LCF In The Media October 2021 by LCFPrint

IN THE MEDIA OCTOBER 2021

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Bradford’s Female Manufacturing Leaders To Inspire Pupils During 2021 Event

Bradford’s female manufacturing leaders are headlining a panel event to inspire school pupils as part of Bradford Manufacturing Weeks 2021. The district’s female manufacturing role models from some of Bradford’s most established blue chip manufacturers, are taking questions from Bradford Girls’ Grammar School pupils during the fortnight of in person and online manufacturing events which begins this week (Monday 4 October). The women, who have a collective 150 years’ manufacturing experience, lead and manage Bradford and Keighley-based international businesses in the chemical, component, aerospace, textile products and metallurgical laboratory sectors. Led by West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Bradford Manufacturing Weeks introduces students to a career in manufacturing through Q&A panels, work placements, manufacturer tours, work experience and life skills events. Since 2018, the initiative has created more than 12,000 manufacturing experiences for Bradford pupils aged 14-18.

The Women in Manufacturing panel at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School on Thursday 14 October will be led by Vicky Wainwright, Bradford Chamber of Commerce President and Managing Director of accountancy firm and Bradford Manufacturing Weeks sponsor, Naylor Wintersgill. Taking questions from the all-female student audience are Debbie Mellor, Managing Director of Keighley Laboratories, Diana Scholefield, Managing Director of Gesipa, Katie Owen, Supply Chain Manager from Produmax, Fran Salisbury Director of Canvasman, Lou Franklin, Managing Director of Mansfield Pollard, Kate Fisher Production Manager from Solenis, and Stacey King, Laboratory Manager at Christeyns UK. Fran Salisbury, who established Baildon-based, award-winning bespoke fabric and outdoor upholstery manufacturer, Canvasman with her husband Chris in 1996, said: “I have worked in every aspect of our business from design and sewing through to developing our business plans and strategies. Even though women make up half of the workforce, they still remain highly underrepresented in the manufacturing sector, especially at managerial levels.”

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She added: “Women bring to the sector, not only hardworking attitudes but creativity, critical thinking, efficiency and invention. They are untapped talent, which manufacturing needs to attract in order to remain competitive. My hope is that Bradford Manufacturing Weeks, along with the schools and business taking part, can help inspire and encourage young women to look at the potential of pursuing a fulfilling and rewarding career in manufacturing.” Delivered in partnership with Bradford-based school and career specialists The Opportunity Centre and with primary sponsorship from Barclays and additional sponsorship from E3 Recruitment, Naylor Wintersgill, LCF Law and Bradford Council, more than 30 manufacturers and 45 secondary schools have registered for this year’s two-week initiative. Anita Thorpe, Curriculum Leader for Personal Development at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School, said: “An event such as this not only broadens horizons in relation to the variety of rewarding job opportunities available for our students, it also supports our ambition to develop women leaders of the future, providing role models to aspire to and gain confidence from.” Nick Garthwaite, Chair of the Bradford Manufacturing Weeks steering group and Director of Bradford-based international chemicals and detergents manufacturer Christeyns, said that every year Bradford Manufacturing Weeks evolves to become more dynamic and more relevant to the young people it is aimed at. He added: “Our range of activities, alongside this year’s competition to create an innovative solution for waste recycling in schools and our driver awareness event in partnership with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and West Yorkshire Police, we believe we are delivering another educational, inspirational and invaluable careers event.” For information on registering to take part in Bradford Manufacturing Weeks’ 2021 events from 4-15 October please see the website www.bradfordmanufacturingweek.co.uk.

ALSO APPEARED IN • Yorkshire Post • Craven Herald • Bradford T&A • Bdaily • Yorkshire Business Women • Business Up North • Business Link • W & N Yorkshire Chamber READ ARTICLE ONLINE

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LCF Law Appoints New Finance Director

Mattocks joins from Keebles LLP where he spent 13 years as both finance director and chief executive. LCF Law has appointed chartered accountant David Mattocks as finance director in their Yorkshire firm. Mattocks joins LCF Law from Keebles LLP where he spent 13 years as both finance director and chief executive. He has previously worked as a finance director at property firm Sanderson Weatherall and with KPMG.

In his new role, Mattocks takes over from Cleo Howell who has managed the finances of the business for the past 20 years. Howell has left LCF Law after deciding to have a career change and use her financial experience to become a part-time mortgage and financial advisor. Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law, said: “David is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA and has a vast amount of experience working in the legal sector. Responsible for planning, implementing, and managing all aspects of finance within our growing and ambitious firm, David has the ideal skill sets and expertise for the role.”

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Mattocks said: “I have worked with and know many of the team at LCF Law, who are all committed to making legal services accessible and affordable to both business and the private individual. I admire the firm’s reputation and approachable ethos. “With a full range of legal services and a successful residential conveyancing business, known as LCF Residential, I’m looking forward to working with the 125-strong team as the firm continues with its strategic growth plans.”

ALSO APPEARED IN • Wharfedale Observer • Yorkshire Post print & online • Bradford Zone • Yorkshire Business Daily • Gazette & Observer Series • Yorkshire Insider Daily • The Yorkshire Times • Insider Media Limited • Business Link • Bradford T&A print & online • BusinessDesk • Bradford Zone READ ARTICLE ONLINE

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Bradford Legal Apprentice Takes Big Step Towards Becoming A Fully Qualified Solicitor

Hannah Lynch-McShane has been promoted to trainee solicitor at leading Yorkshire law firm, LCF Law after completing her latest phase of training and is now preparing to become one of the region’s first legal apprentices to become a fully qualified solicitor.

In January 2023 Hannah will sit the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam, which is the result of pioneering reform in the legal education industry to create a single and accessible route for solicitors to meet the standard of knowledge and skills required to practise.

Hannah joined LCF Law as an apprentice in 2015 after completing her A-levels. In 2017 she became one of the first students in the UK to join the University of Law’s Solicitors’ Apprenticeship course, which offers school leavers the opportunity to work in a law firm and train to become a solicitor, without having to first complete a traditional university degree.

LCF Law recruited its first apprentice in 2014 and currently has four apprentices at various stages in their training across its four offices in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley.

She currently spends one day a week studying with the university and four days working at LCF Law. Hannah is currently working in the firm’s commercial disputes resolution team and, from April 2022, will move departments every six months to gain experience in other areas of law such as corporate and personal law.

Hannah’s success coincides with LCF Law sponsoring Bradford Manufacturing Weeks 2021, which is promoting apprenticeships to school leavers, through a programme of events including many led by current apprentices. Hannah said: “A legal apprenticeship always appealed to me because it offered the opportunity to train for a career as a solicitor without having the expense of a university degree. Working at LCF Law also means I’m learning from an experienced team across a variety of departments and specialisms, which is proving invaluable and giving me a deeper level of understanding of lots of different areas of law.

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“I’m now looking forward to sitting my final exams and would definitely recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who wants to train and earn at the same time.” Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law, said: “We launched our apprenticeship programme to give school leavers the opportunity to train in-house and receive a nationally recognised legal qualification. We now have a group of aspiring lawyers who all have promising careers ahead of them. “Hannah has risen to every challenge her apprenticeship has presented and she’s a fantastic example of what’s possible for young people who want to learn and work hard. We’re all delighted to see her heading into the final stage of her training and we’re looking forward to continuing to support her ambition of becoming a fully qualified solicitor. “As a sponsor and key supporter of Bradford Manufacturing Weeks 2021, we have a first-hand understanding of how valuable apprenticeships can be, for both businesses and young people, and would urge employers across all sectors to consider how they could benefit from recruiting apprentices.”

ALSO APPEARED IN • Yorkshire Business Daily • Yorkshire Legal • BusinessDesk • Bradford Means Business • Yorkshire Post READ ARTICLE ONLINE

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Ilkley Business Awards Entries Are Open

FOLLOWING a launch event attended by more than 70 people at The Craiglands Hotel, entries are now open for the Ilkley Business Awards 2022. This year’s categories are - Best Boss, Business to Business Award, Covid - The Extra Mile Award, Established Business of the Year, Food, Drink and Leisure Business of the Year, Hair, Beauty and Wellness Business of the Year, Independent Retailer of the Year, New Business of the Year, Outstanding Tradesperson of the Year, Professional Services of the Year, Rising Star Award, Social Conscience Award. Helen Rhodes is a regular committee member and director of engineering firm Ideal Extraction which is sponsoring the Food, Drink and Leisure category. Helen said: ”We’ve changed some of the categories this year and have added in some new ones. We now have a Best Boss category which business or team leaders can enter themselves, or people can be nominated by someone who works for them. We are recognising the immense achievements of many businesses during the Covid pandemic with the Covid – The Extra Mile Award and have four other new categories. The Social Conscience Award will celebrate businesses who demonstrate a great contribution to the community or show fantastic

work in the area of environmental sustainability and the Rising Star Award replaces the Trainee / Apprentice of the Year to appreciate a fabulous staff member, irrespective of how long they have worked for the business. Additionally this year we have added an award for Outstanding Tradesperson and B2B Business of The Year.” Kelly Edmundson, who has also helped to organise the awards for a number of years and is a solicitor with award sponsors LCF Law added: “Entries are open until midnight on Friday, December 3, and the criteria for each category is detailed on the website. Another change for this year is that people can complete the written entry form as usual or they can send a voice recording or video entry – details of how to do that are on the website but as always, the committee are happy to help. People can email us at hello@ilkleybusinessawards.co.uk. “

ALSO APPEARED IN • Wharfedale Observer print & online READ ARTICLE ONLINE

COMMERCIAL

CORPORATE

Fresh Produce Supplier Acquired

A deal has been completed for a Bradford-based fresh produce supplier. Joe and Tom Kershaw, who come from a long line of fruit and vegetable wholesalers, have acquired First Choice Naturally Ltd. The Kershaws have bought a majority share in the business, which employs a team of 15, from husband-and-wife team Trevor and Wanda Hinchcliffe. The Hinchcliffes’ son, Richard, will remain as a director and shareholder in the business, which will continue to operate from St James’s Wholesale Market on Wakefield Road in Bradford. First Choice Naturally, which was established in 1980, has operated from the site since 1985.

Joe Kershaw said: “My grandfather owned JW Swithenbank Ltd, which was run by his four sons. My father later bought the business and operated it as Burbank Produce Ltd for 15 years, before selling it to Total Produce, where my brother and I have worked for the last three years. “We felt the time was right to branch out on our own and approached Trevor, who used to work for my grandfather over 40 years ago.” He added: “The wholesale industry has boomed over the last six months, especially as the hospitality industry has reopened, with high demand for quality, fresh produce. We have also seen a big increase in demand for vegan produce, which is an area we’re expanding further, and organic produce remains popular, which all offers plenty of opportunities as we take the business forward.”

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Joe and Tom Kershaw were advised on the deal by Yorkshire law firm LCF Law and Haines Watts Accountants.

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Cathy Cook, a partner within LCF Law’s corporate division, added: “Susan Clark, partner and head of corporate at LCF Law, first advised the Kershaw family on the acquisition in 1995 and I subsequently acted for them during the sale of Burbank in 2001. My colleague, Will Reynolds, who went to school with the Kershaw brothers, also worked on this deal.”

• The Yorkshire Times • Yorkshire Post print & online • BusinessDesk • The Yorkshire Press • Bradford Zone • Business Link • Bradford T&A • Yorkshire Insider Daily • Yorkshire Business Daily • Business Live READ ARTICLE ONLINE

CORPORATE

EMPLOYMENT

Refused The Jab? Here’s What To Do

Vaccinations for care home staff is a divisive topic and employers that fail to follow correct procedures could soon be facing successful claims from their unvaccinated employees, according to employment law specialist James Austin, from Yorkshire law firm LCF Law.

The 16th September 2021 was the last day staff could receive their first vaccination in time to be fully vaccinated by 11th November 2021, so employers have hopefully already started this process.

The 11th November 2021 is fast approaching when amendments to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations will require workers in CQC regulated care homes to be fully vaccinated, unless they are exempt. Given the nature of the amendments to the regulations, it may be tempting to simply dismiss employees who are not vaccinated. However, guidance sets out that employers should discuss the position with staff and follow a process similar to a disciplinary hearing before deciding whether to dismiss. Failure to do this is likely to result in successful unfair dismissal and discrimination claims. The issues to discuss with workers include: whether they will have the vaccine but are yet to arrange it; whether they have an exemption; and/or whether there is any way of redeploying them; and finally the possibility of dismissal if they are not fully vaccinated in time. Employees should be allowed to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative in related meetings.

If not, and/or workers claim they will get fully vaccinated, but they cannot by 11th November, employers should consider allowing them to take holiday or unpaid leave. Employees can be medically exempt for a number of reasons including when they can’t be vaccinated for clinical reasons. A key question lots of care homes are currently seeking an answer to is whether employees can self-certify as exempt. On 15th September 2021 the Government set out a temporary system of self-certification for care home workers. The system allows workers to complete a form self-certifying that they are medically exempt if they have:

EMPLOYMENT

• Learning disabilities, autism or other impairments which result in the same distress and who find vaccination distressing and because of their condition a reasonable adjustment can’t achieve vaccination. • Experienced medical contraindications to the vaccines such as severe allergy to all COVID-19 vaccines or their constituents. • Had adverse reactions to the first dose. The scheme will end 12 weeks after a pending (new) NHS Covid Pass is introduced. A time-limited exemption is also available for pregnant women if they choose to take it. As the list is not exhaustive there will be some room for argument and it’s important to carefully consider whether an employee attempting to self-certify is covered by the scheme rather than simply rejecting such evidence, as doing so could result in successful disability discrimination and unfair dismissal claims. “Employers should discuss the position with staff and follow a process similar to a disciplinary hearing before deciding whether to dismiss.”

Do You Have To Do Anything Different For Staff Who Are Exempt? You should undertake a risk assessment to reduce the risk of transmission. Precautions to consider include a change to duties or wearing more or different PPE. It’s also vital that care homes review their procedures surrounding record keeping. The Department of Health and Social Care’s Operational guidance advises registered persons to have procedures for checking that workers are either fully vaccinated or exempt. The guidance also advises that existing data protection and privacy documentation are reviewed and updated to ensure compliance with the GDPR (for example it may not be appropriate to record the reason for a medical exemption). Documentation should set out who has access to the data, how much it’s processed, where it is stored and how long it will be retained. As has been the case with so much of the regulations affecting care homes since the pandemic began, the guidance is under constant review, so it’s vital that care homes seek professional advice to ensure they follow the latest requirements when dealing with any of these issues.

LCF RESIDENTIAL

FAMILY LAW

How The Post-Pandemic Divorce Boom Is Affecting The Housing Market

The scramble for a new home is putting even more pressure on newly split couples. As it has done for so many others, Covid sent Viv Onslow’s life into a tailspin. Last year her marriage of 14 years came to an abrupt end — a solicitor’s pack flopped on to the doormat revealing that her husband had written her out of his will — and the spacious six-bedroom house she loved and in which they had raised their children had to be put up for sale. Onslow then found herself thrown into the brutal realities of the post-pandemic housing market. The marital home in Leatherhead, Surrey, sold in June this year for about £1.3 million. Onslow, 54, the director of a PR firm, had a £650,000 budget to buy a new property but couldn’t find anything: there was hardly any stock and the houses that did go on sale were snapped up. “I thought I would rent and wait for the market to settle, but that was a nightmare — all that was available were places you couldn’t swing a cat in,” Onslow says.

After six months she found a three-bedroom semi in a nearby village but was essentially homeless for ten weeks before the sale went through. Onslow says: “I was so lucky that I was able to house-sit for friends. It helped to ease the pain and make a big transition easier.” She is moving on with her life and is now settled in her new home, in which her twins, now 23, have a bedroom each. “They say that getting a divorce and buying a house are two of the most stressful things you can do,” Onslow adds. “Throw Covid into the mix and — wow.” Her experience is shared by many people who have separated or decided to divorce in the past 18 months and are finding themselves in a cutthroat and confusing property market where there is little available to buy and even less to rent. These broken-hearted splitters are, in turn, putting additional strain on the broken housing market. The Covid break-up boom During lockdowns many unhappy couples were not able to go their separate ways and were forced to stay living together. This has unleashed a wave of pent-up separations and divorce petitions. The national

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homebuying service Spring says that relationship breakdown was cited in 5.6 per cent of its inquiries between April 2020 and September this year, almost double the rate between October 2018 and March 2020. And divorce lawyers are inundated. Rachel Spencer Robb, the head of family law at LCF Law, has noted an increase of about 30 per cent in divorce instructions since the pandemic began, while Sandra Davis, a partner and the head of the family department at the law firm Mishcon de Reya, has seen a rise in high-net-worth clients contemplating separation and divorce. “The pandemic has put enormous strains on people’s relationships and created chasms where there were cracks,” Davis says. Much of this has yet to filter through to official statistics, which are also affected by the backlog in divorce and dissolution applications caused by Covid. Divorce numbers peaked in 1993, with 165,018 marriages ending; since then numbers have fallen, with divorces dipping below 100,000 in 2018. They ticked up again in 2019 and 2020, and research by Savills estate agency shows that they are continuing to rise — 117,145 divorce petitions were filed in the year to June 2021 in England and Wales. Crucially, people are divorcing later. In 1989 the average age for men at divorce was 38.3, in 2019 it was 47.7, and modelling by Lucian Cook, Savills’ head of residential research, shows the trend of the so-called silver splitter. “While the number of divorces has fallen by 26 per cent over the 15 years to 2020, we believe they increased by 25 per cent where the husband was aged 50-plus, so they account for just short of 40 per cent of all divorces,” he says. This has big implications for the housing market, especially as the number of people over 50 divorcing who own their homes outright has risen by a third since 2005. Cook found that the total housing equity held by over-50s on divorce has risen to £8.91 billion over 15 years, an increase of 84 per cent. For the under-40s the opposite has happened — their total housing equity is now £1.44 billion, a drop of 39 per cent over 15 years. The divorce figures do not capture separation statistics, so silver splitters’ equity could be much higher, Cook says. More houses for sale? There is a chronic lack of homes for sale in many parts of Britain. In June the average estate agency branch had only 17 properties on its books, a record low, according to Rightmove. Could rising numbers of separations and divorces among older, equity-rich people mean more properties become available?

Charlie Wells, the managing director of the buying agency Prime Purchase, has seen increasing numbers of such homes come on the market since Covid hit. “Divorce is high on the list for bringing houses to the market as it is unusual that one party or the other can afford to stay put, buy out the other and keep the house. The only option is to sell,” he says. However, and especially at the higher end of the market, homes of couples who are splitting will often be sold discreetly, or “off market”, making them difficult for ordinary buyers to access, while divorce properties will often be priced 10 to 25 per cent too high, says George Burnand from the property search firm JMChase. “When estate agents value a house because of a divorce they know it is all about the money, with the property generally to be split 50-50, with both parties likely to be downsizing.” Indeed, the biggest issue with a divorce or separation is this splitting of one household. “There is quite significant buying power among the silver splitters, who are now competing for properties with first-time buyers and those on early rungs of the housing ladder,” Cook says. Richard Winter, who runs a Surrey property search agency, has seen the competition posed by silver splitters first-hand — a quarter of his clients in the past year have been divorcees. “They are struggling to find things to buy because they are very specific about where they want to be,” he says. “They want their friends around them and don’t want to try a new area.” This piles more pressure on the market. The rentysomethings The rental market is buckling. Rightmove says that asking rents outside London rose 8.6 per cent in the year to September, the fastest rate it has recorded, driven by surging demand and, again, a severe lack of available stock. Newly separated couples and those going through a divorce are making the overheated rental market worse. Housing Hand, the UK’s largest rental guarantor service, says that lets to newly separated tenants are up at least 5 per cent since Covid began. Anthony Ward Thomas, the founder of the eponymous removal firm, has seen a significant rise in the number of people opting for storage solutions. “This indicates it is the result of separations and people having to make alternative living arrangements at short notice,” he says.

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When partners separate one will typically move out and into a rented property while the joint home is sold; even when it has sold, many couples will need to rent, says Joanna Pratt, the head of family at the law firm Thomson Snell & Passmore. “We have had clients where the jointly owned property has been sold, and one or both of the parties has needed to go into rented accommodation because they were not able to co-ordinate a simultaneous purchase of a new property.” Sometimes couples who no longer want to live together can’t afford to part ways. Sarah, 34, is stuck in a two-bedroom rental in east London with her ex-boyfriend and their five-year-old son. “My work as a freelance events manager dried up during the pandemic and I can’t afford to rent by myself,” she says. “We don’t speak; the atmosphere is toxic. It’s really affecting me and I worry so much about the effect on our boy.” A new normal The combination of more people splitting and shortage of rental properties means some splitters are thinking outside the box. Simon and Tom, both in their mid-forties, became friends while working at a demolition company. Last year, after the first lockdown ended, Simon’s wife announced that she had met someone else. Within a week he had rented a house near the marital home where he had been living with his wife and two young children, but it was far too large. “It was a sort of panic decision, a bit of a reflection of the house I had been forced out of,” he says.

Meanwhile, Tom’s marriage was crumbling too, so he left the house he shared with his wife and two children and moved in with Simon. As the weeks went by the dust settled and the men’s respective children would visit regularly. By the autumn David, 55, a senior partner in an executive recruitment company, also found that his marriage of 30 years was in trouble. He heard about Simon and Tom’s houseshare from a mutual friend and moved in, with the arrangement working out well until he left to give his marriage another try. Simon and Tom are still living together happily and a new housemate has moved in: a woman in her mid-fifties who has chosen to “leave her situation behind”. Could the heartbreak house share be a new trend, a way of mending broken hearts as well as the broken housing market?

REAL ESTATE