Monday 18 May 2015

Brabners wins employment law award at Liverpool Legal Awards

L-R: Brendan McAleese, Stephen
Brodie, Nick Campbell, Elle Beatty,
Elizabeth Graham and Joseph
Shelston, all from the
employment law team at Brabners.
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Brabners

Brabners has won the ‘Employment Law Award’ at Liverpool Law Society's Legal Awards 2015.

Brabners was one of three nominated firms to reach the shortlist in the employment law category, alongside Hill Dickinson and Morecrofts.

The independent judging panel said that Brabners has been a service provider in this area for many years, with both litigious and non-litigious advice, and it seemed that they had an innate understanding of clients’ employment and human resources needs and were able to bring an unrivalled breadth of experience to addressing those needs.

What impressed the panel in particular was the innovative approach to training which equipped not only Brabners’ staff as external lawyers to better serve their corporate client’s interests but the facilitation of greater understanding within the client organisation, with the Training Works and HR Works programmes.

Over 300 people attended the awards ceremony, held on Friday May 15 at the Crown Plaza hotel, Liverpool.

The ceremony recognised and celebrated the achievements of Liverpool Law Society's member law firms and individuals who have shown excellence in innovation or service, or made outstanding contribution to legal services

Nick Campbell, Head of Employment law at Brabners’ Liverpool office, commented: “We are delighted to win this award which acknowledges our innovative approach to supporting client’s businesses in addition to the high standard of legal services we provide.

“It is gratifying that the team’s hard work in creating what is now one of the largest specialist Employment and Pensions teams in the UK has been recognised in this way.

“My particular thanks goes to the many clients we act for both regionally and nationally; their continued support is very much appreciated.”

Mark Brandwood, Managing Partner at Brabners, added: “This award is a testament to the hard work and talent of our employment team whose client service and quality legal advice continues to be recognised across the legal sector.”

Last year, Brabners was crowned employment team of the year at the Manchester Legal Awards 2014.

Thursday 7 May 2015

Emmaus Merseyside receives £3,000 from the North West Housing Conference

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Brabners

Emmaus Merseyside has received a donation of £3,000 from the organisers of the North West Housing Conference, law firm Brabners and accountants and business advisors, Mitchell Charlesworth.

Emmaus Merseyside offers homeless people companionship, a place to live and work, and an opportunity to integrate back into mainstream society. There are currently 25 Emmaus communities across the UK, providing a home and meaningful work to around 623 formerly homeless people. Emmaus Merseyside is working to open an Emmaus community which will provide a home, as well as education, training and work to people who have experienced homelessness.

The donation came from profits raised by the conference and will be the first contribution to Emmaus Merseyside’s “Sponsor a Bed” campaign which will raise funds for working capital until their retail superstore generates sufficient income for the organisation to be sustainable in the longer term.

Alistair Fletcher, Partner at Brabners and head of one of the largest specialist housing and regeneration legal teams in the North West, commented: We are very pleased to have this opportunity to support Emmaus Merseyside and the unique service it will provide to local homeless people as it combines the provision of a shared home with the support, training and work that the “companions” need to return to normal life. It is great to see the residential facility nearing completion and the retail superstore already fully operational.”

Mitchell Charlesworth Partner and social housing specialist Paul Wainwright added: “Having visited the new site being developed by Emmaus Merseyside it is obvious that the services provided will be a tremendous addition to the area and we are pleased to have been able to help such a local charity providing much needed facilities.”

Nigel Mellor, chair of Emmaus Merseyside, said: “We really appreciate the contribution from the North West Housing Conference since it gets our “Sponsor a Bed” campaign off to a great start. There are several ways to back the campaign: making a financial contribution, donating furniture/household goods for sale in our superstore or offering other in-kind support. Our thanks to all those in the housing movement for their support.”

The North West Housing Conference was held towards the end of 2014 at Liverpool BT Convention Centre and attracted over 180 delegates from across the UK to hear from a range of experts who examined the economic realities facing the sector and considered the impact of spending cuts. The conference was chaired by Simon Nunn, Assistant Director of External Affairs and Members Relations at the National Housing Federation and keynote speakers included Ashwin Kumar, Director of Liverpool Economics, Professor Duncan Maclennan, Director of Scottish Cities Knowledge Centre and Centre for Housing Research at University of St Andrews, Bill Davies, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research, Dr Michael Birkett, Group Chief Executive of the Regenda Group and Julie Fadden, Chief Executive of South Liverpool Homes.

Social housing specialists also presented a series of workshops, offering practical advice on a range of topics specific to the sector including governance, housing management, risk and regulation.

Brabners and Mitchell Charlesworth hosted the conference with support from partners – Liverpool Mutual Homes, Plus Dane Group, The Riverside Group, Symphony Housing Group, The Regenda Group and Your Housing Group – and sponsors CDP Print Management and Procure Plus.

The thirteenth North West Housing Conference will take place again at Liverpool’s BT Convention Centre on Thursday October 15 2015.

Friday 1 May 2015

What next for employment law? Brabners looks at the key trends in the political manifestos

Joseph Shelston, Employment
Law Partner at Brabners.
Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Brabners

In just over one week, the polls will open for voting in what is expected to be one of the hardest-fought and hardest to call elections of recent decades.

Despite the huge uncertainty on the outcome, there are some surprisingly common themes when it comes to what the main parties see as key employment issues, says Joseph Shelston, Employment Law Partner at commercial law firm Brabners.

Employment issues have increasingly come to the foreground as the parties have tried to position themselves as being both good for business and a recovering economy and also the champion of the exploited and underpaid. Whatever the future government turns out to be we can expect to see a focus on job creation, increases to national minimum wage and living wage, the number of hours of free childcare expanded, additional paternity leave and a likely ban on exploitative zero hours contracts.

One new concept which has been presented to the electorate by the Conservatives is a proposal that workers who work for a “big company” (more than 250 employees) or within the public sector will be entitled to Volunteering Leave for three days per year, on full pay. Paid Volunteering Leave would be paid for by the employer. This idea will promote engagement between businesses and the not for profit sector and could be very popular with staff but obviously has an impact on productivity and costs to UK employers.

The country’s relationship with the European Union also looms large and leaves many big unknowns in terms of the future of employment law. Many key laws and regulations are based on EU directives and a decision to leave the EU could lead to wide scale revision of the UK’s employment law legislation.

Brabners HR Forum

Following the general election, Brabners is hosting a HR Forum which will look at the key employment law changes and whether zero hours contracts are likely to survive.

Brabners HR Forum is a networking group aimed at HR and operations managers, together with anyone who is responsible for managing people in their organisation.

Employment law specialists from the firm will consider the many unanswered questions in this unsettled time for employment law and offer strategic guidance for employers, business owners and HR professionals tasked with handling the changes.

The HR forum takes place between 08.00-09.45 on the following dates:

Tuesday May 12 at Horton House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool

Wednesday May 13 at 55 King Street, Manchester

To register to attend, email events@brabners.com.