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 News
Mar 19 2010
Fretwell-Downing Acquires Xpress Ordering
We are delighted to announce the completion of Fretwell-Downing Hospitality Ltd’s acquisition of Xpress Ordering Ltd from Mr Kevin Briggs and the Viking Fund for an undisclosed sum.
Catering software developer, Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH) has acquired touch-screen self service solutions provider Xpress Ordering, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will see FDH move beyond supplying its Saffron-branded catering management and nutritional analysis systems, and into other integrated technology. This includes Xpress Ordering’s queue-busting solutions, enabling customers to order and pay for food either via a web screen while sitting in front of their pc or laptop; or a touch screen terminal, without having to queue at a till.
FDH’s managing director Nick Prime explains: “The deal made complete sense. Xpress Ordering’s technology is already proven and there is significant synergy between the two companies – our target markets are very similar and the respective products can be readily integrated to help caterers achieve greater operational efficiencies.”
“We see great potential for Xpress Ordering’s stable of products across the whole of the hospitality industry as it looks for solutions that can save time and cost, while enhancing the customer experience. We are also looking at new developments, including the potential of making nutritional analysis data available as orders are placed, or adapting the technology for use as an iPhone app.”
FDH was advised by Hardy Transaction Management Ltd, the Sheffield-based corporate finance firm. Legal advice was provided by Ironmonger Curtis LLP.
Mar 18 2010
“I want a lawyer!” - The right to legal representation in a disciplinary hearing
 The right to be accompanied
Employees have a statutory right to be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing by a ‘companion’ when the hearing could result in:
- A formal warning being issued; or
- The taking of disciplinary action (e.g. being demoted or dismissed); or
- The confirmation of a warning or disciplinary action (i.e. an appeal hearing).
For these purposes ‘companion’ means a fellow worker, a trade union representative or a certified official employed by a trade union.
So, unless entitled to do so in their contract, an employee generally has no right to bring a lawyer into a disciplinary hearing as their ‘companion’. However…
When a lawyer can be a ‘companion’ – a human rights argument!
The Court of Appeal decided in the recent case of G -v- X School that under article 6 European Convention on Human Rights (in a nutshell the right to a fair trial) an employee does have the right to be legally represented in disciplinary hearings which could in effect determine an employee’s right to practise a profession.
G -v- X School, the facts
The claimant was a teaching assistant accused of having sexual contact with a 15 year old. Criminal proceedings were not brought but the claimant was dismissed after an internal investigation and disciplinary hearing.
He was then reported by the school to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to consider whether he should be placed on a list prohibiting him from working with children. This would effectively end his chosen career as a teaching assistant.
Following the principles of the right to be accompanied, the claimant was not allowed to have legal representation at his hearing or appeal hearing.
The decision
The claimant won his case on the grounds that:
1) The right to practise a profession was a civil right and therefore protected by human rights legislation;
2) Being on the ISA’s list prohibiting him from working with children would effectively end his ability to carry out his profession; and
3) The school’s procedures would have a substantial influence on the ISA’s final decision on whether to put him on the list or not.
The consequences
At the moment, it seems unlikely that this case will allow the floodgates to open and for lawyers to start popping up in disciplinary hearings as a matter of course. However, when the outcome of a disciplinary procedure has ramifications beyond current employment, threatening an employee’s ability to carry out his profession, employers should tread a lot more carefully on the ‘companion’ issue.
Employers who feel intimidated by the prospect of facing a lawyer across the table in a disciplinary hearing should remember that they can always obtain their own legal representation. Of course, having to spend time in a room with two lawyers might put them off this!
For further advice or assistance with any of the issues in this article, please feel free to contact Jon Curtis on 0845 225 2635.
Mar 10 2010
Surveying a Good Deal
Sheffield MBO for leading independent firm of Quantity Surveyors
Andrew Fletcher has completed a management buy-out of Armson Darwent Shaw, which is one of the leading independent firms of Quantity Surveyors in the region.
Trevor Ironmonger of Ironmonger Curtis Solicitors LLP, Strategic Corporate Finance, RBS and UK Steel Enterprise steered the buy-out to a successful completion in less than 3 months.
The business was established over 20 years ago as a Quantity Surveying practice. Over the years it has developed a full range as a Construction Cost Consultancy, Project Management and Building Surveying services for public sector bodies, private clients, architects and construction companies.
Trevor Ironmonger stated: “Team-work and a pragmatic approach made this deal possible and I’m delighted for Andrew; I’m sure that the business has a great future.”
Since joining Armson Darwent Shaw in 2007 as Managing Director of the Sheffield office, Andrew Fletcher has overseen the doubling of the turnover during a difficult economic climate.
The existing Sheffield team, including the original founders Richard Shaw and Tony Darwent, are in full support of the buy-out and will continue to provide a comprehensive and professional service to Sheffield office clients.
Steve Ward, Kevin Steven and Claire Naylor from RBS , Keith Williams and Alan Wood from UK Steel Enterprise and Andy Chaffer from SYIF delivered funding to support the buy-out and Andrew Coates led the Strategic Corporate Finance team advising on financial aspects.
Jan 07 2010
Pre-Budget Report Checklist
Pre-Budget Report checklist
This checklist highlights some of the key issues from the Pre-Budget Report that are likely to have an impact on small businesses.
Small companies’ rate of corporation tax
The increase in the small companies' rate of corporation tax will be deferred for a further year. The rate will remain at 21% for 2010-11 and will increase to 22% for 2011-12.
Employers' National Insurance Contributions
Employers' National Insurance Contributions will rise from their current level of 12.8% to 13.8% from April 2011. A 0.5% increase was announced in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report and a further increase of 0.5% was introduced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report.
Research and development tax relief
The Government has announced that one of the conditions that a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) had to satisfy in order to claim the enhanced tax relief for research and development will be abolished. A SME company was previously obliged to prove that it owned any intellectual property derived from the research and development to which the expenditure was attributable. If your business is classed as a SME you may claim an enhanced tax relief at the rate of 175% for qualifying expenditure on research and development. The change will have effect for accounting periods ending on or after 9 December 2009.
Electric cars and vans
The Government announced that it will provide greater incentives for businesses to reduce emissions from their company car fleets by introducing a number of measures including:
• Exempting electric cars from company car tax (CCT) for five years from 2010.
• Extending CCT bandings in 2012.
• Exempting electric vans from the van benefit charge for five years and introduce (subject to confirming compatibility with state aid rules) a 100% first-year allowance for business expenditure on new electric vans.
Business rates: empty property relief
For the year 2010/11 empty commercial properties with rateable values of up to £18,000 will be exempt from business rates. The temporary increase in the threshold for empty property relief announced in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report has been extended and the threshold increased to £18,000. This higher threshold reflects the effects of the 2010 business rates revaluation.
Business Payment Support Service
The Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) helps viable businesses facing temporary financial difficulties to spread tax payments over an agreed timetable. It was announced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report that the time to pay facility will continue for as long as it is needed. HMRC will require businesses seeking time to pay arrangements worth £1 million or more to provide an Independent Business Review in support of their request. It is expected that the new requirement will be implemented from April 2010.
Changes to business rates reliefs from 1 April 2010
Revaluation of business rates takes place every five years and the next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2010. The Valuation Office Agency has provided details of various resources to help businesses with the revaluation process, including a dedicated website (http://www.voa.gov.uk).
Small Business Rate Relief provides certain business rate payers with a reduction of up to 50% on their bills. It is available where the rateable value of your property falls below the threshold, currently set at £14,999 (or £21,499 for properties in Greater London). The threshold will increase from £17,999 (or £25,499 for properties in Greater London) on 1 April 2010.
VAT rate increase reminder
The standard rate of VAT reverted to 17.5% from 1 January 2010. Shops are allowed to add the extra VAT to prices at the tills for up to 28 days, giving them additional time to complete the re-pricing of stock.
Oct 08 2009
Another Acquisition for Kaymich Group
Ironmonger Curtis LLP is delighted to announce that CB Kaymich Ltd, the Sheffield-based engineering group, has completed the acquisition of Syddal Engineering Ltd of Denton, Manchester for an undisclosed sum
Ironmonger Curtis LLP is delighted to announce that CB Kaymich Ltd, the Sheffield-based engineering group, has completed the acquisition of Syddal Engineering Ltd of Denton, Manchester for an undisclosed sum.
Syddal manufactures pipeline leakage and connection products for UK and offshore utility companies. Syddal is Kaymich’s second acquisition in as many years and adds to the group’s portfolio of niche, product-based subsidiaries. Trevor Ironmonger, Jon Curtis and Jonathan Senior of Ironmonger Curtis LLP along with Martin Greenshields a nd Paul Hardy of Hardy Transaction Management Ltd advised CB Kaymich on the acquisition. PKF and DWF advised the Seller.
Sep 24 2009
SWINE FLU – PREPARING FOR A PANDEMIC
.jpg) Cases of swine flu are on the increase and although most cases are mild, there have been a number of related deaths in the UK. As we head towards Autumn, it is likely that the number of cases will increase. Swine flu updates are published weekly by the Health Protection Agency at http://www.hpa.gov.uk.
It is likely that over the coming months, a significant percentage of the workforce will contract swine flu. This could cause major disruption to businesses. If you haven’t already done so, you should start to prepare and plan for this.
Business planning
At its height, the flu pandemic could see a large proportion of the workforce off sick.
It is also possible that healthy people might be told to stay at home, or that certain businesses, schools, nurseries etc might be ordered to close, to limit the spread of infection.
Even where businesses are not badly hit, their suppliers or customers might be, which may have knock-on effects on its own operations.
Employers who do not plan for this are leaving themselves in a vulnerable position.
The main issues for employers to consider are:
• Coping with high levels of employee absence;
• Reducing the risk of swine flu spreading within the organisation;
• Coping when a major supplier or customer is affected;
Business continuity plans should highlight key business functions and set out the minimum number of employees required to carry out those functions. Key staff should be identified. It may be necessary to consider providing training to certain employees to ensure that these key functions can be administered.
Staff should be informed in advance of any continuity plans so that they are prepared for changes in their work practices, if necessary.
If you lose business as a result of the pandemic, you may be forced to make temporary lay-offs or redundancies. Please note that lay-off is a particularly complex area of employment law and you should not make lay-offs unless you have a contractual right to. Please speak to us before making lay-offs or redundancies, as there are very strict procedural requirements for each, and if you get it wrong you can lay yourself open to expensive claims for unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal.
Employee Protection
Employers have a general duty to provide a safe place and system of working for their employees. They also have a statutory duty to ensure the health safety and welfare of employees (section 2 Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974), which requires that the working environment is – so far as is reasonably practicable – safe and free of risks to health.
During a pandemic, to ensure compliance with these duties, you may need to look at putting specific policies in place to prevent the spread of illness amongst employees to set out what will happen in the event of significant absence. Where there is a recognised trade union or other employee representative body you should, where possible, include them in the planning process.
Examples of measures to consider are:
• Making sure that employees are informed of the symptoms of swine flu and ensuring that it is clear that any staff with symptoms stay at home;
• Keeping employees informed of current Government guidance;
• Carrying out a risk assessment to identify any factors which make you particularly susceptible to infection;
• Putting strict personal hygiene procedures into place, e.g. providing anti-bacterial hand gel dispensers in the workplace and making sure that they are adhered to;
• Making changes to working practices – e.g. allowing employees to work from home, avoiding face to face meetings;
• Avoiding business travel to high risk areas – e.g. Mexico; and
• Whether you have any employees who are at particular risk of infection and how best to deal with them.
• Youshould also consider their obligations to others, e.g. contractors, customers and clients. It is likely that the general and statutory duties in terms of health and safety will apply to contractors if they have some control over their systems of work. If you provide services to vulnerable clients (e.g. those who work with children, pregnant women, the elderly or disabled) should take particular care and carry out appropriate risk assessments.
Where you have implemented such practices, you should make it clear to employees that failure to comply may result in disciplinary action or even dismissal. You may have to consider this, for example, where an employee refuses to stay at home when symptomatic, where an employee refuses to come into work for fear of infection, where you have evidence to show that sickness absence is not genuine, or where employees do not comply with hygiene rules.
Please remember that you must comply with the ACAS Code of Practice when disciplining or dismissing employees. It is highly recommended that you speak with us before taking any disciplinary action against employees.
Vulnerable Employees
Pregnant Women
There is a heightened risk of complications for pregnant women who contract swine flu. Employers have a general duty to carry out risk assessments for pregnant women. However, there are no specific obligations relating to swine flu as yet, although this may change as we head into Autumn.
If you have any pregnant employees and are concerned that their health is at risk from swine flu, you should contact us for further advice.
Underlying Medical Conditions
Most swine flu related deaths in the UK have involved people with underlying medical conditions, which may or may not constitute a disability.
Under the disability discrimination legislation, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to working practices and premises for disabled employees. It may be necessary for employers to consider changing practices, for example, by allowing disabled people to work from home temporarily, in order to comply with this obligation.
Employers would be well advised to consider these types of adjustments even where the medical condition does not constitute a disability.
Remember, HIV is a recognised disability, sufferers will be particularly vulnerable, and the potential effects serious.
You may decide to collect information about individuals’ health to ascertain whether they have any underlying conditions. If so, remember that this will constitute the processing of sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998, and you must ensure that you comply with your obligations in processing it.
Time off to Care for Dependants
Employees have a statutory right to take ‘reasonable’ time off (unpaid) to care for ‘dependants’ (i.e. a spouse, civil partner, child, parent or other person who lives at the same address save for their employee, tenant or lodger). This includes where there is unexpected disruption to the arrangements for a dependant’s care.
As this is a statutory right, if time off is refused or the employee is dismissed for a reason connected to taking / requesting to take time off, the employee can bring a claim in the employment tribunal.
The right to time off is only to ‘reasonable’ time to deal with the immediate crisis. What is ‘reasonable’ is a difficult question under normal circumstances, so in these circumstances where care arrangements may be hard to come by, employer’s may have to allow more time than they might ordinarily allow.
Pay
Your obligations in terms of sick pay should be set out in the employee’s contract of employment. The statutory right to time off for dependants is unpaid, although your employee/s may have a contractual right to be paid for this.
You may decide to use your discretion and allow payment in excess of contractual / statutory entitlements. If you do, it is important that you use discretion in as consistent a way as possible to avoid claims for discrimination.
Useful Websites
For more information and guidance relating to business planning, please see the following:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
www.hse.gov.uk
www.dh.gov.uk
Jul 08 2009
Jon Curtis appointed to Strong Economy Board
Founding partner and employment law specialist Jon Curtis has been appointed to the Sheffield Strong Economy Board. The board has been created by Sheffield First in the face of the current challenging economic circumstances to chart a course for the City – with a particular emphasise on the economy and jobs. The board consists of senior public figures, such as Paul Scriven the Head of Sheffield City Council, and members from Creative Sheffield, Yorkshire Forward, South Yorkshire Transport, and also a number of business people and representatives from the third sector.
Jon is delighted with his new role: “Sheffield is a great City with a wonderful industrial heritage and a vibrant and modern economy. In recent years Sheffield has transformed and visitors to the City cannot believe the difference. With great infrastructure and location, an emphasis on new industries such as digital and creative, and the backbone of industrial entrepreneurship Sheffield has a great future. However the current environment is challenging and the City needs to develop strategy to take best advantage of its assets. I really hope that my experience and ideas will help move the City on to the next step. I do hope that our clients at Ironmonger Curtis will feed any ideas to me to help us maximise the planning.”
If any clients would like to talk to Jon about the Strong Economy Board, or have constructive ideas or feedback that would assist the board, please call Jon on 0114 272 1903.
May 05 2009
Green Leases
- initiatives to improve the environmental performance of commercial property
 With more and more focus on the need to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint initiatives are being taken to improve the environmental performance of commercial property.
Although the first initiatives are to reduce London’s CO2 emissions there is no reason why similar changes cannot be implemented elsewhere.
“Green Lease” clauses
Green Lease clauses could be added to a standard commercial lease to provide for some or all of the following measures aimed at minimising environmental impact:-
• To implement an Environmental Management Plan for the building – arrangements could be made for individual tenant’s to co-operate with the managing agent in sharing data on energy and water consumption to assist the landlord in implementing measures to reduce energy use and water consumption or improve waste management
• To allow the landlord to install sub-metering at its own cost
• To allow the landlord access to carry out works agreed with the tenant and aimed at improving energy efficiency
• To require the landlord to keep plant such as air conditioning and boilers in energy efficient working order
• To require that any alterations proposed by the tenant meet certain standards of energy efficiency (for example, insulation and ventilation).
• Preventing the landlord from requiring the removal of alterations which have improved energy or water efficiency at the end of the lease
• To allow works which have been carried out at the landlord’s cost, and which have increased both energy efficiency and open market rental value, to be taken into account on review.
• To require any assignee or sub-tenant to covenant with the landlord to comply with the landlord’s environmental policy for a building.
• To include an adjustment system for service charge contributions which may penalise tenants who have not met specified energy efficiency targets
Agreements to improve the carbon footprint of a commercial property
Changes may also be implemented during the term of an existing lease if the Landlord and Tenant commit to a Memorandum of Understanding, in keeping with the property, as to how carbon, energy, waste and water can be reduced.
Agreement could be reached on matters such as purchasing energy from renewable sources, recycling facilities, use of energy efficient plant and equipment or provision of bike storage and showering facilities.
The extent of the measures to which the Landlord and Tenant wish to commit and the time scale for implementing the agreed programme would be matters for contractual agreement between the parties . A model Memorandum of Understanding with a ‘checkbox’ Schedule of possible measures is available to assist in agreeing a co-operative framework.
It is hoped that this will provide a solution to those owners and occupiers that want to address environmental issues but may be deterred by the costs and the amount of time it may take to document the arrangement.
If you wish to discuss this article or require any advice or assistance in relation to commercial leases then please do not hesitate to contact Jonathan Senior on 0114 2536543.Dec 09 2008
myhrtoolkit and Quba join forces
.jpg) Jon Curtis, employment law partner and MD of myhrtoolkit, has joined forces with Rob Wilmot, of Quba, to develop myhrtoolkit.com, an online HR tool kit designed to help small and medium-sized businesses with day-to-day HR tasks.
The product is widely used in the region by local businesses such as Blundells, Holbrook, and GBeye. For Jon, forming the partnership with Rob and his Internet agency, Quba, is the natural next step in the growth of the business. Jon Curtis said. “I am delighted to get this tie-up with Rob. He was one of the co/founders of the Internet phenomenon, Freeserve, which was sold to a division of France Telecom in 2001 for £1.6 billion. He is a successful serial web entrepreneur and shareholder in Quba, one of Sheffield’s Internet success stories. His expertise and that of his team will really help us take a product designed and developed in Sheffield to a national market.”
Rob believes that the demand for myhrtoolkit is huge. “There is a very real need for this product. It’s the ideal tonic for companies that have reached a certain size where keeping track of the day to day staff administration is starting to become a pain. Managing employees is one of the biggest challenges faced by growing businesses. Myhrtoolkit.com gives value-for-money access to the kind of functionality that until recently was only to be available to the biggest employers.”
Myhrtoolkit is used by businesses with between 5 and 500 employees to track absence, manage holiday requests and tasks, appraisals, and HR document storage. The system also contains employment law advice, with online training modules and standardised forms provided by us. Because myhrtoolkit is web-based, it gives secure control of employee information from any Internet-connected computer, with no software install.
An online demo is available at www.myhrtoolkit.com.
Nov 28 2008
Simon Smith joins the team!
Expanding team takes on commercial litigatorWe are delighted to announce that Simon Smith has joined the firm as commercial litigation partner..jpg)
Simon has wealth of experience of litigation in South Yorkshire, having practised law for twelve years for a national law firm based in Sheffield. After a stint in Leeds, we are delighted to welcome Simon back.
"Its great to be back in Sheffield" said Simon. "I practised here for many years and look forward to hitting the ground running here at Ironmonger Curtis LLP. As a smaller niche commercial practice the client base fits in very well with the work I specialise in: primarily general litigation work, property litigation and debt recovery. In the current economic circumstances, it is vital to have the support of a good litigator!" Oct 14 2008
ICLLP gets Hesco!
Ironmonger Curtis LLP has succeeded in retaining Hesco Bastion - http://www.hesco.com - one of the country’s most dynamic manufacturing companies, as a client. Hesco Bastion manufacture the patented Concertainer protection system used widely by UK and US forces and also by aid agencies across the world. Melvyn Saville, of Hesco said: “We were delighted with the work Ironmonger Curtis did last year and our systems have improved immeasurably with the mix of procedures and training that Ironmonger Curtis have implemented.” Jon Curtis, Head of employment law, for his part, is delighted to continue the partnership: “Hesco are a great client with a superb product. It has been a great pleasure to work with them over the last year and we hope to continue the relationship long into the future”Mar 17 2008
Employment law team expands
Sarah Cruice has joined Ironmonger Curtis LLP as an assistant solicitor to Jon Curtis, the Head of Employment. After training with a regional practice based in Sheffield, Sarah joined Thompsons in Nottingham, but the lure of Sheffield proved too much. Sarah speciliaises in employment law and has a wide epxerience of dealing with both small buisnesses and claimant work. We welcome Sarah to the team! |
