LP has recently welcomed two new members of staff, with the recruitment of two Trainee Solicitors, Sarah Ellero and Claire McCarthy. Sarah grew up in Norfolk, achieving a 2.1 law degree at UEA and did her LPC at Kaplan Law School at London Bridge where she achieved a distinction. Sarah climbed Kilimanjaro this summer for Childreach International. Sarah joins LP in the Corporate team, working alongside Partner, Paul Warman.
Claire went to school in Bury St Edmunds and studied law at the University of Nottingham, before taking a year out and worked in the Events Team at the University of Nottingham and then completed her LPC with distinction at Nottingham Law School. Claire joins the Wills, Trusts and Probate team, working with Partners Hazel Gill and William Riley. For enjoyment, Claire also ran the Robin Hood Half Marathon recently in Nottingham.
We require a dynamic and highly motivated Residential Conveyancer to join our busy CQS and Lexcel accredited team in Diss. The successful candidate will have proven experience of working in a similar role.
For more information about the role and a confidential discussion, please contact Chloe Miller on 01603 598000 or email: hr@steeleslaw.co.uk
If you are interested in applying for the role, please send your CV with covering letter to Chloe Miller by email to hr@steeleslaw.co.uk.
We would ask that we do not receive any applications from recruitment agencies at this stage.
Are you considering setting up or expanding a play group, pre school or nursery? Norfolk County Council has made advice and funding available that could help make your plans a reality.
Support for new businesses is available through Enterprise Norfolk an initiative offered by local district, borough or city councils led by Norfolk County Council. visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/enterprisenorfolk
Cozens-Hardy LLP is pleased to announce the promotion of two solicitors to the position of Associate.
Commercial solicitor Dan Evans and Family solicitor Carly Sullivan have both been appointed Associates in recognition of their continued professional development and contribution to the firm.
Confirmed Simon Whipp, Managing Partner:
“The firm is delighted to recognise the ongoing commitment to their respective departments by Dan and Carly. Both have made an important contribution to the firm in the recent past and we hope that they will continue to do so in the future.”
Dan has been an important member of the firm’s Business team for five years; with a specialism in commercial property, Dan advises a variety of clients on a wide range of commercial property matters. Carly was the Family team’s first specialist trainee solicitor and has been advising clients on family matters and in particular children related issues for over seven years. Carly was recently successful in gaining membership of the Law Society’s Children Panel.
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For further information please contact: Clare Haylett ph: 07764 270570 and clare@clarehaylett.net
The JMS Group, one of the region’s longest established media companies, celebrates its 30th birthday this month in buoyant mood.
What began in an abandoned recording studio amidst farm buildings on the outskirts of Hethersett has since become a major provider of audio and visual productions in the UK and Europe.
JMS – founded by former broadcaster John Mountford – was initially set up in September 1983 to produce commercials for the then fledgling independent local radio industry.
Whilst busy establishing itself as a leading supplier to radio stations around the country, JMS also began steady progress into television.
Today, JMS makes around 250 TV commercials a year for local businesses and international brands.
Proud to be Norfolk based, The JMS Group employs a team of local writers, directors, sound and vision producers, video editors and motion graphics designers, who can create anything from a ‘how-to’ video, to studio drama, to amazing 3D animations.
There’s technological trickery aplenty at JMS. A click of a mouse button and editors can change a sunny day into a thunderstorm, whilst actors can be transported to the Paris skyline at dusk, or placed deep inside a candlelit castle dungeon – without leaving Norfolk – thanks to the enormous green special effects stage in JMS’ TV studio.
It’s this amazing blend of skills and technology which has seen JMS successfully ride out the economic turbulence of the past three decades. John Mountford says:
“In 30 years we’ve re-invented ourselves countless times, keeping abreast of taste and ahead of changing technology. Now, glossy commercials which in our early days would have taken weeks of work can be produced cost effectively in days or even hours. As a result more and more businesses, many of them local to Norfolk, have never found it easier to advertise on TV”.
“And some of today’s most exciting developments are online. Video is now the key driver of web-based content and businesses are increasingly investing in quality online video to set their site apart”.
JMS is still based in its original Hethersett location having gradually converted adjacent farm buildings to form a media centre which includes three radio studios (the group still makes around 150 radio commercials each month) and three TV edit suites.
But is being Norfolk-based a hindrance? Mountford thinks not – particularly now:
“The internet has made the world a smaller place so JMS can access voice overs and musicians absolutely anywhere with the flick of a switch, and send video files anywhere too – so rather than being in the big smoke, we’ve always embraced life here in Norfolk…and the parking’s better!”
It looks as if the steady stream of celebrities who visit the studios agree. John Hurt voiced his famous “Great Dragon” for the BBC blockbuster Merlin at Hethersett (and even a piece of dialogue for “Tinker Tailor”).
Stephen Fry, Tom Baker, Tony Robinson, Su Pollard, Philippa Forrester, Martin Shaw and Steve Coogan are just a handful of the names who have graced the building…and all of them have taken their place on the JMS ‘Wall of the Stars’.
John Mountford explains: “As the years rolled by and the celebs kept visiting us we felt we should commemorate each with their own blue plaque. Trouble is, we ran out of wall space a long time back – and there’s a waiting list! And as some of those original names are getting knighthoods we’ll need additional plaques, and more space, pretty soon!”
The JMS Group celebrates its 30th birthday on Monday 23rd September.
To find out more about TV, Web, Corporate or Radio commercial production, contact Tom Kay, Head Of Marketing at The JMS Group on 01603 811855 or 07939 598670.
The latest government unemployment figures for the three month period to July have fallen by 0.1% to 7.7%. The number of people unemployed in this period fell 24,000 to 2.487 million, while official figures also showed a concurrent fall in the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance, to 1.402 million, its lowest level since February 2009.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain is “turning a corner” but admits the government has “still got a long way to go” on unemployment. BBC Chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym concurs: “In a week when the chancellor said the economy was turning a corner, here are labour market figures that strengthen the argument that the economy is moving in the right direction,”
The figures for unemployment in the three months to July are based on the Labour Force Survey, in which the Office for National Statistics speaks to 60,000 households once a quarter, making it the country’s biggest household survey.
New jobs created in the private sector continue to support growth – between March and June 2013, public sector employment fell 34,000, while private sector employment rose 114,000. “The positive figures are a measure of the resilience and the flexibility of Britain’s labour market,” said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. “The further increase in private sector employment, at a time when the public sector is still shedding jobs, demonstrates yet again that private firms are able to drive the recovery.”
Against an otherwise improving picture, youth unemployment rose slightly to 21%. In a bid to tackle youth unemployment in East Anglia, the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce has announced a joint venture with the Norwich for Jobs campaign to implement its already successful apprenticeship brokerage service. The role of the Chamber will be to lend a helping hand to businesses to help them identify the most appropriate apprenticeship scheme and training providers to meet their needs and get more young people into jobs.
Chamber CEO, Caroline Williams, commented: “We are passionate about helping to provide links between Norfolk’s young people and the business community and this is one way we feel that we can really help.”
“All this strengthens our belief that the jobs market is slowly improving. Over the last quarter we have witnessed a higher number of finance vacancies we have been asked to fill and we are therefore quietly optimistic that this trend will continue but would like to see more opportunities created for the FD market” explains Sam Holt, Director of Big Sky Additions.
New research from the Financial and Legal Skills Partnership (FSP) shows that accountancy firms have doubled the number of apprentices taken on over the last five years.
Data from the trade body set up to improve skills in the finance and legal sectors shows that by the end of 2012, the number of apprentices was 7,000, compared to 3,710 in 2007.
FSP chief executive Liz Field said that accountancy firms are increasingly looking to recruit and train school-leavers instead of graduates as they ¬believe apprentices will demonstrate increasing loyalty and will stay in their jobs for longer. She added that employers will choose school-leavers over graduates because they have more “realistic” salary ¬expectations.
Apprenticeships are training programmes, where you train and work in an organisation while studying for a relevant qualification. “Apprenticeships are increasingly popular as they allow young people to learn on the job, develop knowledge and skills and earn money – all at the same time,” explains Big Sky Additions’ director, Justin Murray. “Some accountancy apprenticeship schemes also run hand in hand with professional training such as the AAT accounting qualification,” he added.
Accountancy apprenticeship schemes are offered by a wide range of small practices and large corporate firms, allowing students to earn a salary while studying for professional qualifications over a five-year period.
Steeles Law is holding a Legal Clinic at its 2 Mount Street, Diss offices on Friday 4 October, with pre-bookable 15 minute consultations available between 3.00 and 6.00pm.
Whether you a private individual or business owner, you can book a complimentary appointment with a legal professional in connection with any of the services we offer.
Please call 01379 652141 to make a booking. Appointments are offered on a first come, first served basis and must be booked before the day
The mobile revolution is here but is your website ready for it. 50% of website traffic is predicted to come from smartphones and tablets by the end of 2014 and many businesses are not prepared and could be losing out. If your website doesn’t offer a very good mobile visitor experience then you have several options including a responsive website or a separate mobile website. To find out more about these options read our latest article “Is your website ready for mobile” If you would like to discuss your options further please contact us on 01603 513080
There is no doubt the mobile revolution is here with traffic to websites form mobile devices predicted to reach 50% by the end of 2014. However is your website ready for this new potential opportunity? Our latest guide helps you how to decide if your business needs a mobile website and what the options are. Full details are here and if you have any questions please contact us.
Ashton KCJ is pleased to welcome a new solicitor to its Corporate and Commercial team. Matthew Downing has joined the firm having spent nearly three years at a top 100 law firm. Matthew will be based in Norwich.
He brings with him a wealth of experience, including advising on share and asset acquisitions and disposals, corporate governance and shareholder agreements. Matthew also advises on a range of commercial agreements, including the supply of goods and services, distribution, agency and franchise agreements.
Geoff Hazlewood, Head of Corporate and Commercial at Ashton KCJ, said: “Matthew’s appointment demonstrates our continued commitment to growing our commercial presence in Norwich. I’m delighted to welcome Matthew to the team.”
Edward O’Rourke, CEO, commented: “We are continuing to invest in our Business Services teams across the region. Matthew’s appointment comes hot on the heels of the appointment of Annette Collen and Helen Stewart to our Commercial Property team and follows the appointment of Mark Whittaker to the Corporate and Commercial team in Cambridge earlier this year. I wish Matthew every success in his career at Ashton KCJ.”