kreston Reeves
The Government has announced a consultation that will see probate fees increase despite continued and often significant delays caused by mistakes made by the Probate Registry, warns accountants, legal, business and financial advisers Kreston Reeves.
The Ministry of Justice proposes to increase probate fees from £155 for probate professionals and £215 for individuals to a flat rate of £273 for all applicants. Simon Levine, a solicitor and Director of Legal Services at Kreston Reeves comments. “The Government has said that it costs HM Courts & Tribunals Service more to process probate applications than it receives in fees, resulting in taxpayers subsidising the processing of probate applications. The increased fee is expected to raise between £23million and £25million each year from 2022. Estates worth less than £5,000 will continue to attract no fee. HM Courts & Tribunals Service has recently introduced a new online portal for probate applications, with this portal now compulsory for almost all probate applications lodged by probate professionals. However, HM Courts & Tribunals Service still requires the original will and a copy of the signed legal statement to be sent to them by post. There have been many complaints by probate professionals about the problems with the new portal. It requires a code from HM Courts & Tribunals Service, which can take up to 30 minutes to arrive, and it is increasingly difficult to speak to staff at the Probate Registry. The Government has closed many of the local Probate Registry offices and their staff are often not as knowledgeable about probate matters as they used to be. There have been many reported instances of probate applications being mislaid or grants of probate containing mistakes in their wording, meaning that they have had to be returned which can result in significant delays. Simple probate applications are currently taking around eight weeks but if inheritance tax is due or on
complex estates, we have waited for up to six months for probate to come Monthly through. Before the online portal News was introduced, probate was usually granted within two or three weeks of submitting an application. “The increase in fees is much less than the increase proposed in 2018 and then scrapped before the 2019 General Election. That increase would have resulted in fees of up to £6,000 for a grant of probate which caused significant opposition. It is unlikely that the proposed increase will cause as much opposition given that the maximum proposed increase is £118.”
The consultation closes on 23 September 2021 and it is proposed to introduce the new fee early in 2022. The consultation can be found via the following link - https://www.gov.uk/
government/consultations/aligningthe-fees-for-grants-of-probate-to-
cost-recovery.
