Edward Smethurst’s Post

"Welcome to Leeds - move over Barcelona" - I love the positive aspirations of Andrew Cooper, Chief Exec of Leeds Business Improvement District as he shares his vision for a Leeds of the future. And there have already been significant successes, generating revenue for the local economy: think Leeds Jurassic Trail and the Christmas projection at the Queens Hotel; think Leeds International Festival of Ideas and most recently the MONOPOLY Leeds Takeover. We may not have Las Ramblas or the Sagrada Familia in Leeds, but for Andrew "It’s a city of ideas, vibrancy, and innovation".

Congratulations Andrew Williams! Great to see the continued growth of Prosperity Insurance over the last twelve months and to welcome Ghazala Aziz who has just joined the team as your new Business Development Manager for ATE insurance. #ATE #IndemnityInsurance

Did you manage to get tickets to Oasis? You can bet our resident Oasis Superfan, Mark Rayner will have a backstage pass at the very least! But there's obviously been a bit of a kerfuffle about dynamic pricing to the extent that Ticketmaster are now under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority. So, to be clear, at this stage no-one is saying that Ticketmaster has breached consumer protection law, but they are definitely looking into where the company used unfair commercial practices, whether fans trying to buy tickets were clearly informed that the ticket price could change based on demand and whether the short time window available to buy the tickets put them under undue pressure. Their investigation will take time, and will come as no consolation to those who didn't get tickets, but let's hope there aren't too many fans looking back in anger at Ticketmaster and the Gallagher brothers. #oasis #dynamicpricing #ticketmaster

Bags are being packed. Halls of residence are reserved. Freshers weeks are eagerly anticipated. And, just perhaps, there's a bit of nervous suspense. Yes, it's time for a new crop of undergraduates to start their UK University life. And, those who've made it into Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Edinburgh or the London School of Economics to study law can pat themselves on the back - they've made it into one of the Top 20 ranked global universities for the study of my fine profession. (Thanks Times Higher Education for keeping an eye on these rankings). But perhaps all is not well across the board, with many universities in the UK struggling to fill their law courses - the cost of tuition fees and the rise of earn-while-you-learn legal apprenticeships are impacting as many look for alternative routes to become a lawyer. Whilst we need to be aware of this shift, it's not time to panic about the future pipeline of talent coming into the industry. The Law Society's most recent survey still shows increasing numbers of both solicitors and practicing certificate holders registered. #freshers #lawindustry

It's time to switch off. No more out of hours emails or calls; no more extra work at weekends; no more "sorry to bother you" contacts whilst you're on holiday. Employers need to be tuned into the Government's Plan to Make Work Pay. Proactive employers will already be ahead of the game, recognising the need to ensure work-life balance, training and support to ensure productive, happy employees, but for others they will need to start planning now to ensure they don't fall foul of new employment legislation. #employmentlaw

Bad debts can be the downfall of small businesses - chasing clients to pay invoices that are long overdue, money owed to you that is hitting your cashflow and your ability to pay your staff and resource your business for the future. Ultimately you may need to go legal to get your money, but that can take time and there are a number of stages to recovering debt that we can help with before having to take legal action. Find out more using our debt recovery team. #debtrecovery

Being asked to be the executor of someone's estate is a solomn honour for most of us.. We may feel quietly pleased to have been singled out as a responsible person, or we may feel daunted about what's involved. Either way, it's worth being aware that when you agree you actually take on a weighty legal responsibility and with that unlimited personal liability. Ouch. So if you want to think about how to limit your liability, you might want to know about Prosperity Insurance's Executor's Liability Insurance. It might take a weight off your mind. #ELI #IndemnityInsurance #Probate

It's always the little things that make a difference. For our client Craig Cathcart, recently retired from professional football, a simple online check by his previous solicitors would have highlighted that the land they were purchasing on his behalf was totally unsuitable for development - it was totally landlocked and could not be accessed! Instead the Northern Ireland player, who has captained his national team over 70 times, had to resolve a conveyancing dispute with the previous solicitors. Enter our own top team, led by Paul Magee, head of property litigation to win a settlement for Craig of nearly £500k. Congratulations! #landdispute #propertydispute

Pre-nups have hit the headlines again, and Freddie Powell is not the only one thinking they're a good idea. Whilst the Love is Blind star is getting slammed for his "unromantic" proposal to Catherine on the show, in reality over 20% of married couples in the UK have some sort of agreement in place, and 66% of people see them as a force for good. So, what is a pre-nup? Put simply, it is a contract that protects assets that you already have before your marriage, and sets out for you both how your property and finances will be dealt with during your marriage, and what will happen to them if your marriage ends or one of you dies. If Freddie's situation feels familiar, why not have a chat with Judith O'Brien, our head of family. Right - off to watch the reunion!

"Just call 111 and press option 2". Amen to that. At last - easy access to mental health services that can support us all, with 24-hour help and access to crisis support and specialists day and night. I know the need is massive across the board with levels of anxiety and depression soaring. But for me, working in support of Childrens services, I immediately thought of the 250,000 young people who've still not been able to access mental health services via CYPHMS and who are waiting far too long at a time when they are already in crisis. This new service is a great step forward and I sincerely hope it makes a difference where we need it, at the first point of access. #NHS #ChildrensServices