How cutting red tape in relation to employment law could turn the economy around.

The Government could go a long way to promoting growth in the economy by making dramatic cuts to the amount of red tape small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to contend with when taking on new workers, the Managing Director of employment law specialist Bibby Consulting & Support has said.

As the Prime Minister continues to seek opinion from businesses on what legislation they would like to see abolished, Michael Slade said the foreseeable future for the UK economy will continue to be bleak unless the Government can get to grips with employment law immediately.

According to the latest figures the UK economy contracted by 0.2 per cent in the final three months of 2011. Worse still, some observers believe the country has already dipped back into recession and the economy will continue to contract throughout most of 2012.

“Over recent years it has become increasingly difficult for employers to take on new members of staff and even harder to dismiss them if they fail to perform as expected,” Slade said. “All too often, companies view staff recruitment as a process fraught with difficulty and risk. If for any reason the relationship does not work out there is also the perception that ending it can be extremely time consuming and expensive, but it really doesn’t need to be that way.

Slade went on to comment that, “Businesses should be encouraged to take on new recruits. For this to happen there must be financial incentives for SME’s, such as tax relief and reduced administration and immediate changes must be made to the Employment Tribunal system so that employers could worry less about the repercussions of dismissal. The government must also tackle the imbalance in employment law which still sees employee’s rights outweigh those of the employer.”

Slade concluded: “By taking radical action now – and I mean immediately – the government could go a long way to promoting real and sustainable growth in the economy.”

Employment law specialist and health and safety advisor Bibby Consulting & Support had a record sales month in October – its best month in nearly four years.

At the same time, the Newcastle-under-Lyme Company has created a number of new posts over the last few months, including a head of projects, Steven Attwood, to manage long-term in-house investments in systems and processes, and a dedicated training manager, Jon Hughes, to further expand their training services.

A key factor in Bibby Consulting & Support’s growth has been its continued expansion into major target markets such as care homes and franchising. Major contract wins from big names like Select Healthcare and the Domino’s Pizza Group have reflected the increasing demand for the company’s expertise in specific market sectors.
Understanding the needs of a sector and being able to deliver skills and solutions that have been refined over the years are the main reasons Bibby Consulting & Support has seen such impressive growth, according to Managing Director Michael Slade.

“By specialising, we have been able to show that we can clearly provide our client base with a level of service and support that is specific to their business needs,” he says. “As a result, confidence is very high within the company and we are achieving all of our goals.”

As well as supporting customers, Bibby Consulting & Support has put long-term investment into its own staff. This includes a programme of having all of its Tele-marketing team in Newcastle under Lyme accompany field sales people to gain a deeper understanding of customer’s needs. The company has also provided funding and support to enable staff to secure further qualifications. This has included training courses for people within support functions, as well as studies leading to qualifications for client facing staff, through the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

“We see this as succession planning,” says Slade. “We have some very gifted individuals who, having initially joined the business via the Tele-marketing team, have then gone onto use their degrees to great effect within other departments, such as our Business Improvement function or others who have qualified in specific areas of Employment Law to help run our indemnity activity. We see investment in staff as a great way to prepare the next generation. Whilst some businesses are cutting training budgets, we believe investment in our people is exactly what is needed to create a successful business.”

Bibby Consulting & Support’s parent company the Bibby Line Group has once again won a National Business Award 2011 in partnership with Orange. The judges said: “Demonstrating that a large and diverse business can deliver consistent growth with family values at its core, Bibby Line Group has demonstrated a recognised commitment to staff, and ethical practice has been driven by strong leadership and management.” Slade concludes: “If you are recognised as a good company to work you will attract the best people and that’s vitally important to ensure we continue to provide a top quality service to our customers.”

For further information about Bibby Consulting & Support employment law specialists and health and safety advisors, visit http://www.bibbycas.com

James Maguire & Co is pleased to welcome a new solicitor to their expanding family law practice.

Katie Welton joins James Maguire & Co from Rowlands Field Cunningham in Manchester where she trained and specialised in family law.

Katie has a particular interest in cases involving children law and matrimonial finance and has experience of all areas of family law. Local to Wilmslow, Katie having grown up in Hale, brings the total number of lawyers in the Wilmslow town centre based office of James Maguire & Co to four. James Maguire, of the firm comments “It is very nice to welcome Katie who I am sure will prove a valued member of our team”.

James Maguire & Co is a specialist firm of Family Law and Divorce Law solicitors based in Wilmslow, Cheshire.  They offer legal advice to parties going through a divorce including the financial issues which flow from this (including pensions), linked business issues, international aspects and any relevant issues concerning the children. They also offer legal advice in relation to matters covered in this blog and general Children Law advice.

James Maguire & Co advise clients in the Wilmslow area and also to the surrounding areas of Alderley Edge, Bramhall, Hale, Altrincham, Manchester and the North West. They are also able to act for clients nationally and internationally subject to the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

For more information on all of the divorce solicitor Cheshire services offered by James Maguire & Co visit http://www.family-law.co.uk

Bibby Consulting & Support are pleased to announce new management appointment and movement.

Firstly, Jon Taylor has become the new Telemarketing Operations Manager at Bibby Consulting & Support joining the company from rival firm Peninsula Business Services. Based in call centres for the last 15 years, Jon has also worked at Vodafone, Rank Xerox and Auto Trader.

Says Jon: “I chose Bibby Consulting & Support because it is a very strong brand within the industry and offers plenty of opportunity for expansion and growth. I’m delighted to be joining at this time as the firm experiences exceptional success and continues to develop its reputation across various sectors.”

He adds: “Telemarketing departments are the foundation of the whole sales process. They are the first point of contact with any prospect and are responsible for positioning the brand as the supplier of choice within the prospect’s mind. In this way, the Telemarketing department is absolutely fundamental to the success of the business and I’m looking forward to helping the company to move forward and grow.”

Bibby Consulting & Support’s second appointment is Bill Collins who has been with the company since 2007 as Environmental Manager and has now become Head of Department for SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment and Quality). Before joining Bibby CAS, Bill was an avionics technician at the Ministry of Defence.

“It’s great to work for a company where what you put in is recognised and rewarded and I’m looking forward to continuing the progress we’ve made in recent years in building the best SHEQ service in our industry,” Bill says.

Michael Slade, Managing Director of Bibby CAS, says of the appointments: “Both Jon and Bill bring highly valued strengths to the team. I’m confident that with them on board we will continue to develop our reputation as a leading force in providing vital support to businesses and organisations on employment law and health and safety legislation.”

Adopting the most effective and efficient approach to your Employment, Health & Safety and Environmental challenges is critical. It frees up key people to focus on core business, deliver on customer expectations and helps you to build a strong brand that delivers better performance for your business.

The services we provide are tailored to match the needs of your business and are always delivered with predictable costs. We are also able to show you how by using our Employment Law experts, Health and Safety advisors and Environmental consultants, your business can secure the commercial advantage you need when tendering for contracts.

For more information on Bibby’s employment law specialists and health and safety advisors, visit http://www.bibbycas.com

recruited.

Following recent concerns about the standards of care provided in some private care homes, and while reports have suggested that 1150 nursing and residential care homes could be at risk of closure and the Southern Cross care home company has ceased trading, Bibby has reiterated its support for dedicated organisations that work in difficult circumstances, sometimes with extremely vulnerable people.

Managing Director Michael Slade said Bibby employment law specialists has worked closely with many high-profile and successful care homes for years and has a genuine appreciation of the issues involved. As it does in other sectors, Bibby helps managers to comply with health and safety (H&S) regulations and to cope with the day-to-day complexities that might come out of dealing with staff members – including disciplinary and performance management issues.

Specifically for the care sector, Bibby offers comprehensive support to care home owners to enable them to comply with legal obligations placed on them by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This includes a bespoke care home H&S framework for compliance based on the Health & Safety Executive’s HSG220 guidance. Designed to empower those responsible for managing H&S in care homes, the proactive Bibby approach covers such areas as risk assessment, control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) assessment, dealing with clinical waste, water temperature and hot surfaces, manual handling and more.

Pointing out that Bibby’s 24-hour service is particularly appreciated by care home managers because the sector is not one that operates on a predictable 9-to-5 basis, Michael Slade said that the company’s expertise in this field can help care homes to avoid many of the mistakes that have been reported recently.

“We fully understand the problems this sector faces,” he said. “We understand the difficulties of working with vulnerable people and the complexities that can arise when you’re trying to investigate issues in this kind of environment. And we understand how to help care homes meet the extra obligations placed on them by regulatory bodies such as the CQC.”

Slade stressed that Bibby would back any authorities penalising care homes that did not have the care and safety of clients as well as staff development at the heart of their business. But he added: “I am delighted to report that because of the support we offer, our clients in the care sector comply with the very latest regulations and are doing an excellent job.”

On the subject of the quality of care home staff, Slade said: “Our specialists are fully equipped to enable care homes to manage changes that are on the horizon, including to the vetting and barring scheme where those working with vulnerable people may soon have to register with the ISA.

“We believe it can only be a positive development that the placement of care sector staff is to be monitored more closely and filtered through a more efficient recruitment process. This has to be much better for care homes than having to deal with the aftermath.”

One care home that is using Bibby’s services successfully is The Elms home for the elderly in Yeovil, Somerset, which has 16 residents.

Owner Lee Osborne said: “What Bibby has done for us is brilliant, I’m very pleased. If I have any query regarding health and safety or employment law they put us straight and guide us to the correct ways.”

She added: “Bibby ensures all our contracts are correct and they annually check everything is okay. Obviously we have to comply with various standards and Bibby checks that we do. If I ever have a problem I go to them and they always sort things out for me.”

For further details on Bibby Consulting & Support’s employment law specialists and health and safety advisors visit http://www.bibbycas.com

Bibby Consulting and Support compliance specialists, respond to the government’s ‘Red Tape Challenge’.

Reducing red tape for businesses can only be a good thing, compliance specialist Bibby Consulting & Support has said in response to claims that the government’s ‘Red Tape Challenge’ might actually mean more work for companies as opposed to less.

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has revealed that many visitors to the ‘Red Tape Challenge’ website have called for existing regulations to be maintained or even increased. The suggestion is that fewer regulations could mean diluted rights and protections, particularly in health & safety.

Although he said the site had been “bombarded” by such messages, Cable insisted that one of the government’s top priorities was to reduce the amount of regulation that small companies and start-up businesses face. But he warned companies: “Please don’t pretend this is easy.”

Bibby Consulting & Support understands that many regulations are essential to protect businesses and employees but also supports efforts to minimise the amount of complex legislation that companies have to abide by and which has been generated over the years.

Managing Director Michael Slade says: “Clearly, it is in everybody’s interest to have health and safety safeguards within businesses to ensure that all staff members are able to work in a safe environment. This is not in dispute.”

“However, it also needs to be recognised that there is a considerable amount of employment law regulation that does nothing to help businesses work at maximum efficiency and to expand as they become more successful. As long as rights are maintained, we consider the time and effort required to cut down on regulation to be a very worthwhile investment.

Unfortunately however recent reports state that the site currently appears to be used more by members of the public and consumer groups who are expressing a one-sided view that existing regulations should be maintained or more worryingly still, increased. We are strongly urging business leaders to add their own views and ensure that their voices are heard.”

For employment law specialists and health and safety advisors, consult Bibby Consulting & Support http://www.bibbycas.com

James Maguire & Co family and divorce lawyers celebrate 1st year anniversary.

Having moved to new larger premises in Wilmslow in 201, James Maguire & Co have had a very busy year.

James has specialized in divorce law and family law and advice for some 15 years and his work focuses on medium to high net worth matrimonial finance cases. He has worked for 7 of those years at Cobbetts LLP and DWF LLP which provide him with an added edge. He has now been joined by solicitor Lucy Boyle from Cobbetts LLP and Jo Durban from Mace & Jones to compliment the family law team.

Based in Wilmlslow, James Maguire & Co specializes in all areas of family law, particularly divorce and medium to high net worth cases. A niche area of the firm is international divorce law, child abduction and child relocation. Collaborative Law is also undertaken.

The team links to leading experts to assist in cases, for example, barristers (both locally and in London), lawyers overseas, forensic accountants, tax accountants, independent financial advisers and pension actuaries.

The vision of the firm is to become a leading North West family law solicitor and divorce law practice. A first class client service is key to this together with the ability to obtain the best possible outcome with clear, concise and efficient legal family law solicitor Cheshire advice.

For more information on the services offered by James Maguire & Co including manchester divorce law, visit http://www.family-law.co.uk/

Bibby Consulting and Support announce their last exhibition road show of the current tour.

It’s not too late to attend the last in the series of exhibiton road shows put on by Bibby Consulting and Support. June 6th and 7th sees the road show at its final destination, the Care Forum, Heythrop Park Resort, Oxford.

With 5 major events planned in just 6 weeks the team are busy preparing themselves to talk to business leaders up and down the country explaining why Bibby Consulting & support are the supplier of choice.

May 4th saw the start of Bibby Consulting & Support’s exhibition road show at the Manchester Central Business Complex before heading to Newport, Liverpool and Oxford.
Bibby Consulting & Support is part of the Bibby Line Group, a family run business with a distinguished 200-year heritage, encompassing financial services, retailing, logistics, shipping, marine and offshore services.

With businesses and business owners being safeguarded through the expert management of human resources and ensure essential compliance with Employment Law, Health, Safety and Environmental obligations.

As part of a family owned and run enterprise, Bibby Consulting and Support (Bibby CAS)understand the needs of smaller businesses. Their membership of The Bibby Line Group has given them a unique insight into the importance of maintaining a strong customer-focused and people-based culture, to support the growth and development of a successful business.

If you would like to join the Bibby CAS team at the Heythrop Park event, or just find out more about how Bibby CAS can help your business through their employment law specialists and health and safety advisors, visit http://www.bibbycas.com

Leading employment law specialist, Bibby Consulting & Support responds to the latest consultation on employment tribunal reform.

Last week has seen leading Employment Law Specialist, Bibby Consulting & Support respond to the latest consultation on employment tribunal reform, which was jointly opened up by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Tribunal Service.

A copy of the complete response is available as a download to this article. However, for those who prefer a summary of their response, we have taken this opportunity to speak with Brendan Wincott, Compliance Officer, who helps summarise the main proposals under the consultation.

Brendan explained that “one of the most controversial proposals is to impose financial penalties on employers who are found to have breached employment rights. We are against such proposals and do not believe that this will encourage compliance amongst employers.”

Brendan went on to explain that “employment tribunal compensation can already run into the tens of thousands, and this is almost always punitive enough for employers, particular smaller organisations who may not have the resources available to them that perhaps some of their larger competitors may have.”

Brendan also explained that “another key proposal is to increase the unfair dismissal qualifying criteria from one to two years. Here at Bibby CAS, we are in support of such an increase, and a survey conducted amongst a sample of our clients found that 69% of employers would welcome the increase in respect of encouraging them to recruit.”

There are also a number of less controversial changes proposed, including the introduction of a system for encouraging reasonable settlement offers, including a statutory period before a claim is submitted to allow for this to take place, along with increased limits on costs and deposit orders.

If you want to learn more about these latest proposals, why not call one of the experts now. If you are an existing client of Bibby Consulting and Support, please call one of the team today on 08453 100 999 quoting your PCN number to discuss the situation with one of our employment law specialists. If however you are not yet a client of Bibby, but are interested in learning more about the services Bibby CAS provide, please visit http://www.bibbycas.com.

This News Release is intended to provide a general overview and discussion of the subject matter. It is not however, intended to give advice or to act as a substitute to taking legal advice from our Support Line in any specific situation. Bibby CAS accepts no liability or responsibility for the information contained within this news release. If you would like specific advice about this subject matter, please contact one of the employment law specialists Team today on 08453 100 999.

Cheshire and Manchester divorce and family law practice James Maguire & Co has moved to new premises in Wilmslow.

James has specialized in divorce law and family law solicitor for some 15 years and his work focuses on medium to high net worth matrimonial finance cases. He has worked for the last 7 of those years at leading corporate and commercial law firms which provide him with an added edge. He has now been joined by solicitor Lucy Boyle from Cobbetts LLP to compliment the family law team.

James Maguire & Co specializes in all areas of family law, particularly divorce and medium to high net worth cases. A niche area of the firm is international divorce law, child abduction and child relocation. Collaborative Law is also undertaken.

James Maguire & Co has links to leading experts to assist in cases, for example, barristers (both locally and in London), lawyers overseas, forensic accountants, tax accountants, independent financial advisers and pension actuaries ensuring their clients are given the best service and advice as possible.

The vision of the firm is to become a leading North West family law solicitor and divorce law practice. A first class client service is key to this together with the ability to obtain the best possible outcome with clear, concise and efficient legal family law solicitor Cheshire advice.

For more information on the services offered by James Maguire & co, visit http://www.family-law.co.uk

Graham & Rosen Solicitors of Parliament Street, Hull are to host a prestigious conference of European law firms next year.

The event, which will be held in Hull next June, will see lawyers from 12 European countries heading to the city for a three day meeting as part of The European Network (TEN), an international network of commercially minded law firms.

Graham & Rosen is a founder member of The European Network. Senior Partner Martin Wilson said, “Being a member of TEN enables us to deal with any legal matters in any European country on a swift and efficient basis. All the law firms in the Network work to common standards and all businesses conducted in English. Through these law firms, clients can have access to expert legal advice and representation in 12 European countries”.

Martin commented “Hosting The TEN conference in Hull will raise the international profile of Hull and the Humber region and we will be aiming to showcase the international legal services which TEN provides. The main strength of the Network is that the lawyers know each other personally which means we can recommend clients to foreign lawyers we know and trust.”

Graham & Rosen are one of Kingston Upon Hull’s most well known and respected Law Firms. Our main office is located in Hull City Centre in close proximity to the local Courts and Tribunals. They pride themselves in providing a high quality, cost efficient and complete legal service. They are continually investing in up-to-date technology to ensure that they have all the tools necessary to deliver a first class, stress free service.

For more information on The TEN conference at Graham & Rosen solicitors Hull, visit http://www.graham-rosen.co.uk

Sterling Costs Consultants, are an established law costs draftsman service, are continuing their expansion with the opening of a second office in west London. This new southern office location is the perfect partner for their main Warrington offices which will serve the north of the UK so providing a nationwide law cost drafting service.

Their law costs draftsmen have built business over a number of years mainly from client recommendations and are constantly striving to improve all areas of their service. With business continuing to grow throughout the country the result has been the requirement of a southern office further enhancing the progression of Sterling Costs.

Sterling Costs law costs draftsmen provide that vital link that can not only lead to a satisfactory recovery of legal costs as efficiently as possible, but can also release solicitors to do what they are best at: Servicing clients without the distractions. That’s why using Sterling Costs Consultants is the best way to optimize costs.

Further information regarding the services Sterling Costs offer can be found at http://www.sterlingcosts.com