Topicuk kirklees and calderdale oct15

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KIRKLEES & CALDERDALE FREE BUSINESS COMMUNITY MAGAZINEIS

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HUDDERSFIELDUNIVERSITY

INSPIRING TOMORROWS PROFESSIONALS

LAWFROM EDINBURGHTO HUDDERSFIELD

CONFUSED?LIVING WAGE EXPLAINED

MERGERMAJOR LAW FIRMS UNITE

Ghost communicationsGraphic Design; Marketing; PR; Event Managment; Magazines; Branding

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•• News Round Up

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06ASPARAGUS

GREENWins new apprentice

20LEGAL MATTERSFrom Edinburgh to

Huddersfi eld

UNIVERSITY WELCOME

Bahrain's education minister

THE ARTSInspiring tomorrows

professionals

HOT SHOTSNew business

cafe

Cover Image - Adriana Tavares

CONFUSED ?The Living Wage

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SUMMARY& CONTENTS

The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those held by the publishers and therefore no responsibility can be held by the publisher for misinterpretation. Reproduction of this magazine without the express permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Whilst every care is taken in the production of this magazine, the publisher/editor cannot accept any responsibility for errors in articles, advertisements or programme schedules. To subscribe to this magazine, submit an article or press release please contact Gill Laidler on: 07711 539047 or email [email protected] Published by Ghost Publishing Limited. Law pages are written by Chadwick Lawrence LLP Solicitors and TopicUK is not responsible for any advice given.

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Kirklees & Calderdale Edition October2015 5

EDITORGILL LAIDLER

CREATIVE DIRECTORROB BLACKWELL

LOCAL HEROESTHE EDITOR

THE ARTSUNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD

LEGAL MATTERSSARAH CROWTHER, CHADWICK LAWRENCE

BEAUTY & WELLBEINGMAXINE STEAD, ALEXANDER HOUSE SPA

HEALTHTRACY LOMAX

FOOD & RESTAURANT REVIEWANTHONY HEGNEY, ASPARAGUS GREEN

RECRUITMENTNADIO GRANATA, STAFFLEX

SOCIAL MEDIASINEAD SOPALA, RAMSDENS SOLICITORS

BANKINGJONATHAN ROSTRON, SANTANDER

EDUCATIONDARRYL WIDEMAN, SILCOATES SCHOOL

MUSICDEAN FREEMAN - UNITY WORKS

SPORTSEAN JARVIS - HUDDERSFIEL D TOWN FC

COMMERCIAL PROPERTYMARK HANSON, HANSON CHARTERED SURVEYORS

Tel: 07711 539047 - [email protected] - www.topicuk.co.uk - Ghost Publishing Ltd - Suite 6 Unity Works Westgate Wakefi eld WF1 1EP

I usually start my column with the statement: ‘we have exciting news’ and this issue is no exception, that’s because of the fabulous

support and contributions we receive from our readers which allows us to constantly grow and expand, for the benefi t of all our contributors and advertisers.

Following TopicUK’s mention during Prime Minister’s Question Time last month, a few days later I was lucky enough to be invited to meet David Cameron for a second time. At that meeting I presented TopicUK to him and explained about the business communities in Wakefi eld, Kirklees and Calderdale and how your magazine works for the whole community, a model he was impressed with.

As November fast approaches we are looking forward to the launch of the third edition of TopicUK in Barnsley and South Yorkshire. The launch is set for 13 November at the Oakwell Stadium, home of Barnsley Football Club and if you would like to receive an invitation to this

exclusive launch, do drop us a line. It is hoped that our fourth edition in Soho, London will be hot on its heels in January.

This issue we are proud to be working with the Town Centre Partnership to launch The Wonder of Wakefi eld, a project aimed to encourage people to shop, dine and make use of the fabulous entertainment facilities we have in Wakefi eld. We would like to thank everyone who has supported this feature with a view to making Wakefi eld fabulous this Christmas. A similar scheme is underway to encourage businesss to get behind launching a Christmas market in Huddersfi eld, so please show your support for both our towns.

We would like to welcome all our new advertisers and supporters this issue and we look forward to helping promote your businesses in the coming months.

As we continue to expand and grow we have new sponsorship opportunities available. New sponsors will now receive free editorial alongside their advertisements, giving even more exposure, so please let us know if you are interested. We now have even more distribution points where you can pick up a copy of TopicUK. If your business is interested in stocking copies on your premises for readers to pick up, please let us know and we will add you to the list.

We are delighted once again to have been asked to support Wakefi eld Business Week 2016 and over the coming months, we will keep you up-to-date with plans to make the event the biggest yet. If you are interested in booking a stand at the conference, please let us know so your place can be assured.

Our December issue will, as usual, publish on 2nd January to ensure smooth distribution over the festive period. This gives us the opportunity to cover all the corporate events and Christmas parties happening during December such as the fabulous WACCL lunch. Please let us know if you are holding an event and would like us to cover it..

Gill LaidlerFollow the editor @topic_uk

TopicUK EDITORS NOTES

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An independent catering business will be getting an extra pair of hands thanks to Manufactured Yorkshire and Kirklees College.

With a start-up workforce of ten employees, Anthony Hegney of Asparagus Green, won the National Coal Mining Museum contract to providing varied and healthy menu options for families at competitive prices in February, and has now taken on apprentice Brydie Binns.The fi rst six months of Brydie’s placement will be funded by Manufactured Yorkshire (MY15) after Anthony won the prize draw at the event at the John Smiths Stadium, Huddersfi eld in June this year. Kirklees College was one of the main sponsors of MY15 and everyone who visited the college’s stand at the event had the chance to enter the draw.

MY5 Event Director, Chrissie Slater said, “Brydie’s role will be really wide - from working in the offi ce to pulling events together, to helping Anthony develop the Conferences &

Events side of the museum’s catering operation. As well as funding her fi rst 6 months placement, the events team behind Manufactured Yorkshire have pledged mentoring support to Brydie to help her on the conferences and events planning. Every business, large or small, has a responsibility to give our young people a leg-up. This is one of the legacies of Manufactured Yorkshire.”

Anthony is on a mission, putting his 25 years experience in the catering industry behind Asparagus Green. He said, “The future for Asparagus Green is to maintain the contract at the museum whilst focusing on growing the outside catering business. We cater for special occasions in the home right up to special venues and by 2016 I would like to take on another small contract in the area. Brydie has been looking for an apprenticeship and this is a great opportunity for her to grow with Asparagus Green and learn a great deal along the way. I’m so pleased that we have Brydie on board, she is an excellent addition to the team.”

Kirklees College deputy principal June Durrant said: “We are really delighted to announce the winning company from the apprenticeship competition at Manufactured Yorkshire, congratulations to Anthony Hegney, owner of Asparagus Green Catering and Brydie Binns his new apprentice. Apprenticeships are such a valuable asset to a business and the local economy and a great way to ‘earn and learn’.”

ASPARAGUS GREEN ‘WINS’ APPRENTICE

TopicUK www.topicuk.co.uk

TEL: 07711 539047

TOPICUK OFFER NEW SERVICEIt’s been two years since we launched TopicUK in Wakefi eld and in the spring of this year, the people of Kirklees and Calderdale welcomed our second edition.

We we are delighted that TopicUK continues to grow and following our announcement to launch a third edition in Barnsley this Autumn came the opportunity to launch a fourth edition in Shoreditch, a borough of London. This will be in January 2016.

Over the two years we have helped many businesses across the district get free publicity and have connected so many others who now do business together, however, we need to constantly change and grow and so we are offering a couple of new services.

We are commited to providing free PR for businesses with news to share and of course affordable advertising for all. However, we want to offer businesses the chance to book space within TopicUK as advertorial where they have the opportunity to ‘shout’ about their business and include images, without it looking like an advert.

In addition, we are offering advertising web banners that run across the bottom of each page, similar to the one we run for Sainsburys. These are affordably priced but if you would like a run of them at intervals throughout the magazine or a series of small sixteenth page blocks, strategically placed featuring your logo / web address / phone number this is also possible, basically the more you have, the cheaper the price! This type of advertising cleverly keeps on reminding readers of your business as they read through the magazine.

If you are interested in any of these new promotions, call us today on 07711 539047 or email [email protected]


NO MORE HIDING IN BUSHES!

Sarah now wants to help businesses and companies across Yorkshire and the North West in their fi ght against fraud, by providing a range of investigation services. Her company THIRTEEN Research and Investigation Ltd works with businesses in identifying threats to their businesses, conducting internal investigations and helping them fi ght the battle against fraudsters.

Based in Todmorden, Sarah has trained and worked for many years in investigations, both for national law enforcement agencies and within legal regulation too. Sarah has a real passion for investigation and research, with lots of interesting case studies under her belt, both within the UK and overseas. She doesn’t subscribe to the murky image of private investigation and believes that investigators should

be approachable, corporate and accountable.

Tracing missing debtors, address verifi cation, taking witness statements or performing in depth investigations into employee fraud, Sarah can provide a whole host of investigative services to businesses, of all sizes, to help them protect their businesses and clients.

Visit the website www.thirteenresearch.co.uk, to see the different types of investigation and research services Sarah can offer, as well as how to get in contact. Her training courses have already attracted interest from national organisations and she is hoping to work with many different partners and organisations to make life increasingly diffi cult for the fraudsters in the future.

To most people, the world of private investigation conjures up images of men hiding in bushes with binoculars. It has historically been the reserved profession of retired police offi cers and ex-military professionals who decided upon a career change. However, changing the face of private investigation is Sarah Barker, who has set up her own investigation and research company.

Mr Flyer have always been big fans of the digital world and now they are going one step further by helping

young people gain opportunities and experience in the digital world.Earlier this year the BBC launched a National Traineeship programme aimed at developing young people aged 16-24 to prepare them for entry-level jobs and Apprenticeships across the UK. This is a key part of the BBC’s ‘Make it Digital’ year of 2015.Working alongside Huddersfi eld based YH Training, Mr Flyer have offered work experience for one of the Traineeship participants, Stephen Dixon. At just 19, Stephen recently completed his studies at Kirklees College and was looking for an opportunity to develop his skills in the fi lming industry.As part of his placement, Stephen is required to complete a digital project that he can use in his portfolio. Stephen has been tasked to create a video named “A day in the life of a distributor” which will showcase the benefi ts of working as a leafl et distributor at Mr Flyer. Two weeks into his placement, Stephen is already reaping the new knowledge he has learnt and enjoying his start to his working life. He comments, “I never imagined myself working from a desk, but I am enjoying every aspect of it at Mr Flyer”.General Manager, Michael Gladstone at Mr Flyer is clearly impressed by Stephen’s work so far; “Stephen has made a great start to his work experience with us and we are looking forward to seeing the completed video which will help us with our digital marketing efforts.”

MR FLYER HELPS TO “MAKE IT DIGITAL”

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THE SMELL OF SUCCESS FOR THE WONDERWORKS

A HUDDERSFIELD-BASED visual and seasonal display company has seen its work feature in the windows of a fellow West Yorkshire business.

The Wonderworks recently put the fi nishing touches to a stunning installation for boutique Yorkshire retailer, The Yorkshire Soap Company. The displays – based around a fun, summer theme called ‘Dive Into Summer’ – feature eye-catching window graphics including animated seaweed.

Offering passers by a visually impressive seasonal display, the installation was created by the talented people behind The Wonderworks in order to keep up the momentum of The Yorkshire Soap Companies historic success with their window displays.

Using striking coral-coloured vinyl to frame windows, the team added rotating seaweed featuring hanging goldfi sh to the display, alongside acrylic seaweed, sand and suspending diving-themed fi gures.

This is just the latest in a long run of successful partnerships for The Wonderworks, which was founded by Rob Curran in February last year. With a focus on design and sales, Rob’s career has seen

him work for some of the industry’s leading seasonal display fi rms across the North which have led him to work on projects both at home and overseas.

They generally focus on larger chains, and this was a driving force behind establishing The Wonderworks. We look forward to a continued relationship with The Yorkshire Soap Company”.

Marcus Doyle, owner of The Yorkshire Soap Company added: “Already famous for our unique window displays we opted to outsource the project to enable us to focus on the running of the business. Keeping up the momentum of what we had already generated was of the utmost importance and therefore appointing someone we could trust to continue the deliver a unique display was imperative.

Having known Rob for a number of years, the timing of The Wonderworks couldn’t have been better. Rob came on board and instantly demonstrated high levels of fl exibility with the equipment we already had in place and adapted it to create the ‘Dive Into Summer’ theme, which has generated positive responses from our customers. It’s been a pleasure working with Rob and we look forward to our on going relationship”.

CHILDRENSWEAR BOUTIQUE SECURES BACKING OF FORMER DRAGON THEO PAPHITIS

A Denby Dale based designer childrenswear retailer is celebrating after gaining an online business boost from TV Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis.

Your Children’s Wardrobe has been chosen as one of six lucky businesses to win Theo’s Small Business Sunday, a weekly social media initiative founded by the well-known former Dragon.

Small businesses across the UK tweet Theo with a short description about their business. The best tweets are then chosen as winners and retweeted by Theo to his 488,000 followers.

Amanda Evans used 140 characters to tell Mr Paphitis about the store’s excellent customer service, stylish childrenswear brands and personalised service in store and online. Her tweet was one of the six winners then selected from hundreds of tweets sent to Theo.


APPLY NOW, TIMING IS RUNNING OUT!CityFibre, the company bringing gigabit speed internet networks to cities across the UK, is urging businesses in Kirklees not to miss out on funding available to transform their internet connectivity and boost their productivity.

Time is running out for local businesses to apply for up to £3,000 in funding available through the Government’s Broadband Connection Voucher scheme with the latest projections suggesting that fi nance may no longer be available from autumn 2015.

The schemwe is being delivered by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 50 large towns and cities including Huddersfi eld, Dewsbury and Batley. Identifying the critical importance of digital connectivity to UK businesses, up to £40 million in funding has been made available to enable small and medium-sized businesses to upgrade to high-speed internet services.

In Kirklees, a new pure-fi bre network called the Kirklees CORE is available to enable businesses in the region to access a gigabit speed internet network that is up to 100 times faster than the UK average. The vouchers can be used to cover connection costs to the brand new ultra-fast Kirklees CORE pure fi bre network, owned and operated by CityFibre.

Kirklees CORE’s local service partner, Abzorb, is a top 5 supplier of the voucher scheme in West Yorkshire and will be able to help businesses claim their funding.

Neil Aspin, of the Kirklees CORE, said it is crucial that businesses do not miss out on the opportunity to transform their digital capabilities.

He said: “By connecting to the ultra-fast Kirklees CORE network businesses are

able to signifi cantly improve effi ciency and productivity with ultra-fast upload and download speeds, improved access to cloud computing and remote data storage, seamless video conferencing, VoIP and much more. Why use the voucher to increase speeds by a few meg when you could completely transform your internet connectivity?

“There’s no better time to upgrade your internet connectivity. With evidence demonstrating that enhanced digital capabilities are key to driving economic investment, catalysing business start-ups and enabling success on the national and international stage.

Cllr Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Resources at Kirklees Council said: “Over 5,000 connection vouchers have now been issued across Yorkshire and the total value of these is over £3.5m. We urge businesses to take advantage of the support available and upgrade their digital infrastructure before it’s too late.

“I welcome this opportunity for local businesses to improve their internet speeds, and this along with other projects we are working on will help make Kirklees the place to do business in West Yorkshire.”

To fi nd out more information about The Kirklees CORE and the Broadband Connection Voucher scheme visit http://www.kirkleescore.com/

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The conference, the fi rst of its kind in the North and free of charge to senior leaders in the education

sector, will provide delegates with the opportunity to come together and share knowledge on a sector that has seen a multitude of changes over the past 5 years with the introduction of academies and Free Schools.

Delegates will be able to access over 15 events covering eight key topics such as; Maximising Money, CPD, Addressing the Skills Gap, Building Community, Academy Conversion, IT, Raising Standards and Strategy. Speakers will include the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation; Gareth Boldsworth, Sales Director, LEGO Education; Greg Burke, Deputy Director, National College for Teaching & Leadership and David Weston, CEO of the Teacher Development Trust.

The conference will also enable key decision makers to meet with around 60 exhibitors showcasing the latest innovations and services.Chrissie Slater, Educated Yorkshire Event Director said, “Educated Yorkshire (EY15) fi lls a much needed gap in

providing a high quality, very useful event that is free to attend for decision makers from the Education Sector from across Yorkshire and beyond. In an industry that is constantly evolving, the purpose of EY15 is to bring the Yorkshire Education sector together to ultimately strengthen for the future. We have received a phenomenal response so far from the education sector and November will set a solid foundation for Educated Yorkshire to be a leading annual education conference in the North.”

Gareth Boldsworth, Sales Director, LEGO Education added: “We are delighted to attend and sponsor this great event and meet educators from Yorkshire. At LEGO Education we are very involved in delivering the most relevant digital and hands-on resources to primary and secondary teachers as well as colleges. We aim to address the skills gap by encouraging the delivery of playful learning experiences that we believe enables every student to succeed. EY15 is set to be a great place to meet, learn and exchange ideas.”

For more information about the conference or to book your free place visit www.educatedyorkshire.org

COMING TOGETHER TO EDUCATE YORKSHIRE

NEW SOLICITOR AND ASSOCIATE JOIN RAMSDENS

Ramsdens are delighted to announce the appointment of Kirsty Jackson as associate in the Commercial Property team and Lubna Shah a new solicitor in our growing Family team.Kirsty joins from Leeds based fi rm, Walker Morris and advises on all aspects of commercial property law, including landlord and tenant, investment and development.

Lubna joins from Lester Morrill and specialises in family law, with a particular expertise in international child abduction and wardship cases.

Around 500 Head Teachers and Senior Leaders from around the region will descend upon The David Hockney Building at Bradford College on the 12th November for the fi rst Educated Yorkshire Conference, which includes LEGO Education and the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation as key sponsors.


It is exciting times for Pennine Business Partners as they announce they are expanding their team with the appointment of a Marketing Executive.

Huddersfi eld University graduate, Danielle Lyon joined Pennine Business Partners last month as Marketing Executive to provide support to clients in all aspects of marketing including advertising, PR and social media management.

Danielle said, “It is fantastic to have the opportunity to support such a wide range of clients and being able to utilise my skills and experience to benefi t the variety of businesses that Pennine Business Partners work alongside is very rewarding.”

Before joining Pennine Business Partners, Danielle worked as the Sole Fundraiser for Broughton House, Home of Ex-Service Men and Women in Salford. During her time at Brougton House, Danielle developed a successful fundraising strategy for the charity and created and executed a number of marketing campaigns as well developing their new website. Originally from Liverpool, Danielle

came to Huddersfi eld to complete a BA (Hons) in Advertising and Marketing Communications at Huddersfi eld University. She is now a local girl and lives in Almondbury with her husband and three children.

Steve Bradley, Pennine Business Partners’ Marketing Specialist said, “Following a series of new account wins and a busy year to date, we are delighted to have Danielle join our expanding team. Danielle brings with her a wealth of marketing knowledge and valuable skills and experience from her previous role and I am confi dent she is going to play a big part in growing our company even further. Danielle has only been with us a few weeks and has already proved to be an asset to the team and a great support to our clients - we’re thrilled to have her on board.”

Pennine Business Partners work in partnership with clients who value our professional and collaborative approach to their business. Our skills, resources and expertise in Marketing, HR and Health and Safety enable us to deliver corporate level support to SME’s. We connect with clients as individuals and engage with their business as if it were our own.

NEW APPOINTMENT FOR PENNINE BUSINESS PARTNERS

Paul Joyce, managing partner said: “I am pleased to welcome these talented lawyers to Ramsdens. They will play a key role in our continued growth across the region and their expertise will help us to continue to deliver the high level of service that our clients have come to expect.”

Kirsty adds: “I’m thrilled to be joining such a great team here at Ramsdens, and looking forward to getting involved with ever growing business community in West Yorkshire.”

Lubna comments: “I am pleased to join the Family Team at Ramsdens who are highly regarded and committed to delivering quality legal services, ensuring that the clients receive the best possible outcome”.

Ramsdens are also celebrating being named fi nalists in the Law Firm of the Year (11-30 partners) category at the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards 2015.

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UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD WELCOMES BAHRAIN’S MINISTER OF EDUCATION

The University of Huddersfi eld was honoured to welcome Bahrain’s Minister of Education on a major fact-fi nding visit to explore opportunities to further develop the Persian Gulf state’s higher education and research.

The Minister, His Excellency Dr Majed Bin Ali-Al Noaimi, was accompanied by Bahrain’s General Secretary of Higher Education, Professor Riyad Hamzah, and the delegation was welcomed to Huddersfi eld by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan, and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), Professor Dave Taylor.

The visit is part of a 10-year strategy by the Kingdom of Bahrain to create a higher education institute that will run alongside the University of Bahrain. The new institute will accelerate the country’s economic growth through new programmes that are currently unavailable.

The purpose of the visit was to establish or build on existing links that could be delivered in Bahrain, whilst exploring new collaboration opportunities. The University of Huddersfi eld was one of just six UK universities to be included in the week-long visit.

During his visit, Dr Ali-Al Noaimi toured the University’s celebrated 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, which has an international reputation for its work in the disciplines of advanced manufacturing, surface metrology and precision measurement, formulation chemistry and high-performance computers.

The Innovation Centre is also home to a number of major companies that have existing partnerships with the University, including Arms Reliability, BorgWarner, Severn Unival, Surfachem and NPL, the National Physical Laboratory.

His Excellency was also shown the work of the University’s leading commercial

research facility IPOS, which stands for Innovative Physical Organic Chemistry.

IPOS provides contract analytical and process development services to the chemical industry and operates from purpose-built laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation.

Dr Ali-Al Noaimi fi nished his visit by meeting a number of current Bahraini students who are currently studying at Huddersfi eld, which included both undergraduate and postgraduates.

The University’s Professor Dave Taylor, who arranged the visit, was delighted that Huddersfi eld was chosen to receive the Minister. “Dr Ali-Al Noaimi was particularly keen to meet our current Bahraini students and spoke highly of what he had seen at Huddersfi eld,” said Professor Taylor. “The University is perfectly aligned to the goals of Bahrain’s new institute, which seeks to embed employability, technology and entrepreneurship across all disciplines.”

The University of Huddersfi eld was one of just six universities chosen for a fact-fi nding visit to explore opportunities to further develop Bahrain’s higher education and research


When John Williams headed over the hill from Manchester, little did he know that he would fall in love with the football team across the Pennines. “I’m a Manchester lad” admitted John “but I heard about the opportunity at Town and looked into the job role, and it was a perfect fi t for me.”

John heads up the Partnerships Department at Huddersfi eld Town, and admits the job can have it’s challenges but is very rewarding. “There are three elements to my role; working with our existing partners (the Club has over 80 of these), working with companies who would like to join us the club, and hosting our unique style of match day.

John’s match day offer allows businesses to meet, network and communicate both before during and after the Club’s SkyBet Championship fi xtures within the Club’s Ever Group Enterprise Suite. “We’ve had some excellent high profi le guests in the Suite, from Gary Mabbutt to Gareth Southgate. We have also welcomed into the Suite those in the game who may not be obvious, but at the same time can give insight into behind the scenes in the world of football, instances being Mike Riley (Head of Referees) and Manish Bhasin (Sports Broadcaster).

One of the fundamental parts of John’s role is developing new businesses both locally and nationally. “We believe that no two companies are the same and as such, we see partnerships with us as a blank canvas. They are aimed towards working with businesses goals and needs, making sure that the objectives agreed from the start are met and exceeded.”

With a retention rate higher than 93%, Huddersfi eld Town clearly believe in partnerships, and those businesses who work with the Club see the benefi ts too.

“Partnerships are not lip service – we believe that they are two-way between the club and

your business” continued John. “Upon taking up a Partnership with us, businesses are assigned a single member of staff in the club allowing a single point of contact. We meet with the business and discuss their requirements and objectives and put strategic planning in place to make partnership objectives clear. This also allows us to add a little bit of creativity and lets us suggest potential new ways that may work for that business to gain more.”

John concludes by telling us about the next goal for the Partnerships team; the Huddersfi eld Hundred. “We have a range of partners who work with the club and our medium term aim is to reach 100 Club Partners. At this point, we will create the Huddersfi eld Hundred and the opportunity to partner with the Club will stop. My advice to any business out there is to touch base and see what we can do as a Club to help you move your business forwards through the medium of football.”

For further information, John Williams can be contacted on 01484 484173 or at [email protected]. Alternatively follow John on Twitter @JohnWilliams672

YOUR CHANCE TO PARTNER HUDDERSFIELD TOWN

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Founder of Card Payments Company Wins Prestigious Yorkshire Business Award

The entrepreneurial founding director of Brighouse-based Yorkshire Payments, Yorkshire’s only independent payments provider, has been recognised in the 2015 BiYInspired awawrds (run by Business in Yorkshire).

James Howard, 30, has won the ‘New Generation Award’ category. This Award recognises the most dynamic business owners under the age of 35.

James Howard was joined by fellow Yorkshire entrepreneurs including Ben Lawton from Custom Controllers, Andrew Robinson from Mr Flyer and Vicky Colbeck from Circuit Electrical in the category.

The announcement was made, alongside successful companies in a host of other categories, at a special awards lunch at Leeds’ The Queens Hotel on Friday, October 2.

Speaking about his award win James said: “We’ve got really big plans to develop Yorkshire Payments as a brand across Yorkshire and even further afi eld and it is always rewarding to feel your hard work and achievements are being recognised. I was up there with some impressive competition and it means a lot to our team.”

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Hussain Architectural Design is proud to announce that they have been named Best Newcoming Architecture Firm 2015, in the Build Magazine and Construction Awards.

The fi rm has been running since 2006, and has expanded their business to Burnley, Huddersfi eld, Blackburn, Manchester, and London.

The annual Build Awards are dedicated to uncovering and rewarding the very best in technical innovation, design and service from across the worldwide construction and property industries.

The awards are held throughout the year and address all sectors and areas within the wider construction and property industries. They recognise all levels, from top-level CEO’s to architects and suppliers, guaranteeing that only the most deserving fi rms and individuals are recognised. Hussain Architectural Design were offi cially recognised as one of the top performers in this creative, technical and incredibly fast-moving industry.

The company, which provides Architectural services, planning

permission, graphic design and construction services, was selected from hundreds of nominees across the country.

The research is carried out by the BUILD team of 8 highly experienced industry professionals and the decision making process handled by their dedicated in-house judging panel which took over 320 man hours,

Reacting to this announcement, practise manager Saira Hussain said: “we are delighted to have won such a prestigious award that showcases our business; it’s amazing to have recognition for all hard work and dedication we’ve put in over the last few years.”

Pratice manager, Nixie Edwards added: “It’s overwhelming to see passion, time, and effort get noticed and awarded. We’re really proud to be part of this industry, and love to fi nd architectural solutions to the challenges that our clients face.

HUSSAIN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

RAMSDENS AT THE FAMILY LAW AWARDSRamsdens are delighted to announce that Vikki Horspool, Associate in the Family department, is a fi nalist at the upcoming Family Law Awards.

Vikki has been shortlisted in the Associate of the Year category.

The Family Law Awards were launched by Jordan Publishing to recognise the important work of family lawyers, and celebrate their many successes and outstanding achievements.

The Family Law Awards are means for Family Law and its readers to acknowledge the hard work and commitment throughout the year amongst the nominees and the profession as a whole.

Vikki comments: “I’m incredibly honoured to be nominated and something that I never expected. Some say that Legal aid work is a vocation not a career choice and it’s certainly not what they teach you at law school! You are dealing with the most vulnerable of society and you often end up becoming the social worker, counsellor, supporter and lawyer. Despite the pressures (particularly due to the decimation of legal aid) I fi nd my job my job extremely rewarding and get a great deal of satisfaction from it so to be recognised for it and nominated for this award is an added bonus.”

The awards were due to take place at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London on Thursday 8 October, after we went to print but check out thr Ramsdens website to fi nd out how Vikki got on.


Fantastic Media are delighted to be working in partnership with International adhesive specialists Simpson Turner to help launch their latest product innovation, The Bugo.

Bed bug prevention tool, The Bugo was launched to the market earlier this year with the help of Fantastic and has already been referred to as ‘ground breaking’ amongst industry experts.

The Bugo is a revolution in bed bug and insect bite prevention, providing a solution to a global problem. It works by sticking to the fl oor around the bottom of a bed leg, preventing unwanted crawling insects from living in your mattress, sheets and joint cracks of your bed.

As part of the partnership, Fantastic has designed and developed a purpose-built website and will be executing a strategic marketing campaign to help promote the product and boost sales across the globe. The new website is a fully responsive site that helps to elevate the Bugo brand and clearly demonstrate the innovative nature of the product.

Richard Turner, MD at Simpson & Turner was delighted with the new website, “We already have a strong relationship with Fantastic

Media and knew that the design and development of a new website for The Bugo was in capable hands. I am thrilled with the site, which really brings the product to life. I am confi dent that it will help to act as the hub of our marketing activity going forward and will help to generate signifi cant sales leads for the business”.

Fantastic Media Managing Director, Andrew Hobson commented, “Helping to launch The Bugo has been an extremely exciting project to work on. The product is unique and has the potential to be a global success with the market being relatively untouched. As well as designing and developing a purpose-built website, we will also be focusing our promotion of the product through content marketing and utilising all the marketing channels available to us. ”

With over 800 reports of bed bug infestations in the past 7 months in the UK alone, the infestation of homes, hotels and nursing bed bugs has become serious problem across the globe. The Bugo provides the ideal solution to the recent bed bug epidemic by acting as a barrier to the unwanted crawling insects.

For more information, take a look at the new Bugo website at www.thebugo.co.uk

DON’T LET THE BED BUGS BITE

KEEP YOUR WORKPLACE SAFE AND SECURE THIS WINTER

The dark nights are drawing in but are business premises prepared for the safety and security risks associated with the winter months? Mark Copley, Ti’s joint managing director shares some helpful tips.

“In only a few weeks time, the sun will have set before we leave our workplaces, but apart from the dark nights making many of us feel generally a little more miserable, what effect do the winter months have on our businesses?

Workplace safety and security should step to the forefront of our minds. If employees are arriving and leaving in the dark, employers have an inherent duty of care to protect them, especially if they have to navigate gloomy car parks, footpaths or alleys. Ensure these areas are well lit to prevent slips and falls that could result in injury, time off work or even a claim. Lit areas are also less likely to be targeted by criminal activity.

If this is a concern, consider investing in CCTV. A variety of technologies exist in the marketplace, from cheap self-install cameras, to affordable systems of better quality, through to HD CCTV with unparalleled image quality. The solution you choose should be determined by whether you want to simply provide a deterrent or actually capture evidence that can lead to a conviction should a crime occur. If in doubt, ask a security specialist for their installation advice.

Then there’s the humble burglar alarm, which most large commercial premises now have. But smaller businesses need to protect their contents and assets too. With a range of modern wired and wireless alarms available - that needn’t cost the earth - there’s no excuse for leaving anything to chance.

Insurance company research shows burglaries often become a real problem in October and throughout the winter months. Perhaps there’s even a little inspiration here to help better protect your homes too.

For more information contact www.ti-installations.co.uk

16

•• The Arts

HUDDERSFIELD UNIVERSITY

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Professionals

The University of Huddersfi eld is an inspiring, innovative provider of higher education of international renown. It has a national reputation in enterprise and innovation and, in the last fi ve years, has been the recipient of the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year Award and Entrepreneurial University of the Year as well as two Queen’s Award for Enterprise. In 2015, the University was recognised with 5 star status by international ratings organisation QS Stars for teaching, internationalisation, employability and for facilities and access.

Copyright: Adriana Tavares


Anually, the University welcomes 22,000 students of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes

across subjects covering:

• sciences, engineering and IT

• health, education and social sciences

• business, management, law and accountancy

• architecture, design, humanities and the arts

One of the students to graduate from the University is Adriana Tavares. Postgraduate researcher and local rug designer Adriana appeared as featured artist at the renowned London Design Festival with her exhibition Limitless Creativity.

After showing one of her collections at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair and the New Designers exhibiton last year, young entrepreneur Adriana was approached by the global fashion company Anthropologie, to display her work as their featured artist at the annual design festival which opened in London on 19 September and ran until the end of the month.

Adriana, who specialists in the creation of bespoke hand tufted rugs that embrace shape, colour and innovation, exhibited a collection of 12 ‘Toppiece Footstools’ and new rugs, especially designed for the festival as well as previous work she created on community projects. Alongside the exhibition, Adriana taught free workshops in the Regent Street Anthropologie Store, where there were a series of short activities which allowed participants to explore their senses as much as possible whilst creating pieces of abstract artwork.

Whilst the designer was busy creating new pieces of work for the exhibition, she was also running her enterprise and rug-making business, Adriana Tavares Rugs, which has grown from strength to strength and in turn has increased Adriana’s confi dence as a designer. “I want to change people’s perception of

what a rug looks like,” she said. “It’s not just a rug on a fl oor, it’s like a drawing. They don’t just have to be block colours and shaped like rectangles.”

As well as Toppiece Footstools and quirky rugs, Adriana makes wall hangings and also creates unique pieces on commission. This involves working closely with the buyer to design and make their dream product.

Adriana set up her business with the help of the University’s Enterprise Team in The Duke of York Young Enterprise Centre. The team assists enterprising students and recent graduates to develop their business ideas through one-to-one meetings with their business advisors, a series of business skills events and where appropriate, access to proof of concept funding. This has also provided her with a professional base for the business, hot-desking and free use of the electronic facilities she needs to keep the business going.

However, life nearly threw Adriana in a very different direction as she originally wanted to become a teacher. It wasn’t until the completion of her degree, when she was awarded the Vice-Chancellors Fee Waiver for the opportunity to undertake a Masters by Research (MRes), which is only offered to students achieving marks over 80%, that Adriana decided she wanted to go on to further study and run her own business.

Although constantly busy, Adriana is pleased with the direction she has gone and says most of her ideas come out of the research for her Masters. “My core passion lies within the interactions between art and craft education and this is where I get most of the inspiration for my designs,” she said. “For my MRes, I’m researching the value of children’s art to promote art and craft education

in the 21st century. Working with The National Arts Education Archive, based in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, I have discovered teaching methods, namely from the Revolution of Child Art, that could rejuvenate today’s teaching. These teaching methods focused on the intrinsic values behind children’s art and the way it should be taught to really harness the child’s self-expression and foster creativity.

“With the cuts to funding, children’s education is no longer the same. Children are taught just enough to get them a grade and as a result, self expression has gone. I am going to take some of the important values and apply them to the 21st century,” she added.

Adriana still has a real love for teaching and whilst working part-time for the mental health charity Support to Recovery, she runs and teaches some of their creative workshops for adults and works at The Packhorse Gallery. “I’m lucky enough that I now get to teach whilst running my own business, I absolutely love it!” To view Adriana’s website and extensive portfolio visit: www.adrianatavares.co.uk

The Department of Fashion and Textiles aims to be recognised as a global area of excellence in fashion / textile teaching and learning, technology, innovation and research. It presents opportunities for the two closely related disciplines to develop and work closely together. The department has achieved recognition for its merging of traditional technologies and the new and digital technology and aims to maintain this reputation as well as being recognised for excellence in making craft, skill and business, promotion and marketing.

18

•• Dining Out

SAMPLING THE DELIGHTS OF HUDDERSFIELD FOOD FESTIVALWRITTEN BY ANTHONY HEGNEY - ASPARAGUS GREEN CATERING

This month I thought we would do something a little diff erent from the normal review and cover Huddersfi eld’s fi fteenth Food & Drink festival.

The festival is one of my fi rm favourites in the calendar as the people of Huddersfi eld support it from start to end.

We were there with our other business Bubbles & Punch, which is very popular at the festival serving Pimms on draught along with Prosecco, so this gives me the opportunity to eat at the festival for the whole 4 days, no wonder my waistline is getting bigger!

The festival attracts most of Huddersfi eld fi nest producers and eateries which we are really proud of.

Most days I started off with breakfast from Bolstermoor farm shop either a bacon sandwich or sausage sandwich it was always a special treat something to get the day off to a fl ying start, Bolstermoor is renowned for the quality of the meat that they produce from

farm to fork, you only have to look their website to see the endless list of awards that they have won over the years.

The sausage sandwich cooked on the open air BBQ tasted amazing they are succulent tender and tasty served in a fresh bread cake slightly warmed on the grill. On the fi rst day for lunch, I had one of their homemade chilli burgers wow I was blown away with the fl avour and taste of this burger no wonder they had a queue every day that never ended.

Back to the breakfast sandwich and I found myself eating this every day, washed down with one of Huddersfi eld institution coffee houses, Merry England. I have been an indirect customer of theirs since the day I was born as it was and still is, a fi rm favourite of my parents when meeting family or Friends for a frothy coffee as they called it, Merry England have an ethos very similar to ours using fresh and local produce, coffee that’s roasted in Meltham from Grumpy Mule rich in fl avour while smooth as coffee should be.

For lunch we were fortunate to be situated next door to Nachos Amigos who are based outside Huddersfi eld but still in Yorkshire. The quality of these products are fantastic, I found myself eating a Vegi Burrito one day and couldn’t believe how tasty it was from being a big red meat eater, defi nitly one to visit next year.

One surprise for me for tea came from Pennine Manor Hotel, when I say surprise I wasn’t surprised at the quality of the food, just that as a hotel they came out in full force to promote not just the hotel but the restaurant and events too.

They served me the most amazing tasting Rib Eye steak sandwich with

lashings of homemade caramelised onions on top WOW I was blow away with the quality of the meat, cooked rare to my liking and in fresh bread all of which is part of the great experience.

If I was asking Pennine Manor to cater for an event, I would be certainly asking them to put this on the menu for my guests.

Day two started with the traditional Bolstermoor breakfast & Merry England coffee, but for lunch something spicy was on the menu.

Spicy Kitchen Marsh has always been a strong favourite at the food festival and on the circuit of other festivals like Cannon Hall which was a new one this year.

I am a great lover of Indian food and my fi rm favourite is Lamb Karahi. This is a dish that’s got a great bite to it without being over powering fl avoured with Chilli, Garlic & Ginger.

Spicy kitchen cook this to perfection with their Pilau rice and Garlic Naan cooked in the traditional Tandoori oven the bread is hot as it should be light in texture and tasty with the garlic cloves crushed in to the mix.


Bowls of fresh salad and Yoghurt Raita are available to top of the experience, but for me just watching them cook the food in front of you in the steel pans with steam venting from the side gives them the Indian street food experience.

Spicy Kitchen is based in Marsh and delivers food to your door in the Huddersfi eld area, since the food festival we have ordered takeaways from there and the standard has been the same as the festival which is a winner.

In the afternoon when something sweet was needed to get the energy levels back ice cream was on the cards.

This is no normal ice cream from Yummy Yorkshire but some great fl avours to play with, one of my favourites is Jaffa cake ice cream close your eyes and you’re in Jaffa cake heaven, another adult favourite is Masons Yorkshire Gin ice cream WOW the gin really shines through in the ice cream, not sure how many you could have without being breathalysed and over the limit.

But the daily indulgent for me was one of Yummy Yorkshires Chocolate Brownie Sundae made with Miss Fridays Chocolate Brownie which they stock in the cafe as we do at the National Coal Mining Museum where we are based.

Yummy Yorkshire are dairy farmers so the great story behind this husband and wife operation is all the cows on the fi elds are miked and a portion of the milk produced is then turned in to ice cream that can be purchased at the parlour.

By day four I was ready for an alcoholic drink with dinner, so where would I go, Temujin Mongolian BBQ however he wasn’t doing the normal BBQ you serves in the two restaurants, he was serving the new range of sauces that he has launched, I tried one of the spicy sauces on meatballs, really tasty and worth a try if you’re doing these at home.

If you like dining out with an experience Timujin is for you from picking the ingredients to watching the theatre of the chef cooking in front of you.

At this point I needed my drink that I had waited for the last 4 days for, Henry’s coffee & wine bar based in Skelmenthorpe had a great festival and well deserved with all the hard work that they put in to the stall, run by mother and daughter.

My all-time favourite cocktail is a long Island Ice Tea which is sometimes not as you would expect it to be, however Henrys got it spot on Ice cold, zesty and fl avoursome it certainly did the job for me.

Food festivals are very popular in the UK, and the Yorkshire ones are certainly the best I have been to as we are really proud of the produce that we deliver.

Halifax has a great food festival too, run by the town centre management in the middle of June. Huddersfi eld has got it right, as stall holders are local independent business with no national companies which you will never see me write about as I like to support local and small business in the area.

Food at the festival is well priced for the quality, from a Bacon or sausage sandwich for £2.95, Americano coffee £2.00, Burrito £5.00, so a main meal and drink can be purchased for under £10.00 for great quality food, even the rib eye steak sandwich was only £6.00.

Cooking demonstrations at this years’ festival were a massive success with our very own Mark Airey doing one on behalf of Asparagus Green catering at the National coal mining museum, Mark cooked a great dish with sea bass from Holmfi rth fresh fi sh with a mixed bean cassoulet with Yorkshire Chorizo from Award winning Greedy Little Pig based at Shelly.

Facts about Huddersfi eld food & drink festival.

Its in its 15th year

Over 100,000 visitors visit each year

50-60,000 visitors just on the Saturday

Spicy Kitchen Marsh Huddersfi eld

www.spicykitchen-marsh.co.uk

Bolster Moor farm shop & caféwww.bolstermoorfarmshop.co.uk

Merry England coff ee shopswww.merrie-england.com

Pennine Manor Hotelwww.penninemanor.com

Temujinwww.temujinrestaurant.co.uk

20

LAW TAKES CHRIS FROM EDINBURGH TO

HUDDERSFIELD

Ever wondered what it takes to become

a lawyer? We caught up with

Chris Taylor, a Partner at Eaton Smith in

Huddersfi eld to fi nd out.

The BigInterview


Originally from Edinburgh, Chris joined Eaton Smith ten years ago last month. Not initially a law student, he graduated from Huddersfi eld University with a BSc Honours degree. “My course originally pointed me towards healthcare management,” he explained, “but, in the end, I didn’t want to do that, so when I saw an advert for a paralegal position in 1997 I applied and was fortunate to be successful.”

That took him to Dibb Lupton Alsop (now DLA Piper). “I enjoyed the job very much. Soon after, I returned to university in Huddersfi eld to study law part time. I took the Common Professional Examination (a conversion course now known as the Graduate Diploma in Law) which I followed up with the Legal Practice Course, each lasting 2 years. There are various ways to qualify as a solicitor - it took me 7 years from entering the classroom on day one to qualifying as a solicitor. Whilst long, the route I took is not an unusual route.

“My advice for anyone interested in entering into law would be: be tenacious, the academic stages require plenty of exams so keep going and don’t give up. Prospective lawyers need lots of experience to land a good job and my advice would be to do lots of voluntary work and work experience, perhaps shadowing lawyers or barristers.”

So what does a typical day involve? “I mainly look after commercial law matters but am also involved in corporate transactions. A typical day starts around 8am and, if possible, I try to spend the fi rst hour dealing with internal, offi ce-related matters, then move on to responding to emails and carrying on with existing work and taking client calls as they come in,” he said. “I don’t need to attend court so my typical day is spent in the offi ce preparing and working on contracts and documents, which, to some, doesn’t sound interesting but, believe me, it really is! Or I may be seeing clients either in the offi ce or at their premises. It isn’t possible to predict when a day will end but more often than not it is at a normal time. I have a varied caseload involving a diverse set of industries and sectors - that variety means that I really enjoy my work. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else, Eaton Smith really is a fabulous place to work and with great clients too.”

So what does Chris think of his adopted town of Huddersfi eld? “I’ve lived in the area for 21 years now and it really is a great place to live. I met my

wife Rebecca here many years ago and it is good to see our two children grow up here. We are near some beautiful countryside and everything we need is on our doorstep.”

Chris would however like to see the fruits of the investment being put into the town. “It would be good to see all the shops populated again, especially in the centre. We have a great shopping centre, home to some of the big high street names, and many excellent arcades but more independent retailers would add to the vibrancy of the town. What I really like about Huddersfi eld is the architecture and the history of the town, being evident from the town’s buildings. Lifting your eyes from the pavement allows you to see some wonderful details and features, a step into the past.

How involved is Eaton Smith in the community? “I am particularly proud of Eaton Smith’s long involvement in Huddersfi eld and the surrounding area. Aside from our usual fundraising activities and those regularly doing Huddersfi eld Town’s Pedal for Pounds, 10K runs and grueling walks, we do a lot of community-related and “pro bono” work. We’re involved in the Kirklees Citizens Advice and Law Centre and also the Calderdale & Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance.

Various solicitors from Eaton Smith are honorary solicitors, including for the Huddersfi eld Cricket League, the Huddersfi eld Central Cricket League, for the Huddersfi eld Society for the Blind and the Emley Show Society. “One of my colleagues assists Simon on the Streets and also helps at the Methodist Mission Café. We have a Voluntary Police Special Constable and also a volunteer and area manager for St John’s Ambulance. As are other Huddersfi eld law fi rms, we are involved with the Uganda Law Society through the Uganda Twinning Group. One of our Partners will be the President of the Huddersfi eld Law Society from November this year.

“We have been running our Business of the Month and the Business of the Year events for 20 years for businesses in Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefi eld and that’s a fantastic way to give exposure to great businesses in the area. We’ve also recently teamed up with Keywords Copy for the Coffee & Cake networking and business talks. We also sponsor Jonny Bairstow of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England. There is plenty of variety in our interests!”

FACT FILE:

○ Favourite food and drink: Steak & Mushroom Pie and good coff ee (not at the same time)

○ Favourite Music:Too wide a range to mention – depends on the mood!

○ Favourite Sport:Rugby (although not played for 20 years)

○ Favourite holiday destination:Canadian Rockies, especially Lake Louise

○ Guilty pleasure:As I’ve just taken up running (again!), chocolate

The BigInterview

22

•• Beauty

Changing temperatures from hot centrally heated rooms to the cold air outside play havoc with your skin and can leave it feeling dry, chapped and even sore. So winter is an important

time of year to protect and nourish your skin. It’s also a good time to hibernate indoors and feed your soul as well as your body.

A monthly facial during winter will help to hydrate and protect the top layer of your skin and at the same time will nourish the new skin cells deeper in your skin – they will then look and feel healthy when they reach the outer surface of your skin. A regular facial will ensure that your skin receives thorough attention with deep cleansing, exfoliation, massage and deep moisturisation. It’s also important to have a good homecare regime for your skin. Sometimes when we are busy, people think that there is not enough time for good skincare at home, but it only takes a few minutes a day and the benefi ts to the appearance of your skin will be more than worth the effort.

A rich moisturiser is a must for your face during the winter months – for both men and women. You may fi nd that your usual moisturising lotion is not adequate for the cold winter weather – especially if you spend time walking your dog, working outdoors or exercising outside. A richer moisturiser will help to keep your skin hydrated and protected from the cold winter air. Facial serums and oils are a must too as they will add extra nourishment to your skin, just when it needs that additional boost.

You can also use a hydrating face mask for a deeper level of protection to seal in moisture. Applying the mask whilst having a hot bath will enhance the mask’s soothing properties too – a great excuse to enjoy a long bubble bath surrounded by candles and soft music. Face masks provide essential hydration for thirsty skin at this time of year.

A good facial exfoliator used once a week will remove dry and dead skin cells, leaving your skin looking fresher and feeling soft. You can use an exfoliator in the shower to make it easier to rinse off.

A rich body butter, body exfoliator and good quality hand cream and lip balm are also essentials during winter to keep your whole body silky smooth and soft. Body brushing is also fantastic as it removes dead skin cells and only takes a couple of minutes every day before you shower. It reduces the appearance of cellulite too, so another added bonus.

Burning essential oils or aromatherapy candles is a wonderful way to lift your mood during the dark winter months. As well as helping you to feel better, essential oils have many benefi cial properties. Choose from immune strengthening lemon, mood enhancing orange, uplifting lime or healing eucalyptus.

Give yourself a lovely pampering treat at home once a week and really enjoy the sumptuous smells from your products and the silkiness of your skin after.

However you decide to protect your skin this winter, make sure that you make the most of the shorter days and dark cold evenings by really nurturing your skin and keeping it soft and healthy looking.Maxine Stead, Alexander House Spa, Huddersfi eld

PROTECTION FOR YOUR SKIN IN THE WINTER MONTHS

It’s easy to neglect your skin during winter as it’s usually covered up with woolly jumpers and trousers or tights and so it’s often hidden away. But winter is an ideal time to spoil your body and lift your spirits with some pampering, either at home or in your local spa or salon.


www.eatonsmith.co.ukEmployee Management Skills Workshops

Eaton Smith and The Personnel Partnership are continuing their successful series of practical and interactive workshops aimed at all managers with responsibility for people management or HR staff who would welcome additional skills development. Each workshop will cost £49 plus VAT and will include refreshments and all training materials.

Running a disciplinary hearing:10 November 2015 9.30am – 12.30pmThis workshop will look at all the practicalities of running a disciplinary hearing from making the arrangements, to interviewing the alleged wrong doer and ensuring that your paperwork is in order. It will also look at what could go wrong and how to keep control of the disciplinary hearing. We will consider, with case studies, what disciplinary sanctions should be imposed when and how an Employment Tribunal will review them. We will also look at the appeal process and dealing with the aftermath of a disciplinary hearing, including claims for unfair dismissal. This workshop is now full. Please contact us if you would like to attend this workshop on a future date and we will schedule this.

Attendance management: 12 January 2016 9.30am – 12.30pmAbsence management can be a thorn in the side for employers. In this workshop we will look at how absence can be managed effectively and we’ll also discuss stress in the work place, which is becoming an increasing problem for many businesses. We will use practical examples and case studies to look at both short term and long term absences, and what to do when you think an employee can no longer continue in their role. We will look at what you might want in an attendance management policy and give you the tools to create this.

Performance management:9 February 2016 9.30am – 12.30pmThis workshop will look at a strategic approach to performance management to help improve staff performance and to deal with issues at an early stage before they become unwieldy. We will look at what you might want in a performance management policy and give you lots of ideas to help you create your own or change your existing policy. We will also look at how performance management might lead to dismissal, and how it may be used to your favour in the Employment Tribunals. Back by popular demand and only one space remaining.

Restructures and Redundancy: 8 March 2016 9.30am – 12.30pmThis workshop will take a strategic look at the factors to consider when re-structuring a department or a business, and how you might go about changing an employee’s job role and their terms and conditions. We will look at some practical case studies to help you work through a best practice approach to this often difficult and emotive area. We will also take a look at lay off and short time working, and redundancy procedures including the use of “bumping” and trial periods.

Helen Straw from The Personnel Partnership - Helen is the Managing Director of The Personnel Partnership and is also a Chartered corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Helen operates at a senior level, providing HR support and advice during times of company set up, business growth, major reorganisations and deals with complex employee issues. She has developed and implemented a range of HR policies and strategies as well as managed day to day operations and developed and delivered HR training programmes across the UK for many small to medium businesses and larger blue chip companies. Helen is both pragmatic and commercially savvy.

Group booking discount: If you book 3 or more workshops in one go or book 3 or morepeople into a particular workshop you will receive a discount of 10%.

Who are your speakers?Kate Booth from Eaton Smith - Kate is a Partner with Eaton Smith and an experienced solicitor specialising in employment law, with particular interest in business acquisitions (including the TUPE Regulations), restructures and discrimination issues. Kate has been dealing with employment law issues for many businesses in and around Kirklees and nationally for the last eight years and brings with her practical examples of what can and does go wrong in the workplace and how you might address this!

For details contact Kate or Ian at [email protected] or [email protected]

24

During the 2015/16 season, Huddersfi eld Town and Staffl ex, the biggest independent recruitment company in West Yorkshire, will team up to deliver a recruitment drive never previously seen in the region.

It is a well-known fact that the recruitment industry is one of the most regulated sectors in the UK and therefore often referred to as one of the more confusing. This article, written to coincide with Living Wage Week at the beginning of November, will do little to dispel the myth. However, I will attempt to achieve two objectives:

Explain the differences in the Living Wage, the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. Encourage readers to adopt the Living Wage if they are not currently paying it.

So what are the differences?

THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE IS: £6.70 per hour - mandatory.

THE NATIONAL LIVING WAGE IS: £7.20 per hour – mandatory from April 2016

THE UK LIVING WAGE IS:£7.85 per hour (London is £9.15 per hour) – a voluntary recommended amount.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is set to be replaced in April 2016 by the National Living Wage (NLW) which is

often confused with the UK Living Wage (LW). And to add to the confusion, age matters - under 21 year olds can be paid £5.30 BUT age discrimination cannot be seen to be applied otherwise the employer is liable to prosecution.

Put simply, the National Minimum Wage is being scrapped and replaced by the National Living Wage in April 2016, which, according to the Living Wage Foundation does not go far enough:

“We are delighted that the announcement made in the Budget will see over 2.5 million workers receive a much needed pay rise. This is a massive victory for Citizens UK and those communities, workers and business leaders who have campaigned for a Living Wage since 2001. We agree with the Chancellor that work should be the surest way out of poverty. However, this announcement raises several important questions.

“Is this really a Living Wage? The Living Wage is calculated according to the cost of living whereas the Low Pay Commission calculates a rate according to what the market can bear. Without a change of remit for the Low Pay Commission this is effectively a higher National Minimum Wage and not a Living Wage.

“Secondly, what about London? We have been working with the Mayor of London for seven years and there’s a London Living Wage rate that recognises the higher costs in the capital, currently £9.15 per hour. These changes will not help the 586,000 people for whom even the

2020 rate announced today would not be enough to live on now.

“Thirdly, what about the 2 million under-25s who are not covered by this announcement? To make sure workers in London and those under 25 do not lose out, we call on employers to join the group of 1,600 organisations that have already chosen to become voluntary Living Wage employers,” Rhys Moore, director, Living Wage Foundation.

So, as a ‘responsible employer’ we recommend that the nation ignores the government’s rebranded National Minimum Wage and instead adopts

THE NATIONAL LIVING WAGE IS NOT THE SAME AS THE LIVING WAGE WHICH IS NOT THE SAME AS THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

CONFUSED?by Nadio Granata - Staffl ex Recruitment

•• Recruitment


the UK Living Wage thereby ensuring a happier, more productive and loyal workforce. Please see below some more information about the Living Wage and the Living Wage Week.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross party support.

The UK Living Wage is currently £7.85 per hour. This fi gure is set annually by

the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University.

The London Living Wage is currently £9.15 per hour. This fi gure is set annually by the Greater London Authority and covers all boroughs in Greater London.

Both voluntary Living Wage rates are paid to employees aged over 18, and are signifi cantly higher than the national minimum wage rate £6.50p/h. They go beyond the recently announced minimum wage premium for over 25’s which will be £7.20p/h from April 2016 and expected to rise to £9 p/h by 2020. The Chancellor

called this new minimum wage rate the ‘National Living Wage’.

The Living Wage Foundation accredits businesses and organisations who voluntarily sign up to pay their directly employed staff, and sub-contractors working on their premises, the Living Wage.

There are over 1,800 accredited Living Wage employers from Nationwide, Nestle and British Gas to independent breweries, hairdressers and builders merchants.

Living Wage Service providers commit to pay all their own head offi ce staff the Living Wage as part of the Recognised Service Provider Scheme agreement.

They also commit to always supply a Living Wage bid alongside every market rate submittal to all of their prospective and current clients. This means the client always has the choice to implement the Living Wage at the point of tender.

There are over 50 Living Wage Recognised Service Providers

Benefi ts of the Living Wage

Accredited businesses report that implementing the Living Wage brings signifi cant benefi ts, including:

• REDUCED ABSENTEEISM

• INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY

• INCREASED LEVELS OF STAFF RETENTION

• IMPROVED RECRUITMENT OPTIONS

• INCREASED CONSUMER AWARENESS OF COMMITMENT TO BE AN ETHICAL EMPLOYER

Living Wage Week runs from 1st – 7th November. This year the Living Wage people’s movement will be launched during Living Wage Week

For more information about Living Wage Week visit www.livingwage.org.uk

26


Various forms of marketing and PR will be used. • Press Releases to local media pre

and post event.• Facebook and Twitter Websites• 20,000 event fl yers will be produced• Radio advertising• Banners produced for display at the

event.A sponsorship proposal will be offered to key Huddersfi eld based businesses. These sponsors will become the Event Partners. Becoming an Partner would offer the following benefi ts:• Discounted Marquee presence at the

event (if required)• Branding at the event• Branding on all social media,

website and advertising fl yers• Press Releases to local media• Opportunity for fi rst refusal of

holding a similar event in 2017

The price to Partners is just £1000.00 which would become part of the £20,000 raised on the Just Giving page. If the target is not achieved, the monies would be returned (this is a Just Giving policy).

Anyone interested in getting involved, but needs to know more, please contact: [email protected] Just Giving page can be found at:

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com

/Huddersfi eldchristmasmarket

These events brought vibrancy into the town and created a reason for residents and visitors to come into Huddersfi eld and also ensured that the local economy benefi ted.

With no Festival of Light event planned for this year or in the foreseeable future, and only the regular Christmas Light Switch-On, a group of businesses decided to get together to work on bringing a Christmas Market into Huddersfi eld.

The idea is to have a Christmas Market in Huddersfi eld between 5-10 days on the lead up to Christmas. The market would consist of local and regional gift/craft exhibitors as well as local food and drink providers. Entertainment would also be supplied by local artists.

For this to happen, a Just Giving page has been set up to raise £20,000. Events of this size cost a lot of money and costs often exceed the income generated from exhibitors. For example costs are needed for: marquees, generators, cabling, cable ramps, toilets, toilet cleaning, stewards, security, lighting, skips, bins and cleansing staff. If there are any profi t left over, this would go towards another event for the town centre. Should targets not be met, monies raised would be refunded.

HUDDERSFIELD CHRISTMAS MARKETCAN BUSINESSES MAKE IT HAPPEN?The idea to hold a Christmas Market in Huddersfi eld came as a result of the success of the Food Festival and the Big Screen Weekends, both of which were held in the Square.


TEL: 07711 539047


•• Health

DOES BACK PAIN AFFECT YOU?Back pain aff ects one in three people each year. And yet two-fi fths of people have done nothing to protect their backs, which has rocketed the number of sick days in the workplace.

Commonly, back pain is often a result of the ageing process. Prevention is always better than the cure, which is why it is important to ensure that your posture is correct and you are maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Simple changes to your daily routine can have a major impact towards improving your back health.

○ Posture

Poor posture can put additional stress on your spine. It can also contribute to issues with the muscles surrounding the spine, including the neck. Good posture helps to minimize the stress on your spine.

○ Dehydration

As simple as it may sound, dehydration can also impact highly on back pain, as the spinal intervertebral disc is a gel – like a substance that acts as a spacing mechanism between the vertebrae of the spine and the nerves. As these discs dehydrate – or lose fl uid - they begin to bulge outward, pushing against the vertebrae, which in turn push the vertebrae next to it, which causes the pain.

○ Sitting for long periods of time

It’s surprising how much of a positive impact regular breaks can have on your back. Just a short walk around the offi ce or outside for some fresh air will ease the pain on joints.

○ Carrying extra weight

At some point in our lives we can experience issues with our weight. Putting on those extra pounds can lead to increased back pain. It puts added pressure on the spine, joints and muscles.

○ Exercise

Exercise keeps the muscles and joints fl exible. However, doing exercises the wrong way can also hurt your back. Have you been overdoing it? It may be better to switch to other routines or enlist the help of a trainer to teach you the right way to execute the routines.

○ Sleeping

How long has it been since you’ve replaced your mattress? If you’re waking up with numbness, aches and pains all over your body, and if you don’t feel refreshed even after sleeping, it may be time to buy a new one. You may also need to consider your pillow, is it time for a refresh?If your back pain continues seek professional help.

28


DIGITAL AGENCY COMPLETES ITS FIRST CHARITY CHALLENGE

Pictured: Team Digital Velocity: Richard Taylor-Jones, Tom Kemp, David Ford and Chris Murphy.

One of Huddersfi eld’s newest businesses has completed its fi rst charity event raising £1,500 for Candlelighters to support children with cancer and their families.

Four members of the Digital Velocity team took part in the Manchester 100 this month, completing the gruelling course in seven hours.

Development Director Chris Murphy said: “When we launched the business earlier this year we all agreed that corporate social responsibility would be an important part of our ethos and we wanted to set the bar

high with our fi rst event.”

The Manchester 100, or Great Century Ride, is a demanding route that starts and fi nishes at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester and takes in 100 miles of Cheshire scenery.

Digital director David Ford, who organised the event with Chris, added: “This was the fi rst of many charity and community events which will give our growing team a chance to have fun out of the offi ce as well as raising plenty of money for good causes.”

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We’ve all heard that before. A deal, be it a house sale or a factory falls through because the valuer down-valued it causing the bank to revise (or retract) its off er of a loan. Really? Did the valuer down-value the building to such an extent that it was the sole cause of deal failure?

As a valuer for more than 30 years it has been a cause of no little frustration that as a group we get such blame. It is certainly true that some valuations I have seen leave much to be desired but there is much misunderstanding as to what a valuation is, how it is arrived at and how it should be used.

We are industrial and commercial valuers. We spend our waking hours looking at, measuring, describing and comparing buildings which in some cases are disparate in nature. Over a period of a professional life spent in a specifi c area one gets to see most (I can’t say all) buildings and many more than once; but familiarity with the buildings and area is not enough. A full and thorough understanding of the macro-economic and political factors affecting property must be known. It may sound highfalutin but we

are Land Economists (indeed many chartered surveyors have Land Economics degrees, as do I) and we must understand economic trends as well as any banker, accountant or fi nancial adviser at least how such may affect property and specifi cally how it affects property in the market where the valuer operates.

A valuation is not a rubber stamping exercise. It is a professional opinion based upon experience, local knowledge and an understanding of where the building sits in the context of the market as it is at the date of valuation.

However, we are asked, usually by the banks, for our “evidence” in support of our valuations. Evidence, both rental and capital evidence is generated from completed transactions. There is a hierarchy of evidence with deals done by one or ones fi rm being the best evidence and hearsay of a deal from a third party unrepresented in a transaction you have no direct involvement with being the weakest. Arbitration evidence is almost worthless.

But being “evidence” means that at the point it was used, it is already historic and can therefore be challenged. Don’t get me wrong, evidence is extremely important in the valuation process but it is not the only input especially if, for whatever reason, the market becomes volatile. It is the interpretation of the market of which the evidence is one factor which is important.

15 September 2008, Lehman Day (7 years to the day) is a day burnt into the hearts of many. I have been in seminars in the intervening period going over the entrails of that day when the consequences of the banking crisis began to affect us all. There had been warning signs a year earlier

(14 September 2007 when Northern Rock applied for and received a liquidity support facility from the Bank of England), but it was generally acknowledged that any valuation undertaken after 15 September 2008 not having regard to the banking crisis crystalized by Lehman Brothers would or could be negligent. But whilst these global events are obvious, more subtle and local infl uences can easily be missed.

Valuations are relied upon for decision making, usually involving large sums of money and it makes sense, therefore, for the appreciation of where a valuation lies, with the early appointment of a valuer in the process, rather than expecting the rubber stamping of a decision made. That valuation advice should be given with known market evidence and a thorough knowledge of the context in which the valuation is given.

But going back to the failed deal; there may be eight parties directly involved in the transaction; buyer, seller, seller’s agent, buyer’s surveyor, seller’s solicitor, buyer’s solicitor, mortgagee, mortgagees valuer and mortgagees solicitor. It can be more if pension funds or other institutions get involved but any one of these parties can infl uence the transaction.

So to avoid disappointment my advice when borrowing funds for any acquisition is to put pressure on the lenders to instruct local expertise in the valuation process. Then one is at least reasonably assured of accuracy based upon local knowledge and experience. If a valuation so carried out “disappoints” that should generate a conversation between lender and valuer rather than “computer says no” response.

Hanson Chartered Surveyors was established in October 1989, by Mark Hanson BSc FRICS to service the needs of clients expecting direct and uncomplicated advice

•• Property Matters

“THE VALUATION WAS THE PROBLEM”

30

•• Charity

IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL FOR STAFFLEXHuddersfi eld fi rm Staffl ex are used to fi nding jobs for teachers across Kirklees, but it is back to school for Staffl ex themselves next month as they sponsor the fairandfunky One World Week Conference for Schools

The conference, held at Holmfi rth Methodist Church on 14th October, brings together Primary Schools from across Kirklees to discover how we are all connected by the food we eat. Delegates will explore local and global food sustainability issues through interactive workshops involving creative arts, real life stories, and treasure hunts from fairandfunky, Stirley Farm, and Liberation Nuts.

The Conference, entitled ‘Food For Thought’ celebrates One World Week from both local and global perspectives with Huddersfi eld based Stirley Farm

working alongside Liberation Nuts – a London based Fairtrade business working directly with nut farmers in Africa and South America.

“The conference connects children to the food they eat; from farm to fork,” Helen Robinson, conference organiser and director of fairandfunky explains, “Our Conference Partners help fund the workshops giving local schools access to national workshop providers with global stories, we couldn’t do it without them!”

“Staffl ex has been monitoring the progress of fairandfunky for some time now. They are passionate about what they do and offer a unique and highly engaging means of educating their young audiences.” Nadio Granata, head of marketing from Staffl ex explains, “We are very happy to be supporting them and genuinely look forward to working even more closely with them in the future; a future which is bright green!”

Staffl ex join Social Progress and Traidcraft as Conference Partner Sponsors and will join in the conference over lunch where they’ll also be invited to sample school dinners and take part in the fairandfunky rice challenge!

fairandfunky is a local Community Interest Company co-founded by Helen Robinson and Sophie Bebb. Empowering people to take little steps to change the world, fairandfunky delivers interactive and creative workshops on global themes to schools and community groups.

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VICTORY FOR MIKE IN CHALLENGE FOR HOSPICEMike Robinson from TopicUK sponsors Associated Waste Management has, for the second time, taken part in the Great North Run on behalf of the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfi eld.

“Last year I completed the run in one hour 51 minutes,” Mike told us. This year, I ranked 5185th out of 57,000 runners as I took part with my wife Jenny and friend Shona Richardson.”

The Great North Run is the World’s largest half marathon, 13.1 miles from Newcastle, through Gateshead and fi nishing in South Shields.

Together it is estimated the 65 Forget Me Not runners have raised in excess of £18,000.

The 6th annual Midnight Walk saw almost 1,000 people taking to the streets of Calderdale to take on the challenge.

Charity organisers say this made it the biggest Midnight Walk they have ever seen. The 984 walkers had the choice of taking a six or 13 mile route, both of which were kept a secret until the night.

Heather Nuttall, Associate at Ramsdens Elland offi ce commented: “I regularly visit the Hospice and see for myself the vital work they do. Many of my clients will comment on the superb care that has been provided to family and friends by Overgate. The Midnight Walk gave an opportunity to raise funds in a fun and enjoyable way. We were lucky with the weather and it was a bright and starry, and most importantly, dry night.

"There was a great atmosphere setting off from the Leisure Centre and whilst it was slow going at fi rst because of the sheer numbers as soon as we began the fi rst uphill climb the walkers thinned out. It was an interesting route, up through Illingworth and then across to Mixenden and Mount Tabor then coming back along Stocks Lane down into Luddenden Foot and back along Burnley Road into Halifax. We met the

last few of the Saturday night revellers meandering their way home in the early hours and got to North Bridge for a well-earned cup of tea and bacon sandwich at quarter to four.

"Thanks to my walking companion Cheryl and her fabulous dog Basil for the encouragement, especially over the last couple of miles! It was a great experience – looking forward to doing it again next year!”

Michael Robinson, solicitor at the Halifax offi ce and team organiser said: “It is a pleasure to support and raise funds for a local charity. The fi rm as a whole raise a lot of money for charity and colleagues across all ten offi ces gladly give up their spare time to support such great causes. The Midnight Walk is special as individuals from the local community will benefi t from the money raised and as a West Yorkshire fi rm, it is important that we support the local communities and charities. It has already been mooted that we will take part next year and we want to beat our target. #RamsdensCSR.”

Over 100 volunteers gave their time to support the hospice’s biggest event of the year, which is estimated to raise £50,000.

RAMSDENS TAKE A WALK IN THE DARK FOR CHARITYA team of 10 walkers from Ramsdens Solicitors took part in Overgate Hospice’s annual Midnight Walk in September raising a whopping £680.

32

•• News Round Up•• Wakefi eld Business Week•• Music

LET’S ROCK HUDDERSFIELD

Monotones began life as students attending the Barnsley campus of the University of Huddersfi eld. It was only whilst entering their third year of an undergraduate degree in Popular Music that the four became friends; Paul and Matt being housemates, suggesting that Luke and Martyn join them to form a function band.

Both Luke and Martyn claim that they had signed up to the University of Huddersfi eld’s Popular Music degree on the strength of its academic reputation. However, neither were totally convinced that the Barnsley Campus, forty minutes down the road from Huddersfi eld, was the ideal place for them to cut their teeth in the music industry. They recalled the bemused responses they had when they answered the question, “Where will you be studying for your Popular Music degree?” with, “Barnsley”. Kes, coal mines and Dicky Bird often featured in the ensuing jibing.

Now, with three years of study and two years of performing all over the North of the country under their belts, they seem

assured that their initial trepidation was ill-founded. They now feel that Barnsley has a lot to offer when it comes to music and broader culture. One example of said offerings is Live in Barnsley – a day of live music which takes place across the town centre with almost all of the bars and clubs packed to the rafters with revellers from across the region.

Monotones have played at the festival for two years running and even took to the stage for this year’s fi nale along with other local legends of the music scene. All four of the line-up agreed that there is camaraderie and a sense of community which comes from playing music in a small town not typically pinned on the musical map. With this communal element comes contacts, friends and a groundswell of support from local musicians and venue owners. In fact, one venue owner enjoyed the band so much that he gifted them a full PA system in exchange for performing at his venue. An offer any fl edgling band would fi nd impossible to turn down!

As well as being won-over by the local

music scene, the boys were highly impressed by the university campus’ recording and rehearsal facilities, making the most of them at every opportunity. They say that it was there they spent their fi rst few months as a band honing their craft and building up a diverse repertoire of songs. The supportive nature of the teaching staff at the campus was another great contribution to the initial success of the band, with them being allowed to perform together in academic assessments as well as outside of the classroom. It was only the impending closure of the campus in 2015, and the lack of real connection with the main Huddersfi eld campus – in terms of events taking place there – which Monotones felt could have been improved upon to enhance their university experience.

Despite playing at venues all over the North of the country, Monotones have a lasting connection with both Huddersfi eld and Barnsley and feel that their humbled beginnings have made them work for the loyal following of well-wishers and fans that they have built over two joyous years.

Monotones are a four-piece band hailing from Scarborough, Barnsley, Huddersfi eld, and Blackburn. They have recently celebrated their two year anniversary of gigging as a live function band with a string of shows at York Racecourse and various summer festivals across the region.


•• Education

ASSOCIATED WASTE MANAGEMENT AWARDED CALDERDALE CONTRACT

TopicUK sponsor Associated Waste Management (AWM) are delighted that following a competitive tender process, Calderdale Council have awarded them a contract to provide the Authority with recycling and waste disposal services commencing in October for 9 years with an 8 year extension.

AWM, has sites throughout Leeds, Bradford and Calderdale. They employ over 250 full time staff and handle 500,000 tonnes of waste annually. An investment led technology driven strategy has enabled the business to deliver a range of clients with vastly improved recycling capabilities whilst championing the delivery of waste to energy. AWM sit within the top 10 exporters of waste to energy in the UK, diverting 160,000 tonnes in 2014.

AWM’s Business Development Director commented “We provide waste management and related services to fi ve local authorities in the North of England with over 2500 contracts for services with commercial clients. We are delighted to have been awarded this contract, which represents one of the largest the business has won. We have previously worked with Calderdale Council, helping to manage their landfi ll diversion rates from 41% in 2010 to more than 60% in 2015. Our aim is to further improve this and to reach 100% through improved recycling, investment in technology and the full utilisation of our partnership with the newly commissioned Ferrybridge Multifuel incinerator.” Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, Cllr Barry Collins, said: “Waste collection and disposal is one of the services provided by the Council that residents value the most. It’s vital that we

can provide services that are both effi cient and cost effective. “The Council has to make massive savings over the next few years; these contracts will not only offer an improved service and greater effi ciency, but also bring down cost and exceed the saving expectations for the waste service.”

The new contracts will deliver a number of improvements from next year for Calderdale Council, with new technology being used to offer a more reliable service and the introduction of new, state of the art vehicles, with a greater capacity, more recycling options and improved health and safety functions. If all this wasn’t enough, the new service will also offer greater value for money and realise signifi cant savings for the Council in future year.For more information about AWM call: 0845 4567128 or Email: [email protected].

34


The European Court of Justice has recently handed down a decision relating to workers who do not have a fi xed place of work involving implications for many businesses.

The case was brought by a group of technicians who did not have a fi xed place of work. They were assigned an area to carry out installation or maintenance and would be told where they would be going on each particular day. On some days their fi rst or last appointments may have been up to 100km away from their home.

The employer considered that the fi rst journey of the day from home to the fi rst assignment and the last journey of the day from the last assignment to home was not working time. Indeed, this follows the non-statutory guidance issued by the Government on the same issue.

The workers considered that this should be deemed as working time on the basis that they did not have a fi xed place of work.

The European Court of Justice reviewed the legislation on working time which, in the United Kingdom, is the Working Time Regulations 1998. This states that: “working time involves any period during which the employee is at work, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out their activity or duties.”

The decision of the ECJ was that time spent travelling to a fi rst destination from home and from a last destination to home should be counted as working time. The workers were deemed to be carrying out their duties when travelling to a fi rst client because they had no fi xed place or offi ce to go to

beforehand. They were at the employer’s disposal because they were legally obliged to obey the instructions given to travel to a particular place at a particular time and the employees could not use their time freely or pursue their own interests during this travel time.

Finally, they were deemed to be at work as, having no fi xed place of work, the journey itself amounted to work.

It is important to note that the decision impacts on working time for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations 1998. This means that such travel time for mobile workers must be included when determining whether an employee has been afforded the opportunity of adequate rest breaks and daily rest periods.

There is also a limit on working time of 48 hours each week and employers should review whether such travel time exceeds this limit. If it does, employers should ensure that an adequate opt-out is signed allowing employees to work in excess of 48 hours.

Some commentators have argued that the decision also impacts on the minimum wage legislation. It is suggested that such travel time should now be counted for the purpose of assessing whether an employee has been paid the minimum wage. At this time, the ruling does not extend this far, as the National Minimum Wage Regulations provide a different defi nition of working time. Nevertheless, this may be litigated on in the future and employers should be mindful of this going forward.

THE ROLE OF HR IN DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

Each issue Chadwick Lawrence, Yorkshire’s Legal People share with TopicUK & Close UP

readers information to keep us all within the law. If you have a legal question, or need

to know about a particular subject, email [email protected] and we’ll get Chadwick

Lawrence to answer it for you!

•• Legal Matters

IMPORTANT RULING ON TRAVEL TIME AND MOBILE WORKERS

picUK & Close UP

question, or need

’ll get Chadwick

A recent case before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the fairness of a dismissal in circumstances where the decision maker was heavily infl uenced by input from the human resources department.

It has long been established that procedural fairness will exist where separate personnel are used at each stage of the disciplinary process. Ideally, once an investigation is conducted, this is then passed to a separate, more senior offi cer to handle the disciplining and sanctioning of an employee. Often, many employers will seek advice through their human resources department to assist with an investigation and to ensure that all matters have been addressed. In the case before the EAT, an employee complained that HR had effectively led the disciplinary process and


The Court of Appeal has once again emphasised that an Employment Tribunal should not substitute its own view of what it considers that an employer should have done in cases of misconduct.

It should rather determine whether the decision of an employer to dismiss for misconduct was within what is known as the ‘band of reasonable responses.’ At one end of this band will be a very lenient employer and at the other will be a harsh employer. As long as an employer can show that the decision to dismiss fell within this band, dismissal is potentially fair.

In the case of Newbound v Thames Water Utilities Limited, Mr Newbound was dismissed for gross misconduct after 34 years of previous unblemished service.

Mr Newbound was dismissed for failure to follow health & safety procedures which Thames Water Utilities Limited said put himself and a colleague in unnecessary danger which could have resulted in serious injuries or fatalities.

At the Employment Tribunal, the Judge held that, in the circumstances, no reasonable employer would have dismissed Mr Newbound and that the decision to terminate his employment had been perverse.

This was overturned by the Employment Appeals Tribunal which substituted a fi nding that Mr Newbound’s dismissal for not wearing breathing apparatus within a sewer was fair. The Appeals Tribunal believed that the Employment Judge had failed to consider the gravity with which Thames Water viewed the misconduct and had substituted his views, rather than considering whether Thames Water had acted unreasonably. Mr Newbound appealed.

The Court of Appeal restored the Employment Judge’s decision. The Judge had been entitled to reach a conclusion that no reasonable employer would have dismissed Mr Newbound in the circumstances. The Employment Appeals Tribunal should not have interfered with this decision. The Court of Appeal disagreed with Thames Water that an Employment Tribunal should give a very wide margin on discretion to employers on health and safety.

There are no special rules about assessing the reasonableness of a dismissal where the alleged gross misconduct involves a breach of health and safety requirements. The Court of Appeal believed that Thames Water was attempting to stretch the band of reasonable responses to an infi nite width.

This case highlights that it is important for employers to consider the band of reasonable responses test when making a decision to dismiss and also highlights that any cases which are appealed do not resolve themselves quickly.

Despite the fact that Employment Tribunals were set up to provide speedy resolution of cases, this claim took nearly four years to resolve and would no doubt have incurred signifi cant costs, legal expenses and, crucially, down time for the business whilst the claim went through the Employment Tribunal and appellate Courts.

CHALLENGE TO EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL FEES DISMISSED

infl uenced the sanction by straying into the area of culpability.

Although the employee’s claim failed before the Employment Tribunal, the EAT allowed his appeal on the basis that the intervention by HR in the case was excessive. It was found that the original investigatory report was changed signifi cantly by HR and many comments which were once favourable to the employee were removed and replaced with critical comments. HR took a view on the employee’s culpability and should not have done so. The EAT held that the role of HR should be limited to questions of law, procedure and process and they should not advise on an appropriate sanction other than to comment on the consistency of treatment with previous cases.

On this basis, the excessive involvement of HR in the process compromised the fairness of the procedure as a whole and this could result in an unfair dismissal. Investigating and disciplinary offi cers must be given the freedom to prepare reports and make decisions based on those reports with assistance but not overbearing infl uence from their HR teams.


TEL: 07711 539047

36

01484 519 999

Employment LawChadwick Lawrence offer a complete employment law management solution for small and

medium size businesses throughout Yorkshire that is thorough, reliable and cost effective. Our team of employment law specialists have, through their years of experience, developed a range of

range of services are available.


A group of award winning Brighouse business owners have joined forces to open a new coff ee shop that will provide the ideal destination for business lunches and informal business meetings.

Located at the town’s new Thornhill Brigg Mills offi ce development, Big Shots Coffee Co was offi cially opened on 19 August by Calderdale MP Craig Whittaker.

The launch saw more than 200 business people, clients and local councillors visit the new coffee shop to see the 500 square foot space - which is kitted out with meeting essentials including phone chargers, spare stationery and free Wi-Fi.

Following the cutting of the ribbon by Mr Whittaker MP, guests sampled a selection of sandwiches, salads and cakes that will be available at the café from locally sourced suppliers.

Big Shots is the brainchild of a collective of local businesses which include Sleigh & Story Accountants, Faith PR, Yorkshire Payments, Henderson Property and Hebden Bridge based painting pottery cafe Flying Saucers. Between them,

the businesses have scooped nine Brighouse Echo Business Awards.

The launch event marked the end of a 12 month redevelopment period of the previously derelict 218 year old former textile mill, which was converted into an offi ce complex after being acquired by Henderson Property in summer 2014.

Speaking about the local employment opportunities that the coffee shop has created, Faith PR director and Big Shots partner Carl Hopkins said: “Opening Big Shots has allowed us to create two new jobs for people from the local area, and we also plan to recruit more staff when the business is up and running. We believe it will become a real hub of activity and an asset to the business community in Brighouse.”

Big Shots partner Graeme Henderson of Henderson Property added: “Having overseen the redevelopment of Thornhill Brigg Mill since last summer, it is fantastic that the building is now restored to its former glory. What’s more, Big Shots provides a space where we can now welcome other local people and businesses to develop ideas and relationships over a delicious cup of coffee!”

WEST YORKSHIRE ENTREPRENEURS LAUNCH NEW ‘BUSINESS’ CAFÉ

Elland-based ABS UK Ltd, which provides document production and print and document management to a variety of SMEs across the north of England, supported Steve Hosker, a fi eld service engineer at the fi rm, who went on exercise in Nanyuki near Nairobi in September to provide training support to the British Army Training Unit Kenya – (BATUK).

BATUK is a permanent training support unit which provides logistic support to visiting units and consists of around 56 permanent staff and reinforcing short tour cohort of another 110 personnel.As a fi eld service technician at ABS UK Ltd, Steve covers a patch of around 300 machines and assesses and fi xes any faults that occur with the machinery. This experience has proved vital in his role in the Army Reserve where he is responsible for maintaining and repairing various pieces of military equipment. The process of identifying and tracing a fault in the equipment is a key skill in Steve’s day job at ABS UK Ltd.As part of the mission, Steve supported the local community, something that ABS UK Ltd strongly believes in. In 2013, the fi rm set up a charitable arm, The ABS Foundation, to support charities all over the world and to help improve the lives of those less fortunate.David Lees, CSR and Marketing Director at ABS UK Ltd said: “Steve’s work in the Army Reserve is admirable and we are very supportive. Our company employs personnel from all backgrounds and we are extremely encouraging of employees who want to take part in charitable or community initiatives. “In October fi ve employees, including myself, are due to embark on an eight day mission of our own to Sri Lanka to help the Eliya Children’s Home which we support through the ABS Foundation. It will be a once in a lifetime experience and we can’t wait to get out there.”

LOCAL FIRM SUPPORTS THEIR EMPLOYEE ARMY RESERVIST ON A MISSION IN KENYA

38

•• Wining and Dining

Ingredients:

• 1 each of 6 different varieties of tomatoes

• 1 medium sweet potato peeled• 1 medium Maris Piper potato

peeled• 1 onion peeled• salt and pepper• drizzle of olive oil• 2 sprigs of fresh or dried thyme• 1 litre vegetable stock

For the pesto

• 1 pkt fresh basil• 100g cobnuts, hazelnuts or pine

nuts• (cobnuts are grown here in Great

Britain. They are a member of the hazelnut family)

• 100g grated parmesanolive oil

Place all the above ingredients in a blender: It should be the consistency of a smooth paste that will drizzle easily off the spoon.•

ients:

ach of 6 different varieties of

Janet and Simon Baker opened the doors to Gimbals Restaurant in 1995 with the aim of bringing simple but sumptuous, seasonal food to the quaint Yorkshire village of Sowerby Bridge, and that remains their passion today.

The cooking at Gimbals is modern yet rustic using wild, organic, locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, which adds a Yorkshire earthiness to the fayre.

They create honest dishes, inspired by both classic and more unusual fl avour combinations, brought together by the skills of their talented chefs. Janet has a fl air for decor and her show stopping fi nds, such as an actual Blackpool illumination, help to create a seductively decadent restaurant atmosphere and a unique upstairs lounge area. Here one can enjoy artisan cocktails with friends, relax on a chesterfi eld with an aperitif or sink into a sofa with an after dinner coffee.

Whatever the occasion, Gimbals promises to create a truly special evening for you.

This issue Janet has provided our readers with a beautiful tomato soup and as usual we have asked a member of the business community to make the dish and let us know how they got on.

For those of you who would like to have a go at making the dish for yourself, we have listed the full recipe and all the ingredients you will need.

If you would like to take part in a future wining and dining feature, drop us a line at [email protected] or ring Gill on 07711 539047.

Welcome to our regular wining and dining feature where each issue we team up with a restaurant to bring you a recipe to try. This issue, this beautiful soup has been sent to us by Gimbals Restaurant, 74 Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge.

Method

Roughly chop the onion, tomatoes, sweet potato and Maris Piper potato.Mix in a roasting tin with the oive oil and the thyme, salt and pepper.

Cover with foil and place in a medium oven for 1/2 hour. Remove the foil, put back in the oven for a further 1/4 hour until the potatoes are soft and everything is well roasted. Remove the sprigs of thyme. Leave to cool.

Once cooked place in a blender and add the vegeta-ble stock. You may need to do this in batches.

Here at Gimbals we don’t strain the soup as we think it loses some of its fl avour but you can do if you want a really smooth soup. Add the soup to a pan to reheat. Ladle into bowls with a dollop of pesto in each one. Serve with chunks of warm crusty bread.

The soup freezes well and any remaining pesto will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

The Government and ACE have acknowledged the imbalance, but

argue that it is because the major national institutions are based

or who can afford it. The report also points out that had Londoners won a comparably disproportionate number of Lottery prizes compared to people

in the rest of England, equivalent to

TopicUK proud to be working with... Market street Huddersf ie ld

ROASTED6 T o m a t o S o u p


I am sure that I am not the fi rst person to confess to having an inner Mary Berry, that rises to the surface as soon a new series of the Great British Bake Off begins! So when Gill from Topic UK asked if I fancied having a go at Eric’s desert, I willingly accepted the challenge!

That said, with life getting in the way from achieving a calm, collected and organised cooking environment, I found myself the supermarket at 5am and cooking at 6am on a Wednesday morning! This I am positive, is not how Mary accomplishes a ‘good bake’!

However, with my team of trusty colleagues ready and waiting to judge my attempts at Eric’s creation, I set too it. Armed with my Grandmas pie dish for good luck and Eric’s recipe, I took a deep breath and prayed my inner Mary would guide me to greatness.

Firstly I better say, that this has got to be one of the easiest recipes I have followed in quite some time – Thanks Eric! I am a big fan of throw everything in a dish and it working – and although mine did not look exactly like Eric’s, it did work!

The trickiest bit I found, was trying to fashion the ‘foil shield’ around my dish half way through cooking, this I will have to master later. I also was not expecting the mixture to rise as much as it did whilst cooking, so if anyone attempts the recipe keep this mind (and don’t freak out when looking into the cooker!)

Once I removed the Clafoutis from the oven, Eric’s instructions were to let the desert cool in the dish for 15 minutes. Again (apologies Eric), but for my eager bunch of tasters this actually resulted in 45 minutes in the car, but it did travel well – thank goodness!

The ladies at National Business College welcomed the desert happily, and were quite impressed with my effort. They liked everything about it and were forthcoming with suggestions of me making individual deserts for them with different fruits........ Thanks Eric (I think?)

Overall, I would recommend even the most nervous of cooks having a go at this recipe. You literally can’t go wrong, and unlike some other recipe’s you do not need ingredients you have never heard of, most things were already in the cupboard at home. Happy baking everyone!

THANKS TO ERIC, FIONA IS THE NEW MARY BERRYTaking up the recipe challenge from last issue is Fiona Woods, Recruitment Offi cer at the National Business College in Huddersfi eld.


TEL: 07711 539047

40


The three new clients are Hebden Bridge’s storage experts, Craggs Country Business Park, fellow Brighouse business, Arrow Coaches, and Honley-based Bronte Water.

Dan Holmes, director at Craggs Country Business Park said: “The self-storage and managed offi ce space areas of our business have been experiencing good growth and we needed to leave outdated payment methods like cheques behind. We were looking for a cutting edge virtual payment platform and after a pretty keenly fought three-way pitch it was Yorkshire Payments that clearly stood out. The technology for virtual payments was streets ahead of the competition and much more effi cient. The system was up and running in less than a couple of weeks and it’s been such an easy and smooth process. Technical support is hugely responsive and it just feels we’ve secured a really comfortable business relationship.”

Arrow Coaches’ director, Julie Jessop, is equally impressed adding: “We previously used Worldpay but as our volume of business increases, we wanted to raise effi ciencies without greater costs. With Yorkshire Payments’ new

virtual terminal we’ve actually managed to signifi cantly reduce our costs and have the huge benefi t of no longer being tied to a card machine. We can now take payments anywhere, which as a coach operator, is very useful. Having a local Yorkshire provider was also an appealing prospect as we like to buy local. We no longer have to deal with call centre queues - we have one point of contact and feel like a valued customer.”

Yorkshire Payments teamed up with Honley-based Bronte Water in a old-fashioned, mutually benefi cial business deal. Harking back to the days of bartering, the partnership sees Yorkshire Payments supply the local leading water cooler business with a virtual terminal to take payments online and in return will receive supplies of water coolers for its expanding offi ces.

Diane Saville, director at Bronte Water has seen a considerable fi nancial saving since using Yorkshire Payments’ online processing platform and is very pleased with the additional benefi ts Yorkshire Payments system has brought in comparison to their previous card payments supplier.

“Bronte Water had used a different virtual payments company for many years,” said Diane, “but Yorkshire Payments’ system has signifi cantly better, user friendly features. For example, if there is an issue, it doesn’t automatically decline a payment but gives you chance to go back in and check that details are correct. Furthermore, it tells you why a payment has been declined so you have a second opportunity to correct the information which is helpful.

“Previously when dealing with card payment companies, we have been passed around and were never able to speak to same person twice. However, we have a strong relationship with our account manager in the support team at Yorkshire Payments and he knows and understands us and our account.”

Founder and managing director of Yorkshire Payments, James Howard said: “We’re proud to support local companies. We’ve grown substantially since our formation in 2011 but we’re not just about quick wins, we want to develop long-term relationships, such as these with fellow local companies, and beyond.”

It pays to keep it localHat-trick of client wins for Yorkshire Payments

Yorkshire’s only independently licensed card payment company, Brighouse-based Yorkshire Payments, has scored a hat-trick of new clients. The recent wins see the award-winning fi rm working with a variety of Yorkshire businesses in sectors which include storage, transport and offi ce supplies.


A boutique mobile app company, celebrating 10 years in business, is set for further expansion over the next fi ve years. With offi ces in Huddersfi eld and London, Common Agency has been a service-based organisation since it was established in 2005.

However, big plans to capitalise on the mobile revolution will see the entrepreneurial company reinvest £250,000 of profi ts over the next 18 months. The objective is to fuel further diversifi cation through the launch of two new products, which will be offered alongside Common’s existing professional services.

This new direction follows an exciting decade for Common. At the time of inception, in October 2005, founder Ben Childs was worried he was entering the world of mobile design too late. But it soon became apparent that, whilst technology was evolving at a rapid pace, the wider business community wasn’t actually ready. He said: “I did some fantastic design work for companies such as Orange and HTC, but beyond that, most brands were pretty fearful of all things mobile.

“However, in 2010 I had a chance meeting with experienced retailer and self-confessed technology afi cionado Simon Howship. We met for lunch the next day, realised we shared a passion for the potential of mobile apps and the rest, as they say, is history. We decided to reposition Common as a dedicated mobile app design and development business and Simon became my

business partner and MD of the reshaped company.”

In the fi ve years that followed, Common developed a strong foothold in the world of high volume transactional native apps for the retail industry. Having worked for notable clients including Moonpig, PhotoBox and Cow & Gate, Common has launched Android and iOS apps in 16 countries, in 10 different languages, and with more than 30 million downloads and updates from the app store to date. In the same period, the workforce has grown from fi ve to 12, and turnover has grown by more than 500%.

Refl ecting on the company’s evolution, Simon commented: “We have a lot to be proud of when we look at Common’s journey to date. We took a brave decision in 2010 to solely focus on native mobile app development, and that decision has paid off. Our headquarters remains at The Media Centre in Huddersfi eld, where the company has been based from the outset, but the technically connected world allows us to work with clients in London and beyond.

“We’ve stayed true to our mobile focus too. Rather than trying to be one of many ‘super agencies’ in the region, we’ve chosen instead to work with expert ‘partners’ – the ‘Common Collective’ – when we need to complement our in-house expertise or skills.

“And this will stand us in good stead for further growth. Typically 86% of consumers’ time on smartphones is spent in apps, whilst only 14% is spent on mobile websites. Consumers are also more likely to transact via an app, than

they are on mobile web. Yet despite Barclays’ statistics which forecast that mobile spend will rocket from £9.7bn to £53bn by 2025, 68% of retailers still have no m-commerce strategy. By investing heavily in more development, and new skill sets, we’re positioning ourselves to take an even bigger slice of the market.”

Rather than moving away from the development of bespoke native mobile apps for retail, Common will complement this service with the alternative of a best practice retail app product – RAPP – a solution designed to break down the barriers and simplify retailers’ decision to embark on an app strategy.

Whilst RAPP has been soft launched online, Common’s second product is being kept fi rmly under wraps, for now. Simon concludes: “Our £250,000 profi t reinvestment in less than two years will further develop our already successful business and enable us to incubate our new product offerings. This is the start of a very exciting next decade for Common.”

HUDDERSFIELD APP AGENCY EYES FURTHER EXPANSION FOLLOWING A DECADE IN BUSINESS

42

•• Sport

This facility allows our fans to watch the latest news in the world of football, whilst allowing businesses opportunities for companies to advertise their wares to a captive audience.

Another technical advance the Club has made is the offi cial HTAFC App – “Town Square”. Take a look for yourself – simply search Town Square into Google Play or the App Store and download it for free. The app allows you to keep up to date with the latest news from the Club, as well as live scores, tables and stats from the Premiership and Football League. It links up with the club’s Twitter feeds as well so that you can keep up to date with social media. We have developed the App with Club Partner Worthington Brown and already over 5,000 fans have downloaded it.

Events wise, we are delighted to

announce we have another Fireworks Night at PPG Canalside on the evening of Sunday 25 October - over 2000 people attended last year’s event and we are expecting even more this time! This is sure to be a popular event. We are also having a New Year’s Eve party at PPG Canalside and a 1979/80 Promotion Team Reunion; contact Katie Barraclough at the Club on 01484 484183.

"We have some big games coming up on the pitch, and I’d encourage any business to come and sample what Huddersfi eld Town is all about. Our Ever Group Enterprise Suite hosts over 100 business contacts on a match day, and is a great way to network and meet fellow companies. Please contact Tracy Nelson at the Club on 01484 484141 for any further information."Sean Jarvis, Commercial Director

THE SKYBET CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON HAS STARTED IN EARNESTI am delighted to announce that HTTV (Huddersfi eld Town Television) is now live and is running on our match days at the John Smith’s Stadium and also at PPG Canalside, the Club’s Training Complex.


CELEBRATING 15 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Would the flexibilityof reduced fixed costs

be useful?If so….help keep your costs down by using our reliable temp staff as & when you need them

If you would like more information, or assistance, call us on 01484 351010 email: [email protected]

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Amar Hussain, commercial director of Orchard Energy, provides top tips on how businesses can maximise their energy effi ciency.

Many businesses are failing to implement changes that could make a signifi cant difference in helping to achieve their green targets. By just making a few simple changes businesses can ensure they become more energy effi cient, reduce costs and cut carbon emissions. Start with something as simple as Metering. By installing smart meters businesses can identify problems and potential energy wastage. Often this means putting some of the following energy measures in place:

○ Lighting and lighting controls

In commercial buildings lighting can account for up to 30% of total energy usage and signifi cant savings can be made by swapping to LEDs and CFL with payback times tending to be very short. Additionally, many organisations fi nd even effi cient lights can be very wasteful. Modern lighting responds well to daylight or movement sensors and further big savings can be made on lighting costs.

○ High effi ciency motors and variable speed drives

Electric motors can be found everywhere across industry and commerce, from fans and air conditioning units, to lifts and conveyor belts and compressors. The cost to run a motor for a few months can be greater than the cost of the motor itself, it therefore makes sense to have the most up-to-date and effi cient motors.

○ Voltage optimisation

Most modern equipment is designed to run at a voltage of 400/230V, however in the UK the electricity supply averages over 420/242V and in some cases higher. By optimising your supply voltage you could save between 5 and 15% in electricity consumption.

○ Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

CHP is the simultaneous generation of usable heat and electrical power in a single process. The payback is a relatively long one, however if sized properly, having CHP can signifi cantly reduce energy costs, consumption and C02 emissions.

○ Building Control Management Systems (BEMS)

BEMs have three basic functions: improving plant control, monitoring energy usage and optimising plant operating times. Through the effective installation and management of a BEMS, savings can be made of up to 30%, with payback times being short to mid-term.

○ Employee engagement

One of the most overlooked areas of potential savings is engaging staff to effect energy reductions. By helping staff to understand the importance of energy costs and empowering and incentivising them to make changes, some companies can see 5-10% cost savings with very low direct costs.Orchard Energy, which specialises in energy purchasing and solutions for businesses across the UK, advises companies to review the options that are available to them and take a holistic approach, looking at all areas of the business including operations and processes and the workforce.

MAXIMISING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

44


WEST YORKSHIRE LAW FIRMS MERGE AND PLAN FOR GROWTH

Two leading legal practices in Huddersfi eld and with offi ces across West Yorkshire are to merge, creating a 23 Partner and 250 person business. The merged practice will off er businesses across the region access to a wider range of expertise, experience and a more comprehensive service.

Ramsdens Solicitors and Baxter Caulfi eld have announced their merger, effective 1 October and the new fi rm has a plan for further growth to meet the increased demand for its services, particularly in Corporate and Commercial areas.

Commenting on the merger, Paul Joyce, Managing Partner at Ramsdens said, “ The new fi rm will offer the business community one of the strongest Corporate and Commercial teams in West Yorkshire. Baxter Caulfi eld is a long established and hugely respected fi rm, particularly in the areas of Corporate/Commercial and heavyweight Litigation. The skill and experience that Baxter Caulfi eld will bring compliments perfectly the existing strengths within the Ramsdens practice.”

Stephen Newman, Head of Corporate and Senior Partner at Baxter Caulfi eld said, “We are excited to be teaming up with Ramsdens, an outstanding law fi rm which has gone from strength to strength over the last decade. We

share an ambition for growth and the most important core value, delivering an excellent service to clients.

Paul and Stephen have confi rmed that announcements have been made to all Partners and staff at both fi rms where the news has been received very positively.

David Bradley, Non-Executive Chairman, said, “At a time when the landscape for the provision of legal services is changing faster than ever this merger focuses on the needs of clients and the desire of both fi rms to provide clients with a depth of resource, experience and expertise to better support the local business community.

The merged fi rm will operate from 1 October and a communication programme involving all clients of the two fi rms is underway.”

Picture L – R : Steven Singh, Karen James, Stephen Newman, Helen Thewlis, Paul Booth and Managing Partner Paul Joyce.

Movember Awards EveningAn appeal has gone out to all Mo bros and sisters across Kirklees to take part in The Big Hairy Shave Off at the Huddersfi eld Movember Awards Evening, taking place from 6pm to 10pm on Monday 30th November at Lockwood Park Rugby Club.

This is the second year running the event has taken place in Huddersfi eld with hundreds of pounds already raised for men’s health charities. “The Movember Awards was one of the best events of last year. We had about 150 people there, with about 30 of them sporting moustaches of various colours and sizes. It was such fun. Plus it raised hundreds of pounds for charity”, says Poppy Stahelin, marketing assistant at Staffl ex Recruitment, main sponsors of the event.The cost is just £5 per person payable on the door and includes admission and


light supper. There are lots of sponsorship categories available on a fi rst come basis, at a minimum donation of £75 per category.

For more information or to sponsor an award contact: Poppy Stahelin on 01484 351010 or email: poppy@staffl ex.co.uk.

AWARD RECOGNISES HUDDERSFIELD HOLISTIC SPA FOR ‘ROCKSTAR’ CUSTOMER SERVICEA leading Huddersfi eld-based holistic health spa has won a prestigious business award recognising its outstanding customer service.

Alexandra House Spa, based in Birkby, Huddersfi eld, triumphed in the Rockstar Customer Service category of the 2015 BiYInspired awards.

Now in their second year, the awards were created in 2014 by BiY, a business support network and Leeds-based award writing company Awards Writers, to recognise small and medium size businesses across the region. This year’s shortlist saw businesses from across the region compete across eight categories covering everything

from start-ups to well-established businesses and customer service – and was decided by a panel of judges including BiY founder and chair of judges Darren Shaw.

The award win recognises how the company, founded by former medical researcher, 44-year old Dr Maxine Stead in 2007, has become one of the best-known retreats for emotional and physical wellbeing in the north of England with over 14,000 customers to date.

The company has carved a niche for itself in a crowded marketplace by focusing on holistic therapies and offering quietness and space – it purposely does not offer beauty treatments to allow customers to

enjoy quiet, restorative treatments to refl ect and relax.

Founder of Alexandra House Spa, Maxine Stead commented:

“I am delighted that Alexandra House Spa has won this award which recognises our commitment to delivering a personal and friendly service to our customers and to provide a sanctuary where people feel at home and comfortable.

We have chosen to remain relatively small to ensure we continue to make our clients feel like a star.”The winners were announced at a special awards lunch held at The Queens Hotel, Leeds on Friday (2 October).

46


Calling all golfers AND footballers, male and female from across West Yorkshire.The fi rst ever Footgolf Charity Challenge Cup takes place this October 22nd at Bradley Park Golf Club, Bradley Road, Huddersfi eld from 2pm to 4pm. Taking the nation by storm, Footgolf “is played the same way as golf, except players use a football instead of a golf ball. Kick the football towards the hole and the person with the fewest shots wins”.

Already growing massively in the USA, with more than 300 dedicated footgolf courses across the country, Huddersfi eld plays host to its own charity tournament, sponsored by local recruitment experts, Staffl ex Limited.

“We are looking for a dozen or so teams of four. Each team can be made up of individuals from the same company or a mixture from various organisations joining together as one team. The idea is to give people an opportunity to experience this fast growing sport, whilst having the chance to raise valuable funds for the Huddersfi eld Town Foundation, a charity that is helping to provide breakfasts for hundreds of children across the region”, says Nadio Granata, Head of Marketing at Staffl ex.

“The competition is open to anyone. Ladies are especially welcome. Each team will kick off at 2pm and will play the nine holes with the lowest scorers getting crowned as champions. We are also having some side competitions such as ‘Best Dressed’ and ‘Blindfold Challenge’. The whole event fi nishes at around 4pm with refreshments, nibbles and an awards ceremony back at the 19th Hole (clubhouse for any ‘none-golfers reading this!)”, adds Nadio.

The organisers are keen to hear from anyone around the region who wishes to take part. The cost is £25 per person or £100 per team with any profi ts going to the charity. Celebrity players are especially welcome as the organisers are looking to build the event into an annual competition with the hope that it will become a signifi cant fundraiser over the years.

For more information about Huddersfi eld Town Foundation: www.htafcfoundation.com

Anybody wishing to take part or sponsor a hole should contact Poppy Stahelin at www.Staffl ex.co.uk by email: Poppy@staffl ex.co.uk or telephone 01484 351010.

Also for more details click on the website link: www.staffl ex.co.uk/Footgolf or follow on social media at www.facebook.com/Staff_Footgolf or www.twitter.com/Staff_Footgolf

ANNOUNCING FIRST EVER FOOTGOLF CHARITY CHALLENGE CUP

How to play/general rules• Start each hole from within the Footgolf teeing areas.• Take one shot each. The sole of the foot cannot be used to play a shot. Pushing or stepping on the ball is not allowed.• You can’t use your hands whilst the ball is in play.• Walk, don’t run.• Do not stop a ball from falling into a hazard e.g. a sand bunker.• Wait to take the next shot until the ball has completely come to rest. Do not take any shots whilst a ball is in motion.• Once everyone in your group has taken a shot, repeat, taking turns until you fi nish the hole.• Play at a reasonable pace but make sure you keep a good distance from the group in front of you. If a group catches you up and wants to overtake, please let them play through.• Replace the fl ag after fi nishing the hole.• When you have completed a hole record your score on the scorecard as you move to the next hole.• The player who completes the nine holes with the lowest score wins!• Please respect other players and do not shout or use foul or abusive language.Click here to see a short video: https://youtu.be/rmVGl5DXDfU

t: 0844 847 0080 e: [email protected] Appleton Court, Calder Park, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF2 7AR

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Topicuk kirklees and calderdale oct15

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