in-brief
THE NEWSLETTER FROM MANBY & STEWARD LLP
As time goes by Moving on up at Manby & Steward
for the diary... 20 September 2006 21 September 2006
Venue - Wolverhampton Office, Time to be confirmed Venue - Telford Office, Time to be confirmed
Presentation on the new Age Discrimination Regulations coming into effect on 1 October 2006. This presentation covers the new regulations and provides an insight into what you can and cannot do after 1 October. This informative talk is a must for anyone who has an HR function within a business or is an employer. It is completely free of charge. A full set of hand-out notes will be provided to all delegates attending. To book your place or for further details contact our Marketing Team on 01902 578000 or email lisa.haggitt@manbys.co.uk
Antony Bolton with Stuart Rea.
Our Telford office is celebrating following the appointment of two new solicitors to the planning department. Chris Allingham comes to us from Haverford-West law firm and Alison Sargent, who qualified with the firm in March 2006, joins the team as a planning solicitor. Antony Bolton also joins the Telford office as assistant solicitor. He brings five years’ litigation experience to the role and will support the firm’s head of business services, Stuart Rea. In addition, we have promoted Kam Johal to Associate in Wolverhampton and Anna Phelps, who qualified in February, joins our commercial property department. Clients in Shropshire will be seeing a few new faces at our Bridgnorth office following the expansion of our private client team. Loretta Aston, who completed her training at the firm, has now qualified as a solicitor and joins the team on a permanent basis while legal assistant Cheryl Sleath comes across from the Wolverhampton office.
M M ANBY & STE WARD
“The new legislation will affect all aspects of recruitment procedures, from how people apply for jobs to the way jobs are advertised so it is crucial that firms acknowledge their responsibility, embrace it and most importantly implement it.
“From a business point of view, the new legislation is vital due to the UK's demographic changes, however, in order to facilitate change we need to promote a greater culture of acceptance. The regulations will require a fundamental change in people's mindsets and a shift in perception to challenge stereotypes. “Employers will have to be very careful as almost any managerial decision could be challenged on age discrimination grounds. It is vital that all practices and policies are reviewed before October as although regulations will not have a retrospective effect tribunals may take behaviour into account for post October claims.” We are holding two free seminars on the Age Discrimination legislation in Telford and Wolverhampton in September. For further details see the ‘for the diary’ section on the back. If you wish to discuss the new legislation or perhaps have an employment issue, feel free to contact either Alasdair Hobbs or Peter Collins on 01902 578000 or email alasdair.hobbs@manbys.co.uk, peter.collins@manbys.co.uk
SOLICITORS
WOLVERHAMPTON Head office George House, St. John’s Square, Wolverhampton WV2 4BZ Telephone: 01902 578000 Facsimile: 01902 311886 DX 727920 Wolverhampton 22 BRIDGNORTH 1 St. Leonard’s Close, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV16 4EL Telephone: 01746 761436 Facsimile: 01746 766764 DX 23202 Bridgnorth TELFORD Blount House, Hall Court, Hall Park Way, Telford, Shropshire TF3 4NQ Telephone: 01952 291525 Facsimile: 01952 291921 DX 707202 Telford 4 www.manbys.co.uk Manby & Steward LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership regulated by the Law Society This newsletter is for guidance only and represents a brief resume of the law. Each person’s circumstances are different and you should contact a lawyer to discuss your situation before deciding on a particular course of action.
Issue 10 2006
As the clock ticks on towards 1 October 2006 and the advent of the new age discrimination regulations, employment law experts Alasdair Hobbs and Peter Collins have been conducting a series of seminars for recruitment specialists Pertemps. Partner Alasdair commented: “This is the biggest piece of social legislation to be introduced in the past 30 years and it will transform the working environment for good. “The age regulations present an even bigger challenge for employers than the race, disability, gender, sexual orientation and religious discrimination laws that have gone before as everyone is affected.
GAVIN LEADING MANBY & STEWARD IN LLP FUTURE We are celebrating the promotion of Gavin Southall to senior partner, following the retirement of Clive Williams, who was with the firm for more than 40 years. The change came into effect on 1 April and coincided with the firm's transition to a limited liability partnership (LLP). Commenting on his promotion, Gavin said: “It has been a great few months so far in what is an exciting time for both the firm and the industry as a whole. “The firm has responded well over the years to the ever increasing challenges that we have to meet in business. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to develop and deepen our relationships with clients old and new.”
Clive, who will continue his association with the firm in the new role of consultant, said: “I have enjoyed my time at Manby & Steward and am confident that the stewardship of the practice will be ably managed by Gavin. I look forward to continuing my connection with clients in my new role.” Chief executive Valerie Bowles added: “The timing of the handover was particularly apt as it coincided with our move to become a limited liability partnership. “We believe that converting to an LLP is the right vehicle for our business and the most appropriate structure in which to operate and grow a modern, forward-thinking commercial and private client law firm such as our own.”
Gavin Southall with Chief Executive Valerie Bowles.
Issue 10 2006
Manbys win significant land ruling Niall Blackie and planning consultants Tweedale recently secured the right to build a new 1500sq m commercial building on a brown field site which lies within green belt land in South Staffordshire. Consent was obtained on behalf of our long standing client FW Bickford and Sons Limited. The result was achieved after a planning inquiry which ran over three days at Codsall in December 2005 and will mean the company can build a new unit to enable it to meet modern requirements for crane fitting and testing. The ruling was significant as the site was taken from them by the War Department during the Second World War and then sold back to them by the Ministry of Defence in 1978, after being used as a transport depot. When the land was sold back, the council allowed FW Bickford to refurbish the dilapidated buildings but resisted new buildings.
In 1989 we helped FW Bickford achieve the right to build a new warehouse, through a series of appeals. Since then they have also secured permission for offices to be built at the site. Niall, who acted as one of two advocates for Bickfords at the most recent public inquiry alongside Jeremy Cahill QC, said: “This is an important decision since the inspector has balanced the need for protection of the green belt against the importance of allowing a local employer to expand and meet new business requirements and opportunities by building a new unit in the existing brown field site. “We argued that the company’s needs were so very special that they outweighed the protection given to the green belt, and the inspector accepted this.” South Staffordshire Council was ordered to pay FW Bickford an undisclosed sum towards their costs at the inquiry.
JOHN FREEMAN Commercial Property Partner
OLIVER MAXWELL-JONES Commercial Property Lawyer
Issue 10 2006
Kam Johal and Mike Pugh from Bodykraft
Lawyers at our Wolverhampton office recently celebrated the completion of a deal that saw Bodykraft Dudley Ltd acquire Coach and Motor Works Ltd’s business and assets. Bodykraft has earned a great reputation for high quality accident repair work on behalf of all the major insurance companies, major local fleet operators and private work since being founded in 1998. The deal will see its annual turnover increase from £9m to £10m. Kam Johal, who advised on the deal alongside Gavin Southall, said: “We’re delighted to have played a part in securing Bodykraft’s future. It is a fantastic opportunity for the company to move onto the next level and I wish the team all the best for the future.”
Testing sat-nav systems for national TV
Adrian Burn, John Bickford and Niall Blackie
Half-HIPs pip the HIPs The recently announced government climbdown on HIPs, so that they will no longer include the controversial and compulsory Home Condition Report, comes as both a relief and an opportunity to the property world and its clients. The reports would have increased costs for the seller and deterred them from putting much needed properties on to the market at all. Scrapping the reports removes the most controversial element of the HIP, as it has been said all along - “what buyer would rely on a report prepared by the seller?” Any buyer who seriously wanted to know the condition of a property would have commissioned his own independent report, at yet more expense. Yet practice shows that most buyers do not have their own survey report done, so why force the seller to spend money on something that is not wanted? In the new half-HIP, as it has been called, the Home Condition Reports will be optional. Opinion is divided as to whether this will mean that they won't be done at all or that the public has grown so used to the idea in principle that this can be turned into a marketing opportunity for those who have
Manby’s team provides the MANBYS BOWLED right tool for deal success OVER BY
already invested in their preparation. What is to be included in the new slimmer HIP presents an opportunity for the property professions to work together to provide better service and value to their home moving clients. This will save time compared to the current system and enable realistic and achievable deadlines to be set for exchange of contracts. While there is still a question about the compulsory home Energy Efficiency reports to be included in the packs, it is now hoped that the new smaller HIP will lead to savings in both cost and time, as well as taking out some of the clients' frustrations from the property selling process. There have been mixed views in the legal profession whether the proposed full HIPs would actually have reduced time and costs, but the new streamlined HIP could now present real opportunities for this to be achieved. If you would be interested in speaking to a member of the commercial property team about Home Information Packs, please contact John Freeman (john.freeman@manbys.co.uk) 01952 291525 or Oliver Maxwell-Jones (oliver.maxwelljones@manbys.co.uk) 01902 578000.
Our very own Wolverhampton accounts assistant, Gemma Price, demonstrated her navigation skills on national TV when she appeared on Tonight with Trevor MacDonald. Gemma has over 11 years’ experience on the rally circuit, including races on the World Championship circuit. She was asked to pit her map-reading skills against the best that technology has to offer during the show, which was aired on 12 May. Commenting on the programme, Gemma said: “It was great fun recording the programme. I navigated from Richmond to Bristol in a headto-head race with the presenter, who was guided by the latest satellite navigation system, and we also carried out additional filming in Nottingham.”
SPONSORSHIP DEAL Shropshire County Cricket Club (SCCC) looks set for a profitable season after agreeing a new sponsorship deal with us. The deal will see the Manby & Steward name featured on all playing kit, along with banners and name checks at all home games, corporate hospitality packages and adverts on scorecards. Gavin Southall said: “Since the England team’s Ashes win last year, there has been a tremendous sense of excitement surrounding the game at all levels. We are confident that SCCC is well placed to make the most of this upsurge in interest and look forward to an exciting season ahead.” “The club is working hard to raise its profile over the coming season and, with the introduction of Twenty20 matches from 4 August, I’m sure they’ll enjoy a record-breaking year.” Fans of the club can also now find out more about their club following the launch of its newlook website. For information on forthcoming fixtures, ticket information and the playing squad, just log onto www.shropshireccc.co.uk.
Finance assistant Gemma Price Peter Bradley, Guy Home, Niall Blackie, Bryan Foulkes, David Raymont
MEMBERS TEE OFF FOR SUCCESS Members of Severn Meadows Golf Club in Highley have bought the club from its current owners for an undisclosed fee. The deal was completed after members formed a company, limited by guarantee, to purchase the club. The new owners will lease the land from the previous private owner while taking on the day to day running and maintenance of the site. The club was established on private land in 1990 with just nine holes and has grown to become a full 18-hole course with a mixed membership of men and women, adults and juniors. Stuart Rea, who advised on the deal, said: “I’m really pleased that the deal has gone through and the members will now be able to take full control of the running of their club. “All membership golf clubs should consider the possibility of incorporating as a company limited by guarantee as this relieves the officers of the club from potential personal liability.” Anyone interested in joining the golf club or using its facilities should contact the Club House on 01746 862212.
Stuart Rea, Colin Harrison, Steve Thomas, Simon Chesters, Paul Bethell, Tim Marshall
Issue 10 2006