Comment Magazine Issue 7
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<strong>Issue</strong> 7<br />
Welcome to <strong>Comment</strong><br />
in this issue...<br />
Miles Brown<br />
CEO<br />
Coffin Mew LLP<br />
milesbrown@coffinmew.co.uk<br />
023 9238 8021<br />
It’s been a very busy second half of the year for Coffin Mew, with many exciting<br />
new developments and opportunities. Our new Thames Valley offices successfully<br />
gained their first Lexcel accreditation – the legal kite mark for quality only held by<br />
16% of law firms.<br />
We welcomed two new Partners and announced the imminent arrival of a third.<br />
Alexander Wood joined as Partner in our growing Insolvency & Restructuring team,<br />
Dominic Travers joined our Corporate team and Julie-Ann Harris will shortly join our<br />
Family team. We also celebrated six senior level promotions.<br />
On 20 October, we held a firm wide event to launch our exciting new strategy –<br />
Our Path to 2020: To bring the best people and innovation together to deliver great<br />
results for every client. The purpose of the event was not only to talk about the vision<br />
and strategic plan, but also to bring everyone together from the Thames Valley and the<br />
South Coast offices and to support our firm’s charity CoppaFeel!, appropriately fitting<br />
on wear it pink day.<br />
We were delighted to raise £1,750 for CoppaFeel!, collecting old £1 coins, sponsoring<br />
runners at the Great South Run and making a firm donation for the incredible 82%<br />
response rate to our workplace survey.<br />
Throughout the year there have been many other amazing charitable feats with<br />
Linden Talbot cycling from Paris to Brighton and Justin White climbing volcanoes in<br />
the Arctic Circle raising an incredible £3,000 for St Wilfrid’s hospice – truly courageous<br />
efforts!<br />
Finally, with great sadness we announced the retirement of our Chairman, Nick<br />
Gross after 34 years at the firm. Nick will retire in April 2018 and will focus on his love<br />
of fitness: marathons, triathlons and training for his legacy event in 2018 - The Gross<br />
Challenge. I feel privileged and proud to have worked with Nick. Without him this<br />
firm wouldn’t be where it is today, but we have a great team in place to drive this firm<br />
forward and Nick will aid and assist with the firm’s future merger plans. “You haven’t<br />
seen the last of me yet,” he jokes!<br />
06 From fallen acorns, mighty<br />
beers grow<br />
<strong>Comment</strong> meets Fallen Acorn Brewery.<br />
08 Homes under the hammer<br />
Buying a home at auction can land<br />
you a bargain, but it pays to do your<br />
homework first.<br />
04 Insight<br />
News and updates from Coffin Mew.<br />
10 A champion for<br />
amateur artists<br />
The Brighton and Hove Arts Council<br />
champion and celebrate a vibrant<br />
arts scene.<br />
12 What can businesses learn<br />
from Toblerone?<br />
Changes to a product mean<br />
updating intellectual property<br />
protections.<br />
14 All power to powers<br />
of attorney<br />
Beware abuses of Powers of Attorney.<br />
16 How to prepare your business<br />
for sale<br />
A guest article from BCMS.<br />
18 Employing foreign workers<br />
now and in a post-Brexit<br />
world<br />
Practical considerations for<br />
businesses.<br />
20 Separation agreements –<br />
an alternative to divorce<br />
The end of a marriage need not<br />
always end in divorce.<br />
22 Moving beyond the narrow<br />
lens of gender pay reporting<br />
All organisations with more than<br />
250 employees need to report on<br />
the pay gap between its male and<br />
female employees.<br />
We hope you enjoy this edition of <strong>Comment</strong>.<br />
@coffin_mew<br />
<strong>Comment</strong> is written and published by Coffin Mew LLP.<br />
Special thanks to Wildfire Creative & Marketing Ltd and<br />
Coast Communications.<br />
For further information about <strong>Comment</strong>, please contact<br />
Kirsty Hughes on kirstyhughes@coffinmew.co.uk or call<br />
023 9238 8021.<br />
© Copyright 2017. All Rights Reserved. Coffin Mew LLP.<br />
Disclaimer: This information has been prepared by<br />
Coffin Mew LLP as general guidance only and does not<br />
constitute legal advice on any specific matter and should<br />
not be relied upon as such. No liability can be accepted<br />
by Coffin Mew LLP for action taken or not taken as a<br />
result of this information. Coffin Mew LLP is a limited<br />
liability partnership in England and Wales (registered<br />
number OC 323868) which is authorised and regulated<br />
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (registered number<br />
463138). Lexcel Accredited.<br />
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