Southwell – a unique town steeped in history

I thought I’d take the opportunity in this post to say a little bit about the town I work in – Southwell.

The town’s name comes from the fact that there were two wells locally and here was the South one.  Norwell was the Northern one.  Southwell is a wonderful Georgian town and the centre has some fantastic buildings, all of which sit in the shadow of the magnificent Minster.  The Minster was built in the twelfth century, but there was a predecessor possibly dating back to 700 AD.  Its well worth a visit and the grounds are extremely tranquil – a great place to take my sandwiches on a warm Summer’s day!

The population of Southwell is under 7000 and the town (it isn’t officially recognised as a city in spite of possessing an Anglican cathedral) is an affluent centre that many people in the district aspire to – I can’t afford to live there!

Amongst the buildings are the famous Saracens Head Hotel (where I spent many Friday evenings with friends in my twenties, before Tracy drove me home to recover!).  King Charles I famously spent his last night as a free man there (although it was the Kings Head at that time) and other Kings have visited the town.  Also in the town is the Workhouse, the only National trust property not dedicated to displaying riches and wealth.  Interestingly, although I am an outsider and only came to the district in the mid-90′s, my family have connections with nearby Ollerton and Edwinstowe (where I briefly lived from 1979-1980) and I recently discovered that my great-great-great-great grandmother was in the Workhouse after having a child out of wedlock and before seeing out her days in Sneinton Asylum.

Southwell has some very unique businesses.  Although Boots is about to open in the premises of the former Harris furniture shop, it is not a clone town and has no ‘High Street chains’.  Most of the shops are small independent retailers, and this is due to the size of the available premises in the ancient buildings.

It is also an artistic and cultural centre on this side of Nottingham.  We have just had the Gateway Folk Festival.  There is a thriving and well-regarded art community about which you can find more by clicking here.  There are also some arts-based businesses.  When Tracy decided to celebrate her 40th birthday (and don’t tell her that I’ve given her age away!), she opted to take different groups of friends to a couple of venues in Southwell.  Having laughed at my mid-life crisis and the fact that my 40th lasted 3 weeks, she managed to spin hers out for much longer.  As part of the festivities, she spent a couple of days with friends at Southwell crafts venues. She spent one Saturday at Fired Arts and Crafts in Bull Yard, painting and decorating pottery items which were subsequently fired in a kiln. Everybody enjoyed that and there were some excellent results…so much so that my kids have been back to paint gifts for people a couple of times since.   I actually have a pot gekko painted by my son on my desk at work.

On another day, Tracy took a different group of friends to a glass decorating course at The Glass Studio on King Street.  Again, everybody enjoyed the experience and people came away with all sorts of decorative glassware, including bowls, wall hangings, coasters and jewellery.

I shouldn’t omit to mention that Southwell is the home of the Bramley apple – it grew on the first Bramley tree at what is now called Bramley Cottage, next door to the Bramley Apple pub.  Outwardly, Southwell is a sleepy town.  However, it is bursting at the seams with history and variety.  I’ve barely scratched the surface here.  Its well worth a visit

My office also has a fine history.  It is over 230 years old and was built as solicitors’ offices. However, that will fill a whole other blog post.

Oh Baby! Fathers get new paternity leave rights

Recent changes to paternity rights now mean that new fathers can take up to six months additional paternity leave, following the birth of a new baby, if the mother returns to work within the first year. Employment laywer, Phillip Harding from Tallents Solicitors in Newark, explains the changes and answers key questions for parents.

Says Phillip,

“The new arrangements entitled ‘Additional Paternity Leave and Statutory Paternity Pay’ (APL & ASPP) became law on 3^rd April 2011 and apply to any baby due on or adopted after this date. In essence, parents are now legally entitled to share the ‘Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay’ (ML & SMP) or ‘Maternity Allowance’ (MA) to allow for continuous childcare during the baby’s first year.”

He continues,

“Currently, the new mother is entitled to take up to a year off work, which is a combination of paid and unpaid leave. She can get six weeks of maternity leave at 90% of her salary, then 33 weeks of statutory maternity pay. After this period, she can also take a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. During this period of time the employer has to keep their job open.

“Under the changes, if the mother decides to go back to work sooner, then the father can ask their employer to grant them additional leave to allow them to care for the baby.”

Phillip says,

“There are many questions regarding this change in the law, so I have answered some key questions for parents.”

As a new father, how long can I have off work?

“You can take a maximum of 26 weeks additional paternity leave. This is on top of the two weeks’ paid leave you will get after the birth of your baby.”

Can we both take leave at the same time?

“No, you can’t.  These changes are designed to let you both share the potential leave granted during the baby’s first year.”

So, when can I start my leave as a father?

“No sooner than 20 weeks (four months) after the birth. If the mother returns to work at this point then you can receive the statutory maternity pay to which she was entitled until the child reaches 39 weeks of age. For the remaining seven weeks, the APL is unpaid.”

Do I automatically qualify for this leave?

“You must have had a continuous contract with your employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15^th week before the baby is due. Unfortunately, if you’re self-employed, a freelancer or on a short-term contract, then you won’t qualify for this leave.

“It’s also worth noting that your employer is not legally obliged to grant your request for additional leave. You must put a formal request and the employer has to give clear business reasons why the request is not granted.

”Finally, don’t forget that these changes also apply to couples adopting as well.”

Phillip finishes,

“The Government has made these changes to allow new parents to share childcare duties during the baby’s first year, whereas the previous rules assumed that the mother would want to be the main carer and the father was the breadwinner. Our society is changing and the amendments to these rules give new parents greater flexibility to look after their child without losing all financial benefits.”

Whether you are an employee or employer, if you need further clarification on these changes, then please contact Tallents to speak to one of our experience lawyers.

For more information, contact Tallents on 01636 671881

 Tallents Solicitors, 3 Middlegate, Newark

www.tallents.co.uk

ABOUT TALLENTS

Established in 1774 and with offices in Newark, Mansfield and Southwell, Tallents Solicitors services the legal needs of private individuals, company and commercial clients and farmers in North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

We still offer a personal service to our clients and our size and structure ensures that partners are never remote from our clients. We provide a full range of legal services and our expertise covers all areas of law including:

Agricultural law, criminal law, commercial and domestic property transactions, inheritance tax planning, trust and estate administration, wills and probate, commercial and general litigation, employment law, company and commercial law, intellectual property, matrimonial and family law, personal injury claims and children issues.

In 2009, Tallents celebrated 235 years, having served more than nine generations of North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire people. This makes Tallents one of the oldest law firms in the county and possibly the UK.

Release issued by Liselle Barnsley, Tailored Marketing Solutions Limited, 07901 823877

 

Newark’s Educational Future

For a long time, Newark Business Club has had an interest in local education.  Around 4 years ago we realised that we were producing school children who were ready for jobs that didn’t exist in Newark or we, as a business community, weren’t creating jobs that suited our school leavers.  This means that the spiral Newark has been in for some time, of high employment rates but low average wages, will continue unabated.    The employment opportunities for Newark’s children are not inspiring. Yes we need a reasonable percentage of vocational jobs, but do we not also need IT specialists,  engineers, innovators and people capable of managing these types of businesses ?

Those children with higher qualifications (and remember that they could and should be the future of this town) will naturally leave to find somewhere with employment opportunities that can support their abilities and aspirations.

On the positive side, it possibly explains the high level of entrepreneurship we see in Newark that is on display at the regular meetings of Newark Business Club.  However, a handful of inspired, and inspirational, people helps but does not make for a growing, improving town by itself.  At the moment, somewhere in the region of 200 children travel on buses into Lincolnshire to obtain their education

Hand-in-hand with all of this is the problem of Newark’s current educational buildings at secondary school level.  These have been well-publicised of late, with ministerial visits and a lot of coverage in the local press and there is no need for me to go into detail here.  Its enough to point out that we have a Science School that has moved forward in recent years but is now stalled by the quality of its very fabric, where maintenance has been limited based on a promise of new buildings that does not now appear to be forthcoming.  We also have an arts-based school which is improving since its re-structuring with an executive head-ship system.  However, arts and science leaves a big gap.

At Newark Business Club we set up an education sub-committee with the intention of putting businesses and schools together for sponsorship, mentoring and other initiatives that we hope will help to create a workforce fit for our businesses and ensure that we retain some of those skills that currently leak out to Lincolnshire and elsewhere.  Unfortunately, the worlds of education and business seem to have been so far removed for so long that filling the gaps has proved very hard work and there has possibly been a lack of understanding between the two communities.  There have been a number of initiatives carried out between the parties and all with some success.  However, each of these have been limited in their application and either haven’t produced a large effect, or have only affected a handful of children.

I have therefore been delighted to hear the plans of the ECC organisation in Newark which is well-advanced in its plans to create a Business based Free School.  I went along to their presentations  a week or so back and was hugely impressed by their plans, the quality of their steering committee and their background knowledge.  I had a chat with a few of them and I’m pleased that I’ve been able to create a link between the Everyday Champions Academy and Newark Business Club.

I would urge the parents, grandparents and carers of any child in Newark who is under 11 years old to look at the presentation.  You can see the one that I attended online by clicking here and then clicking on the red button at the bottom of the page and then scrolling down, or there are a new set of presentations being held at the Everyday Champions Centre on Brunel Drive and you can see details by clicking here, and clicking on the red button.  Please look at the website and complete the brief survey.  Newark’s education system can only benefit from such an enormous leap in the choice available to our children, and all that is required now is for demand for the school to be proven.

A team from ECC will be attending  and presenting to the Newark Business Club meeting on Friday 18th March at 7am.

Out with the old…

It’s been a tough year in business, locally, nationally and internationally. I’ll bet that not many people out there needed me to tell them that. I’ll also be willing to bet that nearly everybody reading this will have made small changes to the way they live over the last year to accommodate rising costs, fear of job losses, etc.

In the early part of the year, Tracy and I looked at our outgoings and realised that, no matter how much you have, the outgoings expand to meet the income. We looked at a lot of things and made some changes. We got rid of paid-for TV from Sky – it was £600 per year for what we were having and we haven’t actually missed it. The kids missed their cartoon channels to start with, but with a PVR acting like Sky+ and the range of Freeview channels, it has been possible to plan and record in advance so they get the programmes that they want now. Tracy missed some of the crime serials that she used to watch but we’ve discovered that if you’re a little patient, they turn up on freely available channels after a few more months.

I downsized my car to cut out the ridiculous ongoing repair costs for my Citroen C8. I’ve now got a 4-year old Ford S-Max and, with careful driving, I get 600 miles from a 70 litre tank. The C8 gave me about 540 miles from an 84 litre tank. That means I’m about 25-30% better off on fuel costs. Actually make that 25-30% less badly off, as fuel prices rocket!

The New Year approaches fast and none of us can know what to expect. I’ve decided that I’m going to base it on 2010. If it’s any better than that then it’s a bonus. The good news at work has been that we’ve managed to keep things ticking over and, although we’ve not had a great year it is fantastic that we’ve managed to keep the excellent staff that we have and there have been no redundancies. I do know of other firms of solicitors going through redundancy consultations for the second time in about 30 months.

So far as I can see, though, the long term forecast isn’t too bad. Newark now has a planning application in for an additional 3000+ houses to the South and there will be applications for another 3000 following it. The empty retail properties in the town centre have been filling up again and the strong entrepreneurial spirit that Newark has had over the 15 or so years I have lived here appears to be alive and kicking quite strongly.

Newark also has a very strong community spirit which was evident by the numbers of people attending the Christmas lights switch-on recently and the continued high numbers that are visiting the great pantomime at the Palace Theatre (Vicki Michelle and Bobby Crush in Sleeping Beauty). Whenever something is organised in this town, everybody turns up. Its something I’ve not seen in other places that I’ve lived and worked and is something that Newark should be proud of.

So long as the proposed expansion for the town is strategically planned and some sort of body is set up quickly to attract investment and other businesses into the area in a planned way (rather than piecemeal without any thought for the whole) I can see that Newark will come out of these straitened times much stronger than other areas. The town will expand, the businesses will grow and it may only be 2 or 3 years before my business and others are back to the sort of shape they were in at the start of 2008. In spite of the last 2 years, my glass remains very definitely half full.  My New Year message is very definitely ‘Hang on in there!’

Happy New Year

Change Is A’Coming

It was with a good deal of sadness that I stood down from my role of Chairman of Newark Business Club’s Action Group last week, after two years in a very rewarding post.

At each Business Club meeting I have had the chance to stand in front of around 100-120 local business people and tell them what the Business Club is doing for them and for Newark as a whole.

Last week, for instance, I was able to provide an update on the parking in the town and the recent successes we had in negotiations with the District Council.  The Action Group had entered into discussions with the Council about a number of ways to improve the outside view of Newark.  Parking has always been a major bone of contention locally. Amongst other things, we now have the District Council looking at the possibility of getting parking for traders and retailers on private land, thus freeing up public spaces for visitors..

A Park and Ride scheme was suggested and it was pointed out that we had carried out a lot of work on a Hoppa Bus scheme a few years ago, after which the County council allowed the matter to die.  I do believe that there is a willingness to revisit this now.

I also updated the Business Club’s membership on the Growth Point, the single biggest and most exciting prospect for Newark, certainly in the 15 years that I have lived here.  To update you, it is expected that there will be £210 million of infrastructure put in over the next 10 years.  This will be paid for by the developers with some support from the public purse.  Newark is expected to grow in that period by 25-30% of its population.  There are 3 sites for development in Newark and all sites should have their planning applications in by January 2011.  Exciting stuff, indeed.

It is being at the heart of such dramatic developments in Newark that I shall miss. I’ve been privileged to see the Action Group grow over almost 7 years, having begun as Secretary at the outset and then become vice-Chair and Secretary for 3 years before taking over as Chairman.  Credit goes to previous incumbents in the post for the building of the group that I took over.

7 years ago the Action Group was simply a great idea but with little influence and no friends or allies outside of the business fraternity.  Keith Girling and Peter Duncan, in turn, took it this to new levels each time and many of you will have seen the group grow from a handful of people who got a few litter bins installed in the town to the current group of around 15 hardworking people who continually push for the improvement and promotion of Newark to attract inward investment in the shape of commercial growth, tourism and other areas.

We have become a critical (and I believe valued) friend to the District and the Town Councils.  We have forged strong relationships with many groups including the Town Partnership, East Midlands Trains and the Local Strategic Partnership, amongst others.  We have friends in big business, having been valued consultees for Balfour Beatty on the A46, Catesby on the Growth Point and Simons on the Potterdyke development.

We’ve also been a right royal pain in the backside to those groups or authorities that we think have got things wrong or should be working in a different way – just ask the Office of the Rail Regulator, whom we continue to badger!

I believe that we have, throughout, remained true to the Club’s Vision and Mission Statements.  We remain committed to certain matters, such as Town Centre management, that we believe are crucial to the economic growth and improvement of Newark and we continue to try and spread our influence (and that means your influence) as far as we can, both locally and nationally.

I’ve been lucky to have a great team of people working on the Action group, which has made my job a pleasure.  I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to name them all and accidentally omitting someone. They all know who they are and I hope they know how much I’ve valued their contributions.  There have been a lot of people involved to date, and even those who’ve only attended odd meetings to discuss one particular issue have played a part and their input has been important.

I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far and I have no doubt that, with this team continuing under new leadership, the Action group will go from strength to strength and the Business Club’s influence will continue to extend.  My thanks go both to the Action Group members, past and present, and to the Business Club’s committee (as well as the 2 Club Chairmen during my tenure) for trusting us and essentially allowing us free rein to do as we see fit.

A week ago, the Action Group’s new Chairman was announced.  I would like to wish Tim Shaw of Hodgson Elkington every success in the role.  I’m delighted that I will be staying on the committee (but taking up somewhat less than the 20-30 hours a month that the Chairmanship involved – I’ll be giving some of that time back to my family).

If anyone wants to see what the Newark Business Club Action Group has been doing for the town, visit the Club website.  If you want to get involved, new blood and new ideas are always welcome and contact details on the website.

I could’ve been a (sheep) Judge, but I didn’t have the Latin…

Last weekend saw the Newark & Notts County Show.  On Saturday, the weather was awful – howling gales and squally showers.  Mid-May and we had to put the heating back on!  In six weeks, its Midsummer and then the nights start drawing in!

Anyway, back to the County Show.  I had been asked to take the role of independent Judge for the Sheep and the Pig Show Teams and duly arrived at 8.15am on Saturday, where I was introduced to Richard, my steward.  At least he knew what he was doing, as I didn’t have a clue what was expected of me.  It turned out that I was judging the teams on their pens, displays, tidiness and knowledge as well as promotion of their breeds.

It was, in fact, good fun.  At around 10am, Tracy and the kids arrived and Nancy clung to my leg, demanding that I chose a fluffy lamb as the winner.  Having filled out scorecards for the teams, I was obliged to base my decision on something a little less arbitrary, but couldn’t explain that adequately to a 4 year old.

Scores added up and winners chosen, I was then free to enjoy the Show as a VIP guest (that meant that I could use the posh toilets) and I joined up with the family who had taken shelter in the George Stephenson pavilion.  We did pop out of there briefly to see the Australian chap showing his rescue Collies rounding up ducks, but the weather drove us back inside again.  It was a real shame, but Xander and Nancy were asking to leave and go back home, so we left at about 2.45pm.  I then had to return before 4pm in order to present the Tallents Perpetual Trophy for the Champion Lincolnshire Longwool sheep, the rastafarians of the sheep world.  Judging had been held back by the weather so I stood out in the rain until just after 6pm when I made the presentation.

On Sunday, the weather was much better.  It was just as well because Farndon Colts Under-8s were taking part in a tournament at Collingham.  At Under-8

Medal presentation

level, the tournament wasn’t competitive…officially.  The teams were put into 3 groups of 7 teams and all 6 games that we played were simply friendlies.  However, the programme included a score grid and a column for a points tally.  Obviously, I couldn’t let my boys end the tournament end without knowing that they were winning.  With each team having one game left, it was getting tense.  We needed to better North Muskham Cougars’ result to win it.  They were playing Newark Town Royals, who hadn’t done too well up to that point.  When Newark Town scored, I’m afraid that I lost my self control and let out a bigger roar than their own supporters, prompting curious looks from nearby spectators.  Newark hung on for the win.

Farndon’s last game was against Collingham Wildcats and they won it 3-0.  Our boys finished the tournament with 14 points, 2 ahead of Muskham and with a goal difference of +9 (Muskham and one other team had +1 and the other teams conceded more than they scored).  More importantly, in the last game of the season

The Final Tally

, Xander lifted the pressure he’d put on himself by scoring his first goal.  He was the only player in the team not to have scored before that point, but he had created his own pressure.  He works very hard in his first choice position of left back and naturally gravitates to defensive duties when he plays in midfield, so I’ve been very happy with his performances.  However, he had realised the scoring statistics himself and since he mentioned it, I had spent the last six or seven games willing his every touch of the ball into the net to lift his self-inflicted pressure.  This one was a simple tap-in and was even with his weaker right foot.  He was delighted and it made a perfect morning before the afternoon’s family party for his 8th birthday.

Nurse! The screens…

Below is an article lifted from the Newark Advertiser about the current NHS Healthcare review going on in Newark. I’ve been very fortunate in my role as Chairman of the Business Club’s Action Group to be invited as a consultee on all sorts of matters affecting Newark.  The article is a little one-sided and doesn’t list the positives that I discussed with the journalist, but I can’t get upset when they elevate me to the status of “Business Leader”!  In the end we provided a consultation response approving the use of the hospital as a ‘Minor Injuries Plus’ unit with closures from midnight to 7am,.  However, we were very cautious about this and requested assurances on a number of matters, including the re-investment of savings into Newark, improvements in transport for families having to travel to other hospitals and a solid ‘Emergency Care Practitioner’ programme which will replace the out-of-hours service.  Those assurances were given by the NHS representatives.

Businesses raise transport concerns
9:24am Fri Feb 05, 2010
A shuttle bus service should be provided to transport people between Newark and the nearest hospitals, say business leaders.
The chairman of Newark Business Club action group, Mr Alistair Millar, said members were concerned about the lack of public transport between Newark and King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Lincoln County Hospital and hospitals in Nottingham.

The action group raised its concerns over proposed changes to services at Newark Hospital at a meeting with representatives of the Newark Healthcare Review team on Monday.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Millar said representatives from the primary care trust, NHS Nottinghamshire County, told them they were considering transport provision.

Mr Millar said business club members came up with ideas on how the trust could improve its consultation process.

He said: “We suggested they find a comparative town that had been through the same review and give us information about how that had worked.

“The main thing seems to be not that there’s been misinformation, but poor communication in getting across what they are trying to do and why they are doing it.”

Mr Millar said the business club had raised serious concerns about what would happen if there was a major accident on the A1.

“The golden hour is talked about a lot.

“This is where you have one hour to get people to treatment but the people from the NHS were telling us it is more like a golden three hours because ambulances are so well equipped,” he said.

“We were concerned that if there was a major incident on the A1 and there was a lot of traffic they would still struggle to make it in three hours.”

Mr Millar said the group thought people needed to be better educated about where they should go for treatment.

He said: “They’re aiming to get people to the right place for treatment the first time so time isn’t wasted transferring them between hospitals, but people need to know where to get the right treatment.”

Mr Millar said concerns were raised about the level of NHS funding directed to Newark.

He said: “We were particularly concerned to make sure that any savings made by closing the hospital’s emergency in the early hours were reinvested in Newark rather than in Nottinghamshire but they reassured us that would be the case.”

More info about the NHS’s Healthcare review can be found by clicking here. I would urge people to have a look and provide a response.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (…well…maybe not planes)

As part of the work I do with Newark Business Club, in my role as Chairman of it’s Action Group, I get diverse opportunities to see how all manner of matters affect the people and businesses in the town.  In the last two months I‘ve organised or been involved in meetings with the Highways Agency about the dualling of the A46, the Planning Department at Newark & Sherwood District Council about the Growth Point development and a couple of meetings with East Midlands Trains and East Coast (the nationalised East Coast Main Line group) about ways in which the services through Newark can be improved, both North-South and East-West.  In the next few weeks I will be meeting with the Newark Healthcare Review team about the future of healthcare in Newark and, specifically, Newark hospital.  I’m also part of a group who will meet with the developers for that part of Newark’s Growth Point that will be built between Newark and Farndon.  More about these ongoing meetings in future posts.

As a general rule, the aims of the Business Club are to improve the commercial environment and prospects in Newark.  This usually means looking for ways to improve things for Newarkers, as the more people we can retain in Newark and attract to Newark, the better our collective businesses will do.  Over December and January, this meant me standing in the freezing cold on Saturday mornings (along with a colleague, Steve Beeching) counting cars taking advantage of the limited period of free parking offered by the Council for the Christmas retail period.  We took one sample before that period, two during it and one afterwards.  What the Business Club would like is to see that parking dispensation given each year in the Christmas run-up.

Although our survey was limited due to manpower, the results showed that people visiting the town centre as the shops opened more than doubled during the free parking period (the pic on the right shows peak shopping time on the Saturday before the initiative took effect).  Newark & Sherwood District Council are to be applauded for their generous offer which clearly succeeded.  The anecdotal evidence I have heard from retailers shows that footfall through the town was far above what they expected and, I believe, the footfall of the previous year.  It would be fantastic if our figures and other evidence could be used to persuade the Council to suspend parking costs on the same terms at the end of 2010.

On a very sad note, Tallents Solicitors lost an extremely valued member of staff this month and my condolences go to the family and friends of Rose North.  She will be much missed by her colleagues in Newark