Member News

The chairman of Eastern Airways, which operates scheduled services from Norwich Airport, has urged the UK Government to review the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) reporting process and procedures.

“The Emissions Trading Scheme, implemented by Brussels earlier this year is good in theory but, for Europe’s smaller carriers, is a disaster in practice,” says Eastern Airways chairman, Bryan Huxford. “I find it unbelievable that the scheme results in the cost of administration equalling or exceeding the cost of compliance for smaller airlines,” he continued.

“Eastern Airways, together with every other European airline takes very seriously the need to minimise the impact of its flights on climate change, even though we already have an aircraft fleet that is extremely fuel efficient. However, the Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation, implemented by the European Community is far from being in the interests of Eastern Airways’ customers.” he continued.

The UK regional airline believes that climate protection is a matter of concern for everyone but it is also very much in Eastern Airways’ business interests. Gaseous emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated from the kerosene that is used as the fuel for aircraft engines and today’s fuel price is a strong incentive to find all possible ways (always, of course, maintaining strict adherence to existing safety regulations) to minimise fuel consumption. Less fuel used, results in lower emissions. “The high price of fuel already gives us the strongest possible incentive to be as fuel efficient as possible without the imposition of ETS,” said Bryan.

However, the airline’s real concern is that the ETS legislation goes far beyond what is claimed to be solely an environmental measure. Even though the science of climate change is still inexact, the administration of the fuel usage reporting required by the Scheme is so complex that administrative costs exceed the price of the carbon allowances that Eastern Airways has to buy.

“We do not object to buying the carbon allowances but we see no sense whatsoever in obliging our passengers to pay, through their fares, for complex and precise reporting procedures that contribute nothing to environmental protection,” Bryan added. Eastern Airways’ chairman has written to the Government and Civil Aviation Authority calling for an immediate alleviation of the costs by using simpler and more rationale reporting procedures.

Mike Ambrose, Director General of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) said: “Forcing small airlines to adopt reporting procedures that demand a level of precision many dimensions different from the inexactness of climate change science is absurd. If the European Commission and European Parliament members had listened to the industry when the scheme was drafted, such a ridiculous situation would have been avoided.

“Earlier this month, David Cameron urged the EU to cut its bureaucracy. If the UK government fails to act to cut through this wasteful red tape, it will be passengers who will continue to fund this needless bureaucracy,” Mr Ambrose concluded.

Eastern Airways first started operating scheduled flights from Norwich in 1999 and provides three services each weekday, plus a Sunday service to Aberdeen.

As part of the Transport for Norwich (Norwich Area Transport) strategy we are proposing improvements to the St Stephens, Surrey Streetand Chapel Field North area. We are confident that the proposals will:

• make the area a better place for shopping • make journeys into and around Norwich easier • create a safer and more accessible environment for cyclists and pedestrians • promote quicker and more reliable bus services.

The changes proposed would mean traffic is managed differently in the following streets: Bethel Street, Chapel Field North, Cleveland Road, Convent Road, Grapes Hill roundabout, Little Bethel Street, Rampant Horse Street, Red Lion Street, St Stephens Street, Surrey Street and Westlegate.

The total project cost is estimated to be around £1.45m. The funding is from the Department for Transport Better Bus Area fund, Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, the Greater Norwich Development Partnership and developers.

To find out more and have your say visit:

https://www.norwich.gov.uk/transportfornorwich

Proserv, a leading global provider of production technology services, has secured a £1.2million contract to supply topside control equipment at a major southern North Sea development.

The company was awarded the deal on the Cygnus field by operator GDF SUEZ through its design contractor AMEC. As part of the agreement Proserv will supply the design, engineering and build of wellhead control panels and accompanying topside umbilical termination units for the Alpha and Bravo platforms.

Six of the 10 development wells for both platforms will be controlled by the initial panel design and includes the commissioning of spares and specialist tools.

Proserv’s team of controls experts based at the company’s dedicated engineering and manufacturing facility in Great Yarmouth will play a key role in carrying out the work.

The production platform will use an umbilical to provide fibre optic communication and utilities to the Bravo wellhead platform and Proserv will also supply the topside termination panels for the utilities. The subsea export pipeline has a subsea isolation valve (SSIV) fitted, which is controlled from the production platform, with Proserv providing the topside umbilical termination unit.

Design and engineering work is currently underway, with equipment due for delivery in 2013/14.

This latest deal follows the announcement in August of two contracts worth a combined £6million. The first project involves the provision of electro-hydraulic multiplex subsea control systems at the Maersk Oil operated Talisman Clyde-platform over 12 months. Topside and subsea manifold control systems support is being provided on a development in the Southern North Sea for the second.

Commenting on the project win, David Lamont, Proserv’s chief executive officer, said: “The award of this contract is further evidence of the great reputation the team in Great Yarmouth and indeed Proserv has built, and continues to build with our customers globally.

“Our values combined with marketing-leading technologies and great people allows us to deliver world-class products and services from our Great Yarmouth facility on time and within budget consistently. These elements have been crucial in supporting our expansion to date and will stay at our core as our reputation and business continues to grow.”

Over recent months you may have noted that we have been quickly expanding. Several new clients have joined us, some of our existing customers are growing themselves and we have needed to scale the business accordingly.

As our clients rely on us to be their IT Partner we have needed to be sure that we have real technical depth and expertise across a wide range of technology platforms. Finding someone with the technical skill to satisfy our wide and diverse client base is not an easy task. However, we have been lucky enough to bring John Gostling into the business and we welcome him as our new Systems Engineer.

John has been an IT professional for many years and has outsourced IT experience with several other local IT service providers. John is a tremendous asset to us and he will be filling a role working alongside our Service Delivery Manager on the Projects and Consultancy side of the business. Naturally, John’s skills will be utilised throughout the business and new and existing clients will hopefully be quick to feel his presence.

John says ‘I’m delighted to have joined Breakwater IT who I see as being an IT company one cut above the rest. Breakwater have a really interesting mix of clients that have all kinds of demands and pressures, I’m looking forward to meeting those clients and working with the existing team here.’

At the same time we are pleased to welcome Amy Mansfield to the Team. Amy is our Client Support Agent and her extensive background in customer service makes her an excellent person to be on the end of the phone for our clients. Amy’s customer focus is already being felt around the office and with our existing clients.

Surrey operator picks up ‘Best Tour Operator to Italy’ at BTAs

Surrey-based tour operator Newmarket Holidays was “absolutely delighted” in picking up the ‘Best Tour Operator to Italy’ accolade at this week’s British Travel Awards in London.

Speaking immediately after the award of the ‘Best Tour Operator to Italy’ title, Newmarket’s Andy Jones, Air Product Director who has overseen the company’s holiday programme throughout the Mediterranean for the past 15 years, said he was delighted that the work of the team at Newmarket and especially ‘on the ground’ in Italy had been rewarded in such a way. “Our staff and agents in Italy can feel justly proud of this achievement, which is well deserved”, said Mr Jones. “It is especially gratifying to know that this award was voted for by the travelling public, who have shown their support and appreciation for our holidays over many years.”

The BTA award comes as Newmarket – whose Italian range includes resort-based stays and escorted tours throughout the Italian peninsular – looks towards yet more celebrations marking the company’s 30th Anniversary in 2013.

For 2013 Newmarket Holidays will be offering a range of European resort-based and escorted touring holidays flying from Norwich International, these will include the ever popular Italian lakes, escorted tours to discover Portugal’s Silver coastline, Rome, Venice, Verona and more and relaxing stays in the popular Dubrovnik Riviera. Newmarket Holidays have also added two holidays to the French Riviera and the stunning scenery of Provence to their 2013 Norwich programme.

For further details please visit www.newmarketholidays.co.uk

This year Norwich based website design & development company, 101 has decided to embrace the Mo and join the growing number of people who sprout moustaches with the aim of spreading awareness and raising funds for Mens Health. Movember as it is known has been running for over half a decade, raising money to help combat prostate and testicular cancer.

They are aiming to raise as much as they can to help this worthy cause. 101 have created their own Mo Team Page where you can keep track of their team’s Mo growth.

If you would like to help this worthwhile cause, you can donate as much or as little as you want by visiting the 101 Team Page.

Norvic are pleased to be running two free courses on 19th December:

Gastrostomy Care and Tracheostomy Care

Gastrostomy Care 09:00 – 12:00

• What is a Percutaneous Gastrostomy (PEG)?
• When is a PEG used?
• Common reasons
• Benefits of PEG feeding
• Care of PEG tube
• Feeding by Nasogastric tubes
• Procedure prior to a Nasogastric feed
• Preparation and storage of feeds
• Administration of feeds
• Troubleshooting

Tracheostomy Care 12:30 – 15:30

• What is a Tracheostomy?
• Why Tracheostomy?
• Types of Tracheostomy tubes
• Care of the Tracheostomy patient/tube
• Humidification
• Why humidification?
• Heat-moisture exchange unit
• Changing inner cannula (tube) – Why and when – Equipment & procedure
• Changing Tracheostomy Dressing – Why and when – Equipment & procedure
• Suction of Tracheostomy tube – Why and when – Equipment & procedure
• Resuscitation for Neck-breathing Patients

Places are free but limited – Call 01603 861612 or emailus to book

The number of opposite sex cohabiting couple families has increased significantly, according to the latest statistical bulletin on families and households released by the Office for National Statistics on 1 November 2012.

In 1996 there were 1.5 million opposite sex cohabiting families. That has risen to 2.9 million in 2012. The number of dependant children living in opposite sex cohabiting couple families doubled from 0.9 million to 1.8 million over the same period.

Emma Alfieri, Legal Executive in Steeles Law’s family law team comments: “We have certainly seen a trend in growing numbers of couples who are living together without formalising their relationship and many find themselves surprised by their own situation. This is because many people do not realise that there is no such thing as “common law marriage” in England and Wales. As such, there is no protection for a (financially) vulnerable party. Whilst there have been proposals for a cohabitation law in England, at the moment there is no protection for cohabitants as such.

When there are problems and relationships breakdown, the law is not clear, as it is in respect of divorce and civil partnership dissolution.

Couples can and should consider having a cohabitation agreement drawn up to confirm the parties intentions at the outset.

If you would like further advice in respect of co-habitation, please contact Steeles Law’s family law team who can provide you with detailed advice about your rights and how to protect them.

Ashton KCJ features strongly in the 2013 Chambers & Partners directory, which has just been published.

One of the leading directories of the legal profession, Chambers & Partners ranks law firms and individual lawyers on their technical ability, professional conduct and client service, along with other qualities which are most valued by clients.

For the firm overall, four of our teams have increased their rankings this year. These are our Agriculture and Estates team, which is described as “very professional with high standards of integrity”, our Real Estate team in Ipswich, which is described as “very much client-focused”, our Corporate team in Ipswich and our Real Estate Litigation teams in Ipswich and Cambridge.

Both our Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence teams achieved tier 1 status once again this year, a position they have held for over 10 years. For Clinical Negligence, we were described as “a quality firm with an excellent reputation”.

Our Dispute Resolution team was described as having “a superb reputation” and for Family Law, we were noted for our “approachability, and practical and pragmatic approach to problems to get the best result”.

In the individual rankings, 16 individuals have increased their rankings compared with last year, with eight of our partners being listed in tier 1. These are:

Rob Adam (Real Estate Litigation) Tom Cook (Clinical Negligence) Richard Foyster (Personal Injury) Michael Frape (Real Estate Litigation) Robert Gair (Personal Injury) Luke Hibbert (Dispute Resolution) Sandra Patton (Clinical Negligence) Hannah Rutterford (Personal Injury)

New Norwich-based Partner, Damian Humphrey, was described as an “extremely capable lawyer” and Ipswich-based Corporate lawyer, Petra Sharp was described as ‘up and coming’.

Here are a selection of the quotes attributed to our lawyers:

“A terrific guy who is good at sitting down with clients” (Alan Brown, Head of Individual Services) “An impressive operator and very confident” (Ruth Booy, Head of Injury Services) “Delightful to work with and very steely” (Hannah Rutterford, Partner, Personal Injury) “Capable, conscientious and quick to respond” (Geoff Hazlewood, Partner, Corporate & Commercial) “Combination of great client services and legal acumen” (Jeanette Dennis, Partner, Agriculture & Estates) “Highly recommended by clients for his patience and calm professionalism” (Luke Hibbert, Partner, Dispute Resolution) “He is clearly an expert in his field” (Charles Webb, Head of Commercial Property) “Noted for his ability to marshall a robust defence” (Julian Outen, Partner, Employment)

Simon Smith, CEO at Ashton KCJ, says: “We are delighted with these results, which have closely followed the strong endorsement we received from the Legal 500 guide, where we joined the shortlist of ‘regional heavyweight’ law firms for the first time. To have achieved this just one year after our merger was an incredible result. Endorsements from respected, independent sources such as the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners demonstrate our commitment to providing exceptional client service across all areas of the firm.”

Bigfork have designed and built a new website for the Park Farm Country Hotel in Hethersett. The new website has a modern and easy to use design and focuses on positioning Park Farm as a quality 4 star hotel for Norwich. The new website has an easy to use content management system for the Park Farm team to manage the websites content inhouse.

https://www.parkfarm-hotel.co.uk/

Filmmakers around the world now have some of the most exciting and powerful video effects and editing features at their fingertips, at entry-level prices, with the launch of HitFilm 2 from FXhome.

Fast to learn, and with limitless potential for discovery, the new software will enable beginner and semi-pro filmmakers alike to push the boundaries of video editing, visual effects and compositing without any compromises.

Just two highlights of the flagship package include the ability to work with 3D models and an all-new array-based particle system that can create fantastic, organic patterns and fractal shapes that would be impossible to achieve in a conventional particle simulator. These powerful tools will enable filmmakers to realise their creative visions with stunning professional results.

Users will also be able to play their animations back in real time with the new RAM Preview facility, allowing for uninterrupted workflow and easy review of footage.

Joshua Davies, FXhome founder and CEO said: “HitFilm 2 Ultimate is about giving our customers the best power-to-price ratio the post-production world has ever seen. Until now, this level of performance would have cost thousands of dollars. HitFilm 2 Ultimate is the only product to combine editing, visual effects and compositing without any compromises.”

HitFilm 2, FXhome’s flagship video editing, visual effects and compositing software is a major upgrade to an already much-loved package. New features in HitFilm 2 Ultimate include 3D model import, expanded editing features, advanced green screen removal, 17 new pro effects, mocha HitFilm from Imagineer Systems and Sony Vegas™ Pro 12 integration.

In addition to HitFilm’s 2D optical flow feature tracking, mocha HitFilm, created by Imagineer Systems exclusively for FXhome, provides planar tracking and 3D camera solving for all HitFilm 2 Ultimate users.

Ross Shain, chief marketing officer, Imagineer Systems said: “mocha HitFilm is an exciting development for the new generation of filmmakers, from hobbyists and enthusiasts to indie filmmakers worldwide. We’re proud to be working with FXhome to give people access to the same Hollywood-calibre tools as the pros. Filmmakers can easily integrate sophisticated elements like particles, explosions and 3D models in true 3D space using mocha’s Planar Tracking technology.”

Multiple 3D model formats can be imported to HitFilm 2 Ultimate, with full support for animation groups, soft self-shadowing, ambient occlusion, environment maps, motion blur and depth of field. The new 3D model features require no additional plug-ins.

HitFilm provides a unique blend of non-linear video editing, 2D and 3D compositing and advanced visual effects. Working in a single interface, filmmakers have all the tools they need at their fingertips. The creator can easily jump between their editing timeline and a sophisticated compositing environment, with full control over 3D particle simulation, media layers, color grading and 3D model animation,

The major new effects in HitFilm 2 Ultimate include: audio-driven, array-based particle simulation; 3D extrusion for text and media layers; advanced chroma key for professional green screen removal; procedural lens dirt; automatic light flares and parallax depth distortion for creating textured surfaces from 2D images.

Joshua Davies continued: “HitFilm 2 Ultimate is the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken. We have listened to what the filmmaking community has been saying and developed new features that give users a chance to push their projects further.

“A couple of extra features weren’t enough, so we’ve added the 3D model rendering, which is normally only found in high end software costing several thousand dollars, introduced several major new effects and reached out to Imagineer Systems to bring their planar technology to HitFilm users.”

“With over 150 pro effects and a built-in NLE there’s really nothing quite like HitFilm 2 Ultimate. We’re really excited to see how filmmakers will use the software to bring their ideas to life.”

HitFilm 2 Ultimate is released worldwide on November 1. It is available direct from the HitFilm.com website, priced at $399. Also available is HitFilm 2 Express, an entry-level, streamlined version aimed at new filmmakers, priced at $149. Upgrade discounts are available for existing users of HitFilm 1, with a free upgrade for those who purchased after October 1st.

It has been reported that a gay man from Essex who donated his sperm to enable a lesbian couple to have two children is being forced by the Child Support Agency to pay for their support – 13 years after the first child was born.

Mr Langridge, who has been with his partner for 16 years (and in a civil partnership for the last five), has called on the Government to review the law after the CSA demanded that he start paying £26 a week for two children he technically fathered over a decade ago. Mr Langridge made the first of two sperm donations in 1998, after he and his partner became friends with a lesbian couple who wanted to have children. The second donation followed in 2000, and on both occasions the couple were promised that he would not be named on the birth certificate. He was also assured that the lesbian couple were financially secure and would require no money from him.

Mr Langridge had some contact with the family until 2004 but then lost touch. The lesbian couple, who never became civil partners, split up, and the biological mother housing the children later claimed benefits. It is reported that the mother’s former partner continues to visit the children but is not regarded as having any financial responsibility by the CSA.

Emma Alfieri, Family Practitioner at Steeles Law, commented: “Changes to the law mean that if Mr Langridge made the donation today in similar circumstances he would not be liable to pay child support for the children. This follows the law on sperm donation and paternity which was changed in April 2009. Now, under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, anyone who donates to a couple in a civil partnership or via a licensed clinic is not considered the legal father. The other partner in the partnership is now considered the legal parent of the child provided they consent and following the change in law they would now be liable to pay the child maintenance, NOT the donor.”

It is reported that Mr Langridge has called for the law governing this area to be applied retrospectively, as it is thought there could be many men caught in a similar position. Any subsequent changes to the law on this issue will be published on the Steeles Law website.