Yet another week of stress?

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: The Safety Educational Trust

The following story is courtesy of The Safety Educational Trust ...

Hello from the Trust!

“We see the world of work changing fast. Everything has to be ‘agile’, everything has to be ‘lean’ and it all has to be right 24-7, 365 days a year.  It’s increasingly competitive and uncompromising”. This is a quote by Jan Chmiel, Chief Executive of IOSH.

We all understand that having healthy, motivated people in business improves results, and we believe that investing in good safety and health improves business reliance and reputation. Safety and health is seen as an integral part of running a well-managed business.

Conflict and work-related stress are major issues in many organisations today but equally important are safety and health management, risk management and statutory compliance. We offer the highest quality short courses and workshops dealing with these important issues at the right time, the right cost and at easily accessible venues.

From April, with the support of our associates, we will deliver courses and workshops which will enable you and your people the opportunity to create and sustain a safe and healthy workplace where the welfare and wellbeing of all is taken seriously. The courses and workshops will be delivered at our fee of £40.00 per delegate; see website for full details and our special introductory offers.

The next workshops are:

Get SET for Managing Workplace Stress (Thursday April 9; 09.30-13.00)

Get SET with Workplace Resilience (Friday April 17; 09.30-13.00)

You are now only a couple of clicks away from your solutions!

For more information, you can email George Phillips at admin@thesafetyeducationaltrust.org.

Alternatively, you can visit www.thesafetyeducationaltrust.org, or you can call either 0151 665 0009 or 07947 839075.

Brabners launches Legal Property Solutions as an alternative to the court system

Rachel Watkin, Partner
at Brabners.

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Brabners

Brabners have launched Legal Property Solutions, a service which offers legal resolutions for property disputes.

The creation of the resolution service follows the controversial rise in court fees which came into force sooner than had been previously expected on Monday March 9.

There is a real fear that the increase in fees will deny many smaller businesses and private individuals access to justice.

Through the introduction of Legal Property Solutions, Brabners offers an alternative for all potential litigators by enabling the parties involved to choose their own preferred method of resolving or determining a dispute.

The dispute can then be resolved quickly, confidentially and cost effectively.

The services on offer include Mediations, Indications on Paper, Hearings on Paper, Settlement Hearings and Live Hearings, all genuine alternatives to court.

To access this service, businesses and private individuals involved in a dispute can either contact Legal Property Solutions directly or through their own solicitors who will be able to assist and guide them through the process involved.

The idea for Legal Property Solutions was conceived by Brabners Partner Rachel Watkin and Senior Associate Karen Beddow on the evening that the proposed increase in Court fees was announced.

Rachel Watkin commented: “When I read the news, my first reaction was that it could be disastrous, not just for lawyers but many small businesses and private individuals who may now have difficulties in bringing claims.

“We believe that there is always a solution and the inception of Legal Property Solutions was the obvious way of safeguarding access to justice.”

Legal Property Solutions has the benefit of a number of highly qualified lawyers with specialist experience in resolving property disputes.

Led by Rachel Watkin, who sits as a Deputy District Judge, the team includes Jeff Lewis, also a Deputy District Judge and Mediator; Ian Alderson, Mediator; Helen Marriott, Arbitrator; and Stuart Irons and Karen Beddow, both property law experts.

Commenting on the launch of the service, Rachel added: “Although a number of professionals are now offering mediation or arbitration in light of the court fees increases, we are not aware of anyone who is offering a “one stop shop” for all types of property dispute resolution services and, certainly, not in a way that is truly accessible to all.

“Many businesses and individuals involved in a dispute have no idea of what arbitration and adjudication are.

“We have cut the formalities right down; there won’t be a need for formal pleadings, interim headings or detailed directions with this service.

“This will keep costs and time to a minimum enabling a matter to be fully resolved within a few weeks or days rather than months or years.”

Mark Brandwood, Managing Partner at Brabners, explained: "This type of pro-active thinking and innovative initiative is exactly why Brabners excels in its field.

“We have some remarkably talented lawyers who will ensure dedicated handling of property dispute resolution matters to the benefit of all parties who chose to use the service.”

Brabners is hosting an event to formally introduce and celebrate the launch of Legal Property Solutions on Wednesday March 25 at Horton House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool, from 16.30-18.30, and anyone is invited to come along for a glass of wine, a short presentation and an opportunity to meet the legal experts.

Spaces for this free event are limited, so to register to attend please email events@brabners.com.

An introduction to The Safety Educational Trust

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: The Safety Educational Trust

The Safety Educational Trust is a not-for-profit enterprise which officially launches on April 7 2015. The Trust will work closely with a team of highly qualified and experienced professional colleagues to deliver essential, competitively priced (bespoke) training on safety, health, welfare and wellbeing issues, using excellent resources at easily-accessible venues to provide best value for your company or organisation. Once launched, a comprehensive range of workshops and courses will commence for enterprises that need and want cost-effective, relevant, readily available and easily accessible training. It aims to support the needs of social enterprises, Chambers of Commerce members, charities, small to medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) and business start-ups in becoming and remaining compliant with current legislation.

As managers and directors of businesses, especially SMEs, you may sometimes overlook health and safety duties due to an understandable focus on delivering your products and services and concentrating on other areas of your organisation. However, it is vital that these duties are properly addressed; a failure to do so not only impacts on the reputation of the organisation and the safety of employees, but it can also lead to financial catastrophe in the event of an accident in the workplace. When investigations into such incidents are carried out and in subsequent prosecutions or litigation, the first question that will be asked is: "Was your employee properly trained in health and safety for this job?"

Research says that people in the workplace today value optimum safety, good health, a feeling of being valued, a sense of belonging and a chance to get involved. Clearly a workforce that is given the benefit of the information, instruction and training to which they are entitled will be a safer, healthier, happier and more productive workforce.  Commencing April 7, the schedule for training will be as follows:

Monday: Facilitated online courses

Tuesday: Health and Safety Induction Day

Wednesday: Managing Safety Day (fortnightly)
                Risk Profiling, Assessment and Management (fortnightly)
                 Facilitated online courses (early morning)

Thursday: Personal Safety Workshop (fortnightly)
              Conflict Management Workshop (fortnightly)
              Facilitated online courses (afternoon / evening)

Friday: Workplace Resilience (fortnightly)
           Managing Workplace Stress (fortnightly)

Saturday: Facilitated online courses

The Trust's rolling programme of certificated courses will be delivered by accredited tutors to meet the needs of managers, core staff and new starters to ensure your compliance within current legislation. As noted above, facilitated online sessions are available for the 'time pressed' which can also be taken at weekends, early mornings or during the evening to suit the needs of your business and shift workers.

Full details of all of the training that the Trust offers can be found online at www.thesafetyeducationaltrust.org.

To contact the Trust or to enquire about an upcoming course/event, you can call 0151 665 0009 or email admin@thesafetyeducationaltrust.org.

Brabners Boosts Property Solutions Team

L-R: Hannah Carter,
Rachel Watkin, Karen
Beddow and Heather Morris.

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Brabners

North West law firm Brabners has boosted its Property Solutions team in Liverpool by appointing three solicitors.

The most recent recruit is Hannah Carter, who joins the firm from DWF LLP in Liverpool and has experience in resolving all aspects of property disputes including commercial, agricultural and residential matters.

Hannah’s appointment follows the arrival of Karen Beddow as Senior Associate; Karen previously worked at DWF LLP and Addleshaws and specialises in resolving retail property disputes, portfolio management issues and other claims arising from property transactions.

The third appointment is Heather Morris as Solicitor; Heather will advise on a wide range of property disputes, including high value professional negligence claims arising from real estate transactions.

Headed by Partner Rachel Watkin, the Property Solutions team sets itself apart from its competitors by offering and delivering a solutions based approach to disputes.

L-R: Rachel Watkin,
Heather Morris, Karen
Beddow and Hannah Carter.

The team offers a range of experience across the spectrum of property disputes in the commercial, residential and agricultural sectors.

Commenting on the appointments, Rachel Watkin said: “We pride ourselves on delivering a first rate service to our clients which, given the broad spectrum of experience within the team, results in the client having access to expertise at a level appropriate to the individual case which in turn results in effective costs management for the client and efficiency in the provision of legal advice.”

Although the team has been extremely busy over recent months, Rachel foresees them becoming even more so with the recent announcement of the court fees increase: “It is understood that the fees are likely to increase so significantly that it may place access to justice out of reach for many potential litigators.

“As such, parties may be more actively seeking a solution rather than litigation.”

Mark Brandwood, Managing Partner at Brabners, added: “The new recruits will be invaluable support for our busy real estate team across Brabners’ three offices in Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.”