Business

Women take over historic law firm

IN CHARGE: Clockwise from top left, Naomi Dyer, Katherine Gilmour, Lousie Gidley, Peter Livingstone and Ceri Stepehns Four women have been announced as new owners at a historic law firm – with the announcement made on International Women’s Day. Naomi Dyer, Katherine Gilmour, Louise Gidley and Ceri Stephens now make up 80 per cent of the owners of Battens, with Peter Livingstone. Battens, a 300year-old law firm with 150 staff in Yeovil, Dorset, Bath & across to London, was purchased from the two existing owners, chairman David Stephens and commercial property director Ray Edwards. New MD Ceri Stephens said: “We are all really excited to be at the helm.”

REMOVALS & STORAGE

ARMISHAWS SMALL MOVES

Its not the size that matters it’s the way you move it! Armishaws operate a 昀eet of small removal vans throughout Dorset, Somerset and Wilshire catering for those clients who only need a small removal but still want the expertise provided by a larger removal company. With prices ranging from £300 for a local move our services are tailored to meet your needs.

Blandford (01258) 453898

Dorchester (01305) 783795

Shaftesbury (01747) 828680

Wincanton (01963) 34065

Workaway scheme is so rewarding

By Adrian Fisher MBE, an award-winnng maze designer from Durweston

The Workaway scheme, typically involving 15,000 people a year, is wonderful for developing international understanding. Hosts and intending guests describe themselves and their situation, and if there is mutual interest, make direct contact. Their stay is a few days or longer, sometimes part of a broader trip. As hosts, we provide accommodation and meals, but most importantly we welcome them into our family. We’re keen to learn about them, their lives and their cultures. They join us to see motorbikes on Poole Quay and have fish and chips, or walk in the Dorset countryside. They share meals when we have friends round, to help improve their English. Work such as gardening, paving, woodwork or painting is typically a few hours a day during the week, leaving them time to come and go, explore England, meet their friends, or do whatever interests them most. As Workaways, they sometimes bring valuable skills. Michael from New England ‘the staircase maestro’ built a splendid oak staircase in our cottage, and has built various spiral staircases around the world; he is currently in Peru. New Zealanders Tracy and Andy were delightful guests with plastering skills on a twoyear world trip before returning to build their own home. Sara and Tracy brought excellent horticultural skills. Thais and Rafael from Brazil were a lovely young couple, and even invited us to their wedding; they now have two children. Gala and Roman from Moscow stayed whilst their daughter attended a English language summer school in Devon, and as keen fans went to a Beatles convention in Liverpool; it was their best family holiday ever. Gala has since gone freelance with her photography. Memet was a marine architect from Turkey. Ashraf had excellent written English but needed to improve his spoken English, since he suffered from deafness; various friends helped him improve, not least Father Francis who gave him English lessons and organised a parish farewell party. Ashraf gained his English proficiency certificate before returning to the Maldives. From Spain, Marcos (27) with two degrees in estate management and forestry, earned real money for the first time in his life doing bits of gardening for our various friends; he was so thrilled. He said: “Definitely this experience has been really enriching for me and I hope it will help me in my future career but mainly as a person, that is the most important for me.” Another Spaniard (36) had a dozen friends, all unemployed, none of whom can afford to start a family. Across the Euro currency countries of southern Europe, long term youth unemployment is around 35%. Workaway provides each one of them with broader horizons and memorable experiences. Once this pandemic is over, get onto the website workaway.net and either get travelling, or start hosting. Either way, you’ll never regret it.

Advertorial

Saving for retirement: WHY EVERYONE NEEDS A PLAN

With life expectancy continuing to rise, those working now will typically need their savings to last a long time. They will also need to take a more active role in building up those savings than previous generations had to. That’s largely because the generous de昀ned bene昀t (or 昀nal salary) pensions that many of today’s retirees could rely on are a rarity for those working now. Instead, those in their 40s and 50s are likely to have a mix of de昀ned bene昀t and de昀ned contribution schemes, which will complicate planning for retirement. Those in their 20s and 30s are likely to only have de昀ned contribution schemes. This means that it’s their responsibility to save enough for retirement, but they also have more control over the investments they make. Here’s a quick guide to making the most of your retirement savings:

1. Work out how much you need

Previously, the way that pensions and retirement worked meant there wasn’t much planning to do. Now, however, it’s less about age and more about planning for objectives. It can be hard to know exactly how much you need to have saved by the time you decide to give up work, but a ‘ballpark’ 昀gure can help. One option is to think in terms of having saved multiples of your salary by certain ages, or a percentage of your earnings.

2. Take advantage of your workplace pension

For many people, the pension journey starts with paying into a company scheme. These days, employees are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme, offering the perfect foundation to build on, but to really get the most from your workplace pension, it’s worth spending some time on it. Start by checking how much you’re putting in, whether you can afford to put in more and, crucially, how much more your employer would pay in if you increased your contributions.

3. Think about how your money is invested

Your workplace pension may well be invested automatically into a ‘default’ fund unless you made an active choice otherwise. But while pensions are for the long-term and regular tinkering isn’t advisable, it’s still important that it’s invested in a way that’s right for you.

4. Give yourself more options

Pensions are just one way of saving for retirement, but there’s nothing to stop you from also saving into a Stocks & Shares ISA. Using both a pension and an ISA is in many ways a better approach than saving into just one or the other, because it gives you instant diversi昀cation.

5. Keep track of your journey

Our objectives, circumstances and our risk appetites change over time, so it’s worth reviewing, perhaps once a year, what you’re paying into your pension and where the money is going.

6. Get advice

Retirement has changed, as has the journey we take to get there. The fundamental difference is that there is no onesize-昀ts all anymore – everyone’s retirement will be different, so everyone needs a plan. As we all have different views and objectives, it can make a huge difference to work with an expert adviser who can map out a plan with you and help you keep it on track.

Contact Peter Harding Wealth Management today for a no obligation meeting on 01747 855554 or email peterhardingwm@sjpp.co.uk. We are here to help. Just ask.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time. The value of any tax relief generally depends on individual circumstances.