Hatch Brenner Solicitors on Theatre Street is once again celebrating after being ranked as among the top firms in the UK for Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury work by the legal directory Chambers and Partners for their 2021 edition.
Chambers and Partners has been the leading source of legal market intelligence for over 30 years, with 85 experienced researchers ranking law firms and solicitors in the UK, providing a wealth of localised knowledge and market insight.
Hatch Brenner Solicitors has been recommended for Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury in the latest rankings released in October 2020 following a submission by former Morgan Jones Pett specialists Sara Westwood and Simon Bransby:
Clinical Negligence – mainly Claimant – Norwich and surrounds
Hatch Brenner Partner Sara Westwood is ranked in Band Two and noted for her strength in birth injury, delayed diagnosis and failure in treatment cases. One market source points out that she “gets to grips with the medical evidence, identifying the strengths and weaknesses,” adding: “She is very practical in her approach and gets good results for clients.”
Personal Injury – mainly Claimant – Norwich and surrounds
Hatch Brenner Chartered Legal Executive Simon Bransby is ranked in Band Two as a notable Personal Injury practitioner. The guide recognises the firm’s reputation for having a solid team handling a range of claims with particular expertise in workplace injury cases and expertise regarding road traffic accidents, as well as trips and slips.
Simon Bransby’s extensive work portfolio is referenced, including cases involving workplace injuries and RTAs. Commentators appreciate that “he is persistent in fighting for his client.”
If you would like to discuss a potential personal injury or clinical negligence legal claim with our highly regarded team of specialists, please call 01603 660 811 or email [email protected]
Working closely with our communities has been a key focus for every district across Norfolk during the Covid 19 pandemic. With the Tiers coming into place on Wednesday 2 December, Covid marshals and support officers will continue to be recruited and deployed across the county. Their aim is to advise, educate, and engage with businesses and members of the public around the restriction, working together to tackle the threats we all still face and bring us down into Tier 1. As well as providing support to the communities they work in, they also act as the eyes and the ears of the districts, reporting back improvements that could be made, concerns and repeat offenders.
While they all share similar role profiles (see examples attached), each district is using their marshals, support officers or support advisors slightly differently. The funding for the roles has been provided by the central government Covid Outbreak Management Fund.
Highlighting the importance of the role Tom McCabe, Norfolk’s Resilience Forum Chair, said: “Many Covid-19 marshals and support officers have been in place for some weeks now, supporting businesses and helping to encourage, engage and educate people in how to protect themselves and those around them.
“The feedback on their role has largely been really positive, with our communities recognising that these officers are working with them to keep us all safe. The role is likely to evolve over the coming weeks and months as we move different types of restrictions with the expected changes to local and national regulations, but they will continue to be out on the streets and will be happy to help where they can. “
Breckland Council has recruited 10 Covid Support Staff – one Lead Covid Support Officer to coordinate and supervise a team of nine Covid Support Officers – with officers in post before the end of the current restrictions period. The role of this team will be to provide advice and support to businesses, engage with residents and support with the track-and-trace and door-knocking work in the community. They will be a flexible resource that will move between the work on the high street and contact tracing, dependant on the priority at the time. Breckland has also recruited two Covid Compliance Officers to support the new enforcement powers that districts have been given.
Broadland and South Norfolk have interviewed and made offers of six month fixed term contracts to 10 Covid Support Advisors who will start on Monday next week, following the attached role profile. They will be managed through two district team leaders, due to be interviewed shortly, who will provide daily briefing and tasking from their offices in Thorpe St Andrew and Long Stratton. It is important to note that these are support and advice roles rather than enforcement roles. Enforcement will be picked through their existing regulatory teams, however, as most Covid issues, things are moving at pace and there may be changes to this position at short notice. All Covid related roles will liaise closely with district command policing and – on the ground – with beat managers.
Great Yarmouth has had Covid support officers in place since early October, with an average of six officers patrolling each day. They have proven to be so effective in educating, advising and engaging with businesses that Great Yarmouth is currently recruiting for more on a six month contract basis. The aim is to have 10 FTE support officers along with a team of flexible officers to support when needed. On a daily basis the team talk to businesses and the general public, assist with social distancing at schools and leaflet drop where appropriate.
Norwich have Covid 19 Support Officers, who during lockdown have been a core group of four to six patrolling the city each day between 10am and 4pm. The officers have been working with those businesses that are permitted to open to ensure that they are maintaining high levels of Covid protection and have been identifying businesses that may be trading when the legislation requires them to be closed. The team is managed by their Events Team and any issues that are identified by the support officers are relayed to the Environmental Health Enforcement Teams.
As the city reopens, they will be increasing the number of Covid19 Support Officers to pre-lockdown levels of up to 20 people on duty per day. To increase the impact of the officers, they will work in two shifts to cover the daytime business economy of 9am to 6pm. They will work to increase their interaction with the public and focussing on the key messages of hands: face: space. Street signage will be improved and there will also be the provision of information booths offering hand sanitiser and face coverings.
North Norfolk are building on their successes during the summer and will have six Covid-19 Support Officers working in their market towns and seaside resorts including Holt, Fakenham, Cromer, Sheringham, Wells-next the Sea and North Walsham. They will be a visible presence in areas of high footfall across the district from Wednesday, working six days a week. The Covid-19 Support Officers will provide advice, guidance and reassurance to residents, visitors and businesses on the latest Covid-19 restrictions. They will promote the important public health messages such as hand washing, social distancing, and the wearing of face coverings and will provide a vital link between communities, their Environmental Health Team and policing colleagues, providing information which will allow them to focus their resources more effectively.
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk have recruited a number of marshals, including some who are contracted SIA qualified security staff. They also have staff from alive Leisure and students from the college supporting them. They are following the 3 Es and referring to EHOs for enforcement. They are visiting all parts of the borough, including retail areas, shops near schools, school gates where issues have been reported and providing people with up to date advice and guidance on the latest guidance, signposting to other sources of support such as funding, and how to develop a click and collect service. This enables the finite resources EHOs to be focussed more effectively where enforcement is unfortunately required.
As if working in TV commercials production wasn’t magical enough – we recently dialed-up the fantasy still further with a tie-in to the massive global Disney success ‘Frozen’!
Our friends at Accord were masterminding a campaign for Rubies, the suppliers of magnificent replica costumes for children, in which they wanted 2 girls to picture themselves not only wearing the costumes, but entering their own imaginary version of Frozen!
Our pre-planning involved set design and build – bright positive colours and furnishings all geared to a pan-European market; sourcing child actors – twolookalikes for the main characters Anna and Elsa ( so 200 auditions later…); and finally a forest, blanketed in snow (in June).
The Elvedon Estate in Thetford provided the perfect forest, the genius set-dressers Snowboy made a sweltering June day look like winter in the Alps, and our two stars (Gabriella) and (Elizabeth) apart from looking so perfectly like their animated heroines, put in hours of work on camera without ever once losing their smiles!
Being vetted at every step by both Accord and Disney does crank-up the tension somewhat, so it was an immense joy when the production got two thumbs up! It felt like fantasy land. We even broke out the drinks. On ice, naturally.
In this week’s episode, Mark and James reflect on 2020, and look ahead to 2021 and the inevitable New Year’s Eve Resolutions. They impart advice on how to make change stick for the long term, referring along the way to melting icebergs, Princess Gabriele and Mark’s “B” in GCSE German!
If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Whilst you are there, please like us, and leave a comment. We would love to hear what you are enjoying about the podcast, and it helps others to find us!
Please find below a new tool developed by the FSA which aims to help businesses understand what allergen labelling (information) requirements apply to different scenarios by asking 4 questions:
does the consumer order the food in person (i.e. is there a distance selling aspect?)
Is the food presented in packaging?
Is the food in packaging before it is selected or ordered?
Is the food packaged at the same place it is sold?
Flagship staff across the business are once again helping those in need by filling and decorating charity boxes with food. In total 16 boxes will be delivered during December as every working day a local Flagship Ranger will take them to one of the following charities: St Martin’s Trust in Norwich, The Woodbridge Salvation Army, Newmarket Open Door, and the Norwich, Mid Norfolk and Thetford Foodbanks. The boxes full of non-perishable food items will be given to people in time for Christmas, many of which would go hungry at this time of year. St Martins Housing Trust will use the food as part of their annual Christmas meal for their service users and other members of the community. Any surplus food will be given to people using their ‘Under-1-Roof’ resource centre which aims to provide them with skills they need to help compete for jobs. As a housing provider for people in need, some of Flagship’s customers may themselves receive the charity boxes. Deputy Chief Executive at Flagship Helen Walsham said: “Last year was a huge success as our staff were really enthusiastic about decorating and filling the boxes. I’m really pleased we have decided to do something similar again for some fantastic charities who make a huge difference to people who are less fortunate than us.” Once the boxes have been delivered by Flagship, the charities will distribute them among people in their communities. Derek Player General Manager at St Martins said, “The people we support are facing a major crisis in their lives, whether they are sleeping rough, sofa surfing or in temporary accommodation. Flagship’s donations will be welcomed by our service users and will help them feel valued and remembered at this time of year.” Hannah Worsley, Project Manager at the Norwich Foodbank said: “Flagship’s donations last year helped us to provide the equivalent of 187 meals to local people in crisis – this is such a help to us, as December is our busiest month; we expect to give out over 1,000 food parcels during December this year. We’re delighted that the staff at Flagship are getting behind us and other charities once again, thank you all for your support.”
The Additional Restrictions Grant is also available to businesses that have been allowed to stay open but have had a significant financial impact because of the national lockdown restrictions. It is these businesses, along with those outside of the business rates system and were forced to close which the scheme seeks to prioritise. Examples include businesses which supply the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors or businesses in the events sector.
The grant is available for businesses that are operating within the boundaries of Great Yarmouth Borough Council and had been actively trading before 4 November 2020. The grant was open to applications until the end of the current national lockdown but has now been reviewed subject to local restrictions and has been extended to 14th December 2020. Businesses that have been allowed to stay open through the national lockdown restrictions but have been financially impacted because of reduced footfall, bookings and loss of contracts and therefore had a significant reduction in income for the period of restrictions can also apply for the grant. The council will administer and pay out these latest grants as soon as possible. If you are a business with any immediate concerns, then please get in touch. Lots of information and support about the grants, eligibility criteria and further business advice.
Visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/coronavirus-advice-businesses for the link to the online form, information and support about the grants, eligibility criteria and further business advice. For advice relating to the grants, call 0808 196 2240. For other business advice, contact the Growth Hub via 0300 333 6536 or www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk.
Help light up the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) Giving Tree this Christmas by buying a virtual light, bauble or Christmas present. You’ll be able to leave a personal message with your donation, and can upload a photo too. Watch as the Virtual Giving Tree gradually lights up with gifts over the Christmas period!
By buying a virtual light, bauble or Christmas present, you can help pay for a gift of care for the life-threatened children and young people we care for. For example:
£5 could pay for fifty sheets of coloured card, used by children and families in Art Therapy or memory-making sessions.
£18 could pay for ten hand and footprint kits, used by families to help make precious memories they can keep.
£45 could pay for one hundred feeding bottles, used to help the many children at EACH who are tube-fed.
On Friday East Anglian Recruitment specialists, Cooper Lomaz Recruitment announced its exciting plans to expand their office network with a third office location which will see them open in Colchester on 5th March 2018.
The new location in Colchester will work alongside their existing office network in Bury St Edmunds and Norwich. Cooper Lomaz Recruitment have confirmed that they will be opening the new office with four new to the business staff who will exclusively recruit across the Engineering and Manufacturing sectors throughout the Essex region.
Cooper Lomaz Recruitment currently recruits in technical and professional sectors across Essex from their existing offices. However based on the success of these existing teams and increased demand from clients in Essex the business decided to take the step and open a physical office in the region.
Whilst the new office settles into the business and focuses on Engineering and Manufacturing Cooper Lomaz Recruitment will continue to recruit Finance, Food, IT, Sales & Marketing, and Supply Chain roles from their Norwich & Bury St Edmunds offices.
Simon Brown Managing Director for Cooper Lomaz who announced the news to the business on Friday said:
“We are really excited to be opening a third office, especially into such a great region of East Anglia in Colchester. Opening the third office at this time in a new location is an important step to helping to grow our brand presence in the Essex area. I am pleased we will be hiring four new people in Essex into our business, a number which I am sure will grow further before the end of 2018.”
The office itself will follow the same direction as their other two offices by being in a central location with great transport links, and plenty of activity around it. Naturally, it will also be fully equipped with the latest technology to allow the consultants based there to help recruit top candidates for the Essex area.
Sales Manager Donna West says “I’m absolutely thrilled to be asked to launch & manage the new Essex office and create a new branch of our already successful Engineering Recruitment team. I have worked across Essex throughout my recruitment career and can’t wait to get back there and work with the great clients and candidates the region has.”
Too many times I have seen parents push their health to the side to support their family, then, burning out and actually being in a worse place to support from.
I get it, but we cannot pour from an empty cup, our children come first but we can only put them first if we aren’t burning out to begin with.
We have launched The Healthy Parent Club at OJay Health with the first 10 spots being half price at £100 per month.
It is for those parents who have real busy lives but have let their bodies fall behind. People who know their kids are watching. The parents who are ready to truly reclaim their energy, their confidence and their health.
It is for the parent who
– Is waking up more tired than when they went to bed
– Is constantly reactive to their children and their patience is shot
– Is wanting to improve their health but time for working out is non-existent
– knows that their libido is down, stress is up and food feels like their only release
This is designed specifically for parents who want to get ahead.
For more information, go to www.ojayhealth.com/healthyparentclub
We have launched the public and stakeholder timetable consultation for the December 2021 timetable, when we are looking to adjust the timetables on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), the Southend Victoria line and the routes that connect into them, to take advantage of the benefits our new trains offer.
By that point all services on all those routes should be operated by new trains, so it’s therefore timely to look at how we optimise the impact of new trains on services, especially on journey times, performance and capacity.
The consultation lasts just over 12 weeks to Friday 12 February 2021, though early submissions will be much appreciated.
Please find below a PDF of the consultation document which can also be found at www.greateranglia.co.uk/december21tt. Submissions can be made online, via email or via post with details included in the attached document (which is the same as the document you can access via the website).
The document provides a high level summary of the proposed changes, as the timetables are still being developed and can change quite significantly during the development process, including as a result of this consultation, so we have highlighted key principles and expected outcomes. We will also need to take into account the emerging situation with the pandemic and the recovery from it, as we finalise the exact timetable details.
Although the capacity, capability and intensive utilisation of the rail infrastructure across our network very much influences the scope of what we can aim to achieve, we’re keen to make the most of the exciting attributes of our new trains, with their increased seating, quicker acceleration and braking and improved performance characteristics.
Whilst more radical aspirations may not be practical, there are still plenty of opportunities to put in place a better service, taking on board customer and stakeholder comments to fine tune the details, as we do so. There are also one or two specific areas, such as the scheduling of our Norwich in 90 services and proposals to provide a Braintree to Witham shuttle service with connections to/from London during off peak periods, on which feedback is specifically sought.
Our over-riding aims for the December 2021 GEML timetable will be to provide the best possible service for passengers and the region and to maximise the benefits of our new trains for customers and communities along both the GEML, Southend Victoria line and those lines which connect into them.
We hope you find the consultation helpful and we look forward to hearing your views and feedback to help us shape the best outcome for our region.
Almost 70 potential franchisees have attended virtual Discovery Days in 2020.
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, and the need for social distancing measures, TaxAssist Accountants converted its popular monthly Discovery Days to a virtual format.
This new format held over Zoom has provided an opportunity for interested parties to find out more about the successful business model, the support provided, and to meet the award-winning support team. Attending a Discovery Day is the first step for those interested in joining the franchise.
Seth Brown, Senior Manager UK Recruitment, said: “We have now hosted nine virtual Discovery Days this year, and while we miss not being able to host prospective franchisees in Norwich, the virtual format has allowed those interested in the franchise to continue to fully explore the TaxAssist opportunity. The response to our virtual Discovery Days has been overwhelmingly positive with feedback from delegates praising their content, format and smooth operation.
“Enquiries have increased throughout the year, with a 51% increase on 2019 in the second half of the year. Driving interest in particular, is the wish to work closer to home, take control of your own destiny and build an asset for the future, as people mull their future due to redundancy and career uncertainty.
“I’m pleased to say that we’ve continued to recruit well too, with 13 joining as new franchisees, two joining as franchise resales and two as new franchisee partners, bringing us up to 244 franchised areas in the UK. We also already have our first sign up to the February 2021 course.
“With the Initial Training Course also fully adapted for online delivery, we now have a seamless online journey to becoming a franchisee. We will continue to offer a £4,000 cash back on our franchise fee to reflect the change of setting, and this offering will be available for as long as we choose to run the course virtually.”
If you are interested in attending a TaxAssist Accountants virtual Discovery Day, give Nikki Haythorne, UK Franchise Recruitment Manager, a call on 0800 0188297 or for more information, visit our website here.