Member News

After many months of planning Shaper Accountants have moved into offices at Henderson Business Centre in Norwich. This gives us the advantages of an easily accessible Norwich location with free on site parking for staff and clients. The meeting rooms are well equipt and the views are a bonus!

The move allows us to host Xero accounting software demonstrations, on site, as well as various events through out the year. We look forward to welcoming more clients and to introducing businesses to easy to use cloud accounting software – whatever your budget.

An initial meeting is free, as are refreshments. So far, both existing clients and new ones are happy with the surroundings, as well as the service.

The 2014 edition of the Legal 500, considered to be the leading independent guide to the legal profession, was released on the 1st of October 2014 with all results either improving on those from 2013 or remaining at last year’s high standard for Leathes Prior.

The rankings show that the firm now has four top tier practice areas within the East Anglian and national arena, with Fraud (Crime) joining Immigration, Debt Recovery and Sport at the top table. There are a further 19 areas in the second tier, marking Leathes Prior out as an East Anglian heavyweight. With nine lawyers listed in the elite “Leading lawyers” list (guide to outstanding lawyers nationwide) and 29 lawyers recommended in the 2014 editorial, the past 12 months have again proved exciting times for the firm.

Leathes Prior’s key highlights from the 2014 edition include:

The firm welcomes a new tier one ranking for the Fraud team which is said to work to ‘a fantastic standard’ with the ‘robust’ Tim Cary and ‘energetic’ Tej Thakkar. The team is described as ‘almost flawless in its manoeuvres’, with ‘pure dedication, care and professionalism’. Tim Cary is described as a nationally recognised Regulatory and Defence expert, specifically within clamping, with a nationwide presence for motoring offences through the firm’s ‘Traffic Lawyers’ brand. The Immigration team receives a first tier ranking largely down to the ‘knowledgeable’ Tim Cary.

The first tier ranking Sports team continues to thrive with the boutique offering ‘Full Contact’ retaining a national following. The ‘commercial, realistic’ team is described as ‘exceptional value for money’, representing clubs, agents, regulatory bodies and sportspersons. Industry expert Dan Chapman is once again recommended.

Debt Recovery also excelled with a first tier ranking as Darren Bowen is noted as ‘hugely popular and smart’ with ‘skill in litigation that is often the reserve of larger firms’. It is noted that Mike Barlow ‘avidly and expertly fights for his clients’ interests’. The team, including David Richards, is highly recommended.

The firm sees an increased ranking for the Commercial Property team who are praised for a ‘down-to-earth, pragmatic’ approach. Rob Sibley’s team is said to provide ‘no-nonsense commercial advice’. The successful merger with Cole & Co which brought the team, and notably David Clarke on board as Partner, is also to thank. Senior Partner William Riley and Associate Paul Oldershaw are highly recommended.

The Property Litigation team has also received an improved ranking, in which Sabina Haag is recommended. The ‘very professional and pleasant’ Darren Bowen is given praise. Darren Bowen is again highlighted as part of the Agriculture and Estates team as he ‘delivers the best’ with Rob Sibley, William Riley and Paul Oldershaw again recommended.

The newly ranked Insolvency and Corporate Recovery team is praised, outlining that ‘the service is excellent in all respects’, highlighting the ‘knowledgeable, confident and friendly’ Adam McCaw.

Mike Barlow’s Dispute Resolution team is said to provide ‘well considered and comprehensive advice’. Darren Bowen is ‘authoritative’ and David Richards ‘simplifies complicated situations’. David Richards is also described as a rising star within the Personal Injury team.

The Family team is described as ‘outstanding, ethical and excellent value for money’. Alisdair Douglas is given particular mention as one of Norfolk’s leading lawyers within the field. ‘Rising star’ Simon Willis is also highlighted as ‘an old head on young shoulders’.

The Corporate and Commercial team is ranked highly, the results highlighting that Paul Warman ‘delivers practical advice’ and Richard Guthrie ‘always goes the extra mile’.

The guide recommends the Franchising team, led by Ed Savory, which is described as ‘brilliant’ and ‘always on hand for advice when needed’ covering the full range of work for franchisors and franchisees, nationally and internationally. Jonathan Chadd and Mike Barlow are noted for their expertise in international expansion and contentious matters respectively. Mike Barlow’s IT and Telecoms team is also praised, described to provide ‘practical, commercially-focused advice’.

The Education team is highlighted including ‘rising star’ Polly Langford who represents independent schools. Darren Bowen’s work in this team is also highly acclaimed.

The Employment team remains highly regarded as is their contribution to the firm’s innovative web-based ’employmentor’ service. The research shows ‘response times are the best and industry knowledge is first class’. Tribunal defence advocate Dan Chapman receives particular praise as he ‘remains calm and organised under pressure’. Paula Lee (Lawn) is also given particular mention for her work.

Within the Commercial Litigation team, Mike Barlow is described as ‘grounded and commercially realistic’. As well as Darren Bowen being recommended in this team, he is also given particular mention for the standard of his advice in claims within the Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate team. The successful merger with Cole & Co is highlighted, with reference to Barrie Baker bringing 12 years’ experience to Leathes Prior’s ‘accessible, prompt and reliable’ team. Hazel Gill is recommended in high-value estate and trust matters and ‘friendly’ Tessa Bonser and William Riley have ‘a lovely relaxed style’.

Within Banking and Finance, Paul Warman retains the title of ‘banking expert’ with Peter Sheppard also being highly recommended.

The Health and Safety team is described as ‘excellent in every way’ and ‘outstanding, prompt and precise’ highlighting the ‘knowledgeable’ Tim Cary. Peter Sheppard, Dan Chapman and Rob Sibley are also recommended in this area.

Rob Sibley’s Planning team is also given particular mention having gained ‘exceptional’ planning lawyer Chris Burgess from its merger with Cole & Co.

Within Charities William Riley’s ‘not-for-profit’ team, including Hazel Gill, Tessa Bonser, Paul Warman and Dan Chapman, is commended outlining that ‘the level of service is excellent’.

The 2014 edition of the Legal 500 conveys an unprecedented set of results for Leathes Prior. With a successful merger, a fresh set of rising stars and the progression of the firm with new niche practice areas, Leathes Prior is reported to be in better health than ever. Roll on 2015…

For full results please see https://www.legal500.com/firms/2028/1908

Breakwater IT, a leading IT support and technology solutions company, has announced the promotion of John Gostling to Operations Director. John joined Breakwater in 2012 as a senior engineer before becoming Service Desk Manager and most recently Operations Manager, a position he has held since July 2013. The move to Operations Director will reinforce the Executive team at Breakwater, helping to deliver the company’s commitment to high levels of customer service and reliable IT solutions.

Commenting on the news Peter Davies, Chairman of Breakwater IT said “I am very pleased to confirm the appointment of John Gostling as Operations Director. John has worked for Breakwater for 2 years now and has a great mix of technical knowledge and practical business experience. He is popular with our clients and staff alike and has the strategic vision to take the company to the next level.”

Prior to joining Breakwater IT John held a number of positions within the IT industry, both within the East Anglian region and in London. John brings 16 years of experience in IT support and solutions, including a wealth of technical knowledge and account management. His move to Director will provide the platform from which to drive Breakwater’s pledge to provide customised solutions for their clients, using a mix of tried and tested and, where appropriate, new technology.

As Operations Director John will also address the growing issue of security problems that all companies now face. Breakwater sees security as a key focus and is dedicating resources to find reliable solutions for their clients; John said “security problems are growing and we need to be in a position to mitigate these, Breakwater will be using cutting edge security technology to manage passwords to applications, whether they are Cloud based or on premise.”

About Breakwater

Breakwater was founded in 2005 and has established itself as an efficient and highly reliable IT services provider for both the SME and corporate market place. Their experienced team of analysts and account managers are based at the Meridian Business Park in Norwich. Breakwater’s services range from IT consultancy and support to bespoke technology solutions and a dedicated business telecoms division.

Gnaw, the successful Norwich-based makers of a quirky range of handcrafted chocolates, has formed a partnership with leading distributor Blakemore Fine Foods, that will enable both companies to boost business with UK retailers who want to buy British.

Gnaw has grown significantly since it started up in 2011. It now supplies 1000 outlets in the UK and exports to 25 countries. Its unique and exciting product range uses only the finest ingredients and features flavours such as Lemon Meringue and Chilli and Lime.

Blakemore Fine Foods (formerly Heart Distribution), is based in Willenhall, near Wolverhampton, and is a unique distribution network that connects British producers with their customers. They now supply more than 3,000 product lines made by 198 British producers to farm shops delis, garden centres and retailers such as The Co-Operative and Spar.

Blakemore commercial director Caoire Blakemore explains how the partnership came about: “It was all perfect timing, really! We were aware of Gnaw as a superb quality British chocolate producer, and we knew their unusual and compelling range would appeal to our customers. At the same time we were starting to work with Midland Co-op and looking to increase our portfolio of confectionary producers.

“So we contacted Gnaw and it became clear immediately that we had the same aims and business ethos. We both run a family business, we both believe in supplying the best British-made products, and we share an ambition to expand our offering into the UK. In addition, we both feel strongly that the producer should keeping commercial control and decide who we supply their product to. It really is the perfect marriage of minds.”

Gnaw owner Matt Legon comments: “Gnaw is ambitious to grow, but we want to expand in the right way, with the right partners who can help us reach the right retailers for our product. Blakemore is the perfect partner for us. They are well-established with an excellent reputation, they are family-run and care passionately about quality and supplying only the best to their customers. The way they work with producers is also very hands-on and they totally understand our desire to be very selective about who stocks our product.

“I am very excited about working with Blakemore and putting Gnaw into a wider range of independent shops and smaller chains in the UK that champion British-made, high quality products. Our aim is to reach a £1m turnover by the end of 2015, and we are optimistic that this partnership will help us achieve that goal.”

Feedback from Blakemore’s customers who are stocking Gnaw has so far been very positive. “We are already getting repeat orders, so Gnaw is clearly selling well,” adds Caoire Blakemore. “We also had a great response about Gnaw from the Spar Trade Show at the NEC. We forecast a 47% growth for 2014 and we believe Gnaw will play a significant part in reaching that target.”

East Anglia, October, 2014: Aston Shaw are delighted to announce the launch of their new website (www.astonshaw.co.uk) following their high profile merger with a fast-growing local accountancy firm and recent group rebrand. The Independent Chartered Certified Accountants with 5 office locations in East Anglia have invested in the development of a brand new, information driven website that provides their existing and potential clients all the tools and information they may need to make an informed service decision.

Constructed firmly with the end user in mind, the website takes a fresh approach, boasting clean lines and adaptive content layout, which optimises to whichever type of device an individual may be using – whether it be a desktop, tablet or mobile – providing an overall engaging browsing experience. The primary goal of the site is to allow users to quickly navigate and find the service or contact information they need with absolute ease. With a comprehensive offering of 23 accounting, financial and business services, each service page has been equipped with an A-Z list which allows the user to quickly and simply move around the site and find the information relevant to them.

Dominic Shaw, Director, commented: “We are extremely excited to launch our new website, which we hope users will find to be more accessible than ever before. Along with our innovative new, free to download Aston Shaw App, we hope the website will help and guide both clients and potential clients into making informed service decisions”.

A key focus on information sharing and recommendation is evident throughout both the structure and content of the site. Elements such as the industry blog, internal news articles, client testimonial page and links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus all encourage users to engage and further provides an insight into the capabilities and personality of the firm.

Research institutions on Norwich Research Park, led by the John Innes Centre, receive an additional £12.5M from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) for its doctoral training programme, confirming the Park’s status as a world-class centre of excellence for bioscience.

The quality of research across Norwich Research Park has been given a £12.5M endorsement from the government today (Friday 3rd October) with the announcement that it will fund 125 PhD students through the Norwich Research Park Doctoral Training Partnership over the next five years. This investment further cements Norwich Research Park’s growing reputation as a leading, internationally recognised centre of excellence in bioscience.

The new funding significantly builds on a £4M BBSRC investment made in 2012, which supported 39 studentships over three years.

The application was made by five partners across Norwich Research Park: The John Innes Centre (JIC) who led the bid, The Sainsbury Laboratory, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), the Institute of Food Research and the University of East Anglia (UEA). Associate partners are Plant Bioscience Limited, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and The SAW Trust.

In addition to the £12.5M announced, the partners have themselves contributed £3M to the five year programme, increasing the total number of PhD students being trained from 125 up to 156.

Professor Dale Sanders, Director of the John Innes Centre and lead partner in the bid said: “I am thrilled that the exceptional quality of PhD training on Norwich Research Park has been recognised by an award of this magnitude. JIC has a long track record of training outstanding graduate students in the life sciences, and this award from BBSRC will continue to enhance the graduate environment through synergistic interactions with UEA and our sister research institutes on Norwich Research Park.”

Professor David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, commented: “This doctoral training programme funding is a huge endorsement of Norwich Research Park and of the quality of PhD students attracted to both UEA and the world-leading institutions across the Park. The award, three times the amount we received in 2012, will allow more than 150 PhD students to benefit from the truly integrated nature of the collaborations across the John Innes Centre, The Sainsbury Laboratory, The Genome Analysis Centre, the Institute of Food Research and UEA.”

Today’s announcement is part of a £125M investment allocated by BBSRC, which funds scientific research to help boost the economy and build on UK strengths in areas such as agriculture, food, industrial biotechnology, bioenergy and health.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “The UK punches far beyond its weight in science and innovation globally, which is a credit to our talented scientists and first-class universities.

“This new funding will safeguard Britain’s status as a world leader in life sciences and agricultural technology.”

Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC Executive Director, Innovation and Skills: “Bioscience is having a massive impact on many aspects of our lives. BBSRC is paving the way for an explosion in new economic sectors and bioscience that will change the way we live our lives in the twenty-first century. To achieve this we need to maintain our leading position in global bioscience by ensuring that the next generation of scientists have the best training and skills. This next generation of scientists are our future and we must invest in them now.”

The Doctoral Training Partnership operates as an inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary collaboration ensuring that institutions and the wider community on Norwich Research Park are combining their strengths to improve the training experience – ultimately delivering better equipped next generation scientists into both research and industry. An essential component of the programme is the requirement for each student to complete a three month professional internship outside of the lab. This ensures there is a close connection between research and industry and that PhD skills and training can be applied.

Dr Sally Ann Forsyth, CEO of Norwich Research Park welcomed the announcement: “This further investment provides a clear signal of Norwich Research Park’s growing reputation as a world leading location for bioscience both from a research perspective but also the application of this across industry. A key decision for businesses in where they locate themselves in these sectors is the access they will have to leading research in their field and importantly, to a skilled work force that is critical in driving commercial success. This investment further boosts both of these credentials and demonstrates to businesses that Norwich is an ideal international location to base themselves.”

Professor David Boxer, Director of the Institute of Food Research, added: “This is great news for Norwich and Norwich Research Park. The size of this commitment to training the next generation of world class food and health scientists here is testament to the standing of the institutions that make up the Park, and will help realise the ambition to make Norwich one of Europe’s leading centres for research into food, health and the environment. Some of these students will be among the first to be trained by the new Centre for Food and Health, which itself is further evidence of the continued investment in Norwich as a centre of excellence in bioscience.”

Dr Mario Caccamo, Director of The Genome Analysis Centre, commented: “We are extremely pleased to see that Norwich Research Park has once again been recognised by the excellence of its science. I am particularly excited about the new opportunities that TGAC will bring to post-graduate candidates interested in working on projects in computational biology, genomics and bioinformatics. These are areas of intensive development in which TGAC has directly contributed to with innovative approaches and cutting-edge research.”

Professor Cyril Zipfel, Head of The Sainsbury Laboratory, said: “I am delighted by this announcement. The increased support from BBSRC will enable us to train the next generation of scientists to continue making major fundamental and applied discoveries to tackle the ever-growing challenge of health and food security.”

Two rural Norfolk villages are enjoying a new way to keep up with the latest local news and events following the launch of their new website. Bawdeswell and Foxley have long shared a village magazine, The Reeve’s Tale, which keeps residents up to date with what’s going on in the area. The magazine has just received a revamp from local business Example Marketing and Web Design, who is also responsible for the new website www.thereevestale.co.uk

Emma Raines of Example, based in Bawdeswell, explains more:

“We’ve lived in the village for four years and always read The Reeve’s Tale when it lands on our doormat. We were approached about taking over the design and editorship of the magazine and thought it was a great opportunity for us to get involved in the local community. The website seemed like a natural extension of that.”

The new website will be updated regularly with news and local events, as well as featuring information on the wide range of clubs and societies that the villagers have access to. Gavin Raines of Example continues,

“The site is a work in progress; it will grow and develop over time. We really want the site to be a collaborative village effort so we’re encouraging local residents to get in touch with any news they want to share with their neighbours. It bridges the gap between each edition of the printed magazine and provides a more interactive platform for villagers to get involved with.”

The website has only been live for a matter of days but feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We really hope people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds embrace the new site and appreciate the opportunity it affords for building an even stronger local community. A lot goes on in our villages and the site is another way for people to find out about what we’re up to.”

ENDS

For enquiries, please contact Emma Raines at Example Marketing and Web Design on 01362 688183 or [email protected]

Example Marketing and Web Design is run by husband and wife team, Gavin and Emma Raines. With over 20 years’ industry experience between us, our aim is to help small Norfolk businesses get themselves noticed by the right people at the right time through great marketing. Still in our first year of business, we’ve already successfully helped lots of local businesses improve their marketing and online presence. Visit www.examplemarketing.co.uk to see some of our work and for more information or call 01362 688183.

The £8 million redevelopment of Norse’s recycling facility on the outskirts of Norwich began processing new waste streams on October 1st 2014.

The site’s expansion includes a 3,110m2 extension to the existing building, together with new advanced processing machinery and the latest mobile plant.

In a ground-breaking move aimed at increasing the county’s recycling, seven district, borough and city councils in Norfolk have formed a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with Norse Commercial Services to manage dry materials recycling.

The seven councils making up the Norfolk Waste Partnership, Broadland, Breckland, North Norfolk, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, and South Norfolk District councils, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Norwich City Council, together with Norfolk County Council will all have board-level representation in the new JVC, Norse Environmental Waste Services Ltd, (NEWS).

The 10-year agreement sees NEWS handle materials recycling from kerb-side collections across the county, including for the first time glass bottles and jars, food pots, tubs and trays and cartons.

The councils have been delivering recyclables into the Norse facility for the last ten years under individual contracts, but says Norse Commercial Director Ruth Metcalf, “This is a fine example of a joined-up approach to waste management and recycling by Local Authorities, and cost-effective service delivery to tax payers.”

“With pressure on local authorities to increase the amount of waste recycled, this commitment to providing a state-of-the-art facility within the county will mean that Norfolk is at the forefront of addressing environmental concern over sustainable waste management.”

“The expansion will save Norfolk’s councils considerable amounts of revenue as we are able to handle much more waste and avoid unnecessary landfill,” said Norse Operations Director Dave Newell. “In addition there will be significant environmental benefits in that we can process waste quicker, and we can now handle the new waste streams.”

Cllr John Fisher in his role as Chairman of the Norfolk Waste Partnership Board, said, “All the districts, along with Norfolk County Council, have worked together to negotiate a new contract which means that materials that people have wanted to be able to recycle for some time, can now be recycled using the kerbside collection service.”

“With the new contract in place, investment has been made in the processing facility and the new technology used means that many more items can now be processed for recycling.”

The new facility is expected to process an additional 25% of material on top of the current annual figure of around 60,000 tonnes.

Students on the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy business with enterprise course at City College Norwich are hoping that their innovative product and service ideas for Jessops and Canon will impress bosses and be turned into reality in high street stores.

Twenty two students, working in four teams, have embarked on this exciting business challenge, which has been set by the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy (PJEA), Jessops and Canon.

Students from the PJEA network nationwide have been tasked with identifying and proposing viable and innovative new business opportunities for developing photographic products and services to existing customers and recruiting new customers.

The City College Norwich students have already begun conducting market research activities and have until mid-November to complete a team PowerPoint presentation to highlight their business proposals and solutions, along with a promotional and advertising campaign and short team video.

Business with Enterprise PJEA student Tate Parry, 16, from Norwich, said: “Now we’ve got our group idea we’ve really started to enjoy the challenge. I think we’re onto a winner with our new product idea!”

Fellow team member Rand Hassan, 17, from Clover Hill, added: “Doing this challenge does make you think and opens your eyes to the process of developing a product. Our market research showed that the camera price is a big issue for customers, so this will be a key focus for us.”

The competition is open to colleges in the PJEA network and the Jessops and Canon judging panel will nominate the best two submissions, who will each be invited to Canon’s European HQ offices in Reigate, to meet members of the Jessops and Canon management team.

Barry Nash, National Business Enterprise Manager at the Peter Jones Foundation said: “I believe this challenge will be a great opportunity for our Academy students to participate in an exciting and fast moving retail environment, where they will be able to identify and research some real commercial challenges. In addition, the students will be able to recommend some ‘real life’ business solutions, which will be presented to the Jessops and Canon management team in a winner’s final.”

Barry continued: “Jessops and Canon have kindly sponsored some fantastic camera prizes for the two teams who make the finals. This is a brilliant opportunity for our Academy students to shine and impress two of the UK’s leading camera specialists.”

Helen Coen, Head of Hardware at Jessops said: “We are thrilled to work alongside Canon and the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy for this year’s Challenge. I am excited to see the ideas that the students present to solve a real life business challenge. It will no doubt test their creative thinking!”

The Inheritance and Trustee Powers Act 2014 (ITPA 2014) has changed the rules relating to intestacy as of today (1st October 2014) resulting in a more favourable distribution to spouses and civil partners.

INTESTACY

A person dies intestate if they die without leaving a valid will which distributes their entire estate. Intestacy can take many forms such as: •Lack of a will •Presence of a will which has not been executed properly and is therefore invalid •Presence of a will which has been executed properly, but has been revoked by an action of the deceased such as marriage or divorce •Presence of a will which does not deal with all of the deceased’s assets (partial intestacy)

In circumstances where an individual dies intestate, their estate will pass in accordance with the intestacy rules. Under the intestacy rules, certain members of the deceased’s family will take a share in his or her estate.

CHANGES TO THE RULES

The ITPA 2014 comes into force today and makes the following changes to the intestacy rules:

Deceased dies leaving a surviving spouse or civil partner but no children: Before the ITPA 2014 a surviving spouse or civil partner was entitled to a “statutory legacy” of £450,000 inheritance tax free. The rest of the estate would then be divided between other members of the deceased’s family such as parents or siblings.

Under the new rules a surviving spouse or civil partner will inherit the entirety of their deceased partner’s estate where there are no surviving children.

Deceased dies leaving a surviving spouse and children: Under the old rules a surviving spouse or civil partner was entitled to a statutory legacy of £250,000 and was entitled to receive the income from one half of the remainder of the deceased’s estate. The deceased’s children were entitled to the other half of the remainder of the deceased’s estate absolutely (on reaching the age of eighteen).

Under the new rules, a deceased’s surviving spouse or civil partner will receive a statutory legacy of £250,000 inheritance tax free in addition to one half of the remainder of the deceased’s estate absolutely (as opposed to just the income from half of the estate), and the children are entitled to the other half of the deceased’s remaining estate on trust until they are eighteen.

The statutory legacy of £250,000 will now also increase at least every 5 years in accordance with consumer price index. Previously there have been only been sporadic increases in the statutory legacy.

IS THIS A POSITIVE CHANGE?

The opinion on this change is varied.

By allowing surviving spouses or civil partners access to only the income of one half of the deceased’s estate under the old rules, a trust was created. There was therefore no access to the capital in the trust until the second spouse had died. The trust created by the old rules may also lead to spouses needing to sue their children in order to keep their marital home. It is clear then that the new rules are effective in simplifying the intestacy process.

The new rules obviously favour the surviving spouse or civil partner and many think this is a positive change. As professionals involved with drafting wills we very often see spouses and civil partners leave their entire estates to one another. It could therefore be argued that the new rules still do not make enough provision for surviving spouses or civil partners.

Alternatively, it has been argued that the new rules put too much emphasis on the rights of surviving spouses and civil partners and not enough focus on children, who stand to lose out as a result of the ITPA 2014. This feeling of injustice for children is often exacerbated when the spouse due to benefit under the new rules is the result of the deceased’s second or third marriage.

The ITPA 2014 also makes no provision at all for common law couples.

Whether you think the changes are positive or negative, they cannot suit everybody. The intestacy rules exist for when things go wrong, and should not be relied upon to make provision for your family. By executing a valid will you are able to distribute your estate in any way you wish and need not concern yourself with the adequacy of intestacy rules set out by the Government.

5 April 2015 will see a radical change to the way parents can elect to take time off work following the birth of their baby, or the placement of an adoptive child.

The new system of shared parental leave was introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, with the intention of giving parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption.

In summary:

• The new scheme will apply to parents of children born or placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015. From that date, the existing additional paternity leave scheme will be abolished; the existing system of maternity and adoption leave and ordinary paternity leave (two weeks’ leave around the time of birth) will remain in place.
• The period of shared parental leave available is 50 weeks, less the period of maternity or adoption leave already taken by the mother/adopter.
• Shared parental leave can be paid at the statutory rate for a maximum of 37 weeks, less the period of statutory maternity or adoption pay already received.
• In order to take shared parental leave, the mother/adopter must give a minimum of eight weeks’ notice to curtail her maternity/adoption leave. Either or both parents can then opt in to the shared parental leave scheme.
• Eligible employees may request a single or multiple periods of leave, and leave may be taken either consecutively or concurrently with the other parent. A minimum of eight weeks’ notice must be given in respect of each period of leave, with a maximum of three notifications per employee.
• Employees will be able to take up to 20 ‘keeping in touch’ days each during shared parental leave, in addition to any KIT days taken during maternity or adoption leave.

The new system of shared parental leave is likely to prove complicated to administer in practice, although it remains to be seen how popular it will be for employees.

Whilst it only takes effect from April 2015, employees who fell pregnant from summer 2014 onwards are likely to qualify for the new scheme, meaning that employers should start thinking about revisiting their existing maternity, adoption and paternity leave policies.

Employers who offer enhanced contractual maternity pay will need to consider whether to offer enhanced shared parental pay to an employee who opts to take shared parental leave. There is no requirement under the legislation for employers to do so, although they may risk a claim under the Equality Act 2010 if men taking shared parental leave are not paid an equivalent rate to women on maternity leave.

In a recent decision, an employment tribunal has considered whether an employer’s failure to pay enhanced paternity pay, when they had a policy of paying enhanced maternity pay, was discriminatory towards men.

The tribunal dismissed the employee’s claim of direct sex discrimination, but it was conceded that the payment of enhanced maternity pay was indirectly discriminatory towards male employees who took paternity leave. However, the tribunal was satisfied that the policy was justified since the employer (Ford Motor Company) could show that it formed part of a wider campaign to encourage the recruitment and retention of female staff in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

Whilst only a first level decision and not binding on other tribunals, this decision provides an interesting illustration of how tribunals might deal with the question of whether paying shared parental pay at the statutory rate amounts to indirect sex discrimination, if the employer pays enhanced maternity pay.

Employment law experts from Steeles Law will be providing a detailed overview of the new system of shared parental leave at the forthcoming HR Forum on 12 November 2014, from 2pm to 4.30pm at Dunston Hall.

Abellio Greater Anglia has recognised employees at its Customer Contact Centre for delivering excellent customer service which saw them score top marks in a recent ‘mystery shopping’ survey.

Amanda Green and Estelle Christie, both from Norwich, work in the train operator’s Customer Contact Centre in Norwich as Customer Relations Advisors and were praised for their friendly, helpful and professional manner when dealing with customers’ enquiries on the telephone.

Both received a score of 100% for excellent customer service when secretly assessed by mystery shoppers whilst carrying out their duties – Amanda’s eighth 100% score in the last two years!

Amanda has clocked up 23 years’ service with the railway since joining at the age of 19 and working first as an On Train Catering Assistant and then in Retail Communications as a Train Announcer before joining the Customer Relations team.

Customer Relations Supervisor, John Nelson, said:

“It’s great to have received such positive feedback for our team members. As a department we’ve been working really hard to ensure that we provide the best level of service to all of our customers and this is an excellent example of how it can be done. I’d like to extend my congratulations and thanks to Amanda and Estelle for their commitment and effort, and for leading the way in the provision of great customer service.”

Customer service and quality standards at Abellio Greater Anglia stations are assessed on a regular basis and Amanda and Estelle achieved their perfect scores when assessed as part of a recent mystery shopping exercise carried out between 17th August and 13th September 2014.

Andrew Goodrum, Abellio Greater Anglia’s Customer Services Director, said:

“Since the Abellio Greater Anglia franchise began, we have been concentrating our efforts on improving the customer experience; one important element of this is to give our staff additional training, enabling them to provide the best service possible for the over two million passengers a week using our services in London and the East Anglia region.”