news 11 Shareleague Thames Valley Presented by in association with Business T H E M A G A Z I N E


Vodafone UK, the Newbury- based mobile phone group, topped the table for share price rises among Thames Valley-based companies during September.


The group launched a new loyalty programme for its pay- as-you-go customers which rewards them every time they top up. Every time a pay-as- you-go customer tops up they will receive a text giving them a voucher code with which they can go online to grab an instant reward or bank them and save up for something bigger.


Genus, the Basingstoke-based global animal genetics company, was one of the most successful medium-sized companies in the region. It announced preliminary results for the year ended June 30 showing revenues were up 9% at £309.9 million. Richard


Wood commented: “In this my final year as chief executive I am pleased to report record results. with adjusted pre-tax profits up 19% at £39m. In addition, good progress has been made in laying the foundations to realise the growth potential in developing markets, particularly in Russia, India and China.”


Star performance of the month (up 166%) was undoubtedly Angle, the Guildford company founded in 1994 to focus on the commercialisation of technology and the development of technology-based industry. It announced that Parsortix Inc, its 85% owned portfolio company which specialises in medical diagnostics, has achieved a major milestone by validating that its cell separation device can capture cancer cells added to blood.


Large (over £1 billion) Closing price


VODAFONE GROUP GLAXOSMITHKLINE SHIRE


ULTRA ELECTRONICS HDG. BRITISH SKY BCAST.GROUP BG GROUP HALMA


INTL.CONS.AIRL.GP.(CDI) SEGRO


SPECTRIS


31/08/11 161


1310.5 1987 1491 660.5 1332 347.9 174.8 258.7 1438


Closing price 30/09/11 166.25 1333 2010 1505 664


1241.5 315.6 153.1 220.2 1168


Medium (£250 million to £1 billion) Closing price


ASHTEAD GROUP GENUS


CABLE & WIRELESS COMMS. MICRO FOCUS INTL. DE LA RUE


MORGAN CRUCIBLE ELECTROCOMP. KOFAX


RPS GROUP ELEMENTIS


31/08/11 117.8 945


35.39 312


806.5 275


213.7 341


199.9 154.1


RWS HOLDINGS ANITE UNIQ


TT ELECTRONICS GAME GROUP


PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON ACAL RM


YELL GROUP NANOCO GROUP


31/08/11 410 61 94


156 24.25


241.25 240


91.25 4.97 66


Sub £50 million Closing price


ANGLE


PIPEHAWK ECKOH


NOBLE INVESTMENTS (UK) EGDON RESOURCES


REDHOT MEDIA INTL.(DI) ENV.RCYC.TECHNOLOGIES HMV GROUP


OXFORD TECHNOLOGY 3 VCT IMMEDIA GROUP


31/08/11 25.75 1.38 6.75 156


12.25 29.25 3


6.4 47


9.12 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2011


Closing price 30/09/11 133


1048 37.25 323.9 836


244.9 190.1 288.5 163.9 123.5


Small (£50 million to £250 million) Closing price


Closing price 30/09/11 460 64


95.88


155.75 23.75 216.5 215


77.63 4.08 50


Closing price 30/09/11 68.5 1.75 7.87 179 14


24.75 2.53 5


36.5 6.38


Change in share price 3% 2% 1% 1% 1%


-7% -9%


-12% -15% -19%


Change in share price 13% 11% 5% 4% 4%


-11% -11% -15% -18% -20%


Change in share price 12% 5% 2% 0%


-2%


-10% -10% -15% -18% -24%


Change in share price 166% 27% 17% 15% 14%


-15% -16% -22% -22% -30%


People in focus i EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATES


To pay or not to pay: the internship debate


Businesses are increasingly utilising internships as they provide cheap labour and access to new talent outside of the recruitment process. With the current economic climate and the difficulty for graduates securing employment, internships are becoming even more popular. This trend has met with a backlash of opinion and controversy regarding the lack of payment of interns and their consequential exploitation.


With more publicity now than ever encouraging employers to pay their interns, and surveys confirming that up to half of internships are unpaid, the argument for payment of interns is slowly but surely intensifying.


In April 2011 the government published a strategy, ‘Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility’ which attempts to tackle the intern payment debate by encouraging employers to provide financial support either by payment of (at least) the minimum wage or, alternatively, reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.


More recently a graduate advice site, Graduate Fog (backed by Intern Aware, Internocracy and Interns Anonymous), has launched a ‘Pay Your Interns’ campaign which intends to name and shame companies which do not pay their interns. Campaigners will request companies to clarify their policy on internships – and those who do not pay interns will be listed on the site.


The benefits of an internship to both the employer and the intern cannot be denied but, with half of internships remaining unpaid, the question follows: should internships be paid?


Legal status


The simple answer, leading to a much more complex issue, is the employment status of the intern. If an intern qualifies as a ‘worker’ they may be entitled to payment of at least the national minimum wage. To determine whether an intern is a ‘worker’, consideration should be given, as a starting point, to whether there are contractual


obligations on the intern to perform the work they do and whether the intern is remunerated through money or benefits in kind.


There is currently no clear universal definition of internship, but it typically takes place after an individual has completed their further education and before entering a particular profession. It is not to be confused with volunteers or work experience undertaken during school or further education. Genuine volunteers would not be entitled to payment, and neither does the Government consider ‘work shadowing’ to qualify for payment.


So what to do?


The risk to companies with unpaid interns, or interns receiving less than the national minimum wage, lies in the possibility of unpaid wages and breach of contract claims. These claims can be brought in either the employment tribunal within three months of the internship ending, or in the civil courts within six years and could go back as far as six years in arrears of payment.


Companies who do not currently pay interns, or who pay too little, should therefore carefully assess whether those interns might afford worker status and, as the argument for payment heats up, those companies that continue not to pay should be aware that they are increasing their risk to a future claim.


For further information about this update or any other employment law issue, please check our website: www.boyesturner.com.


Details: Helen Goss, partner, Boyes Turner employment team hgoss@boyesturner.com 0118 -9527284


Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/btemplaw To request our weekly employment law updates email: elg@boyesturner.com Listen to our employment law podcasts: www.boyesturner.com/services- employment.html?pgid=349


www.businessmag.co.uk


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