Health and safety is the number one challenge to getting SMEs back to work
May 15th 2020A LEADING legal firm is urging business owners to make sure they are up to date on legislation after a poll revealed health and safety as the number one challenge to getting staff back to work as lockdown eases. With thousands of people set to head back to work as restrictions are gradually lifted, company bosses and individual workers are being advised to make sure they fully understand their legal…
Health & safety is the biggest challenge facing SMEs as they emerge from lockdown
May 14th 2020Earlier this week, we shared a UK200 Group poll, to better understand the biggest challenges facing SMEs as they return to work from lockdown. If you participated in the poll, thank you. The poll has highlighted that health and safety ranked as the top concern for businesses emerging from lockdown. Cashflow comes second and client confidence third. This indicates that it is the uncertainty of reopening a business, with all…
Furloughed workers qualify for full parental leave entitlement
May 14th 2020Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment & HR provides update. The government has announced that furloughed workers taking paid parental or adoption leave will be entitled to pay based on their usual earnings rather than a furloughed pay rate. Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay, as well as the other forms of Parental or Adoption Pay, are currently calculated through someone’s average earnings over an 8-week assessment period. For Maternity…
Business Interruption Insurance: Are you covered?
May 13th 2020Mark Aspin Director and Head of Dispute Resolution provides useful information on business interruption insurance. As some areas of commerce – at least tentatively – look to restarting operations over the coming weeks, those businesses which have been totally closed over the past weeks will be looking forward to seeing an income stream restarting. Whilst income has been reduced (or stopped) and places of work closed, many businesses have been…
Planning for the Future: A practical checklist for SMEs preparing to return to work
May 12th 2020Cartmells Shepherd’s Managing Director Peter Stafford provides some good advice and a helpful checklist for SMEs. A useful reminder of the key things that need to be in place to get your business running efficiently and effectively; look after your people and your customers; and move your business forward. Structured around the four pillars of: Operations & technology Finance & resourcing People Marketing & communications View checklist here UK200GroupEmergenceChecklist -…
Easing of Lockdown – UK200Group SME Poll
May 11th 2020UK200 Group Poll: What are your biggest challenges as we see an easing of lockdown? There remains quite some confusion following the Prime Ministers broadcast last night but it is likely we will start to see an easing of the lockdown restrictions in the coming weeks, so long as the virus is kept under control. This will have implications for SME businesses (and particularly those in Cumbria and Northumberland that…
Haltwhistle solicitors working from home to help give people peace of mind during pandemic
May 11th 2020WITH people wanting to ensure their legal affairs are in order during the Covid-19 pandemic a team of solicitors from Haltwhistle are working from home to help. While many businesses have closed temporarily, or scaled back, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors at Haltwhistle are working as hard as ever for their clients – the only difference being that they are based from home, rather than the office. Nicholas Devlin one of Cartmell…
How have you adapted to working from home during lockdown?
May 7th 2020Jonathan Carroll Director & Head of Property talks about how he has adapted during lockdown. Where are you working from now? Home, like most office workers, in my little office by the front door. I’ve got a decent desk and chair, and there’s not too bad a view over the fields, really, with the lapwings flopping about. Being able to walk out onto the garden in the sunshine is a…
Work experience led graduate to achieve her dreams with top legal firm
May 1st 2020A HISTORY graduate has achieved her dream of qualifying as a solicitor at a leading legal firm after being inspired by her time with the company while on work experience. Taylor Chanter 27, was determined to land a job at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors following a brief internship with the firm almost four years ago. After two years working with the top legal firm, during which she has thrown herself into…
Shops and SMEs to be protected against aggressive rent collection
April 29th 2020Stephanie Johnson Associate Solicitor provides an update. Shops and small businesses will be protected from aggressive rent collection during the Covid-19 emergency. Instead, Business Secretary Alok Sharma says they will be asked to pay what they can over the next two months. Mr Sharma says most landlords and tenants are working well together to reach agreements on debt obligations, but some landlords have been putting tenants under undue pressure by…
