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businessupdate News…


Lawfirm pilotsa ground-breaking sliding scalecharge S


outh Wales legal practice Keith Evans and Company is piloting a scheme aimed at making it more affordable for those less well off in society to go to law.


Keith Evans and Company, based in


Newport and which hasanetwork of offices dotted around south east Wales, has adopted ameans-tested system to pay for the services of its family team. The pilot, if asuccess, could pave the way


for more people being able to afford essential legal services sometimes out of reach due to cost.


Keith Evans and Company managing


partner Elliott Evans said: “What we’ve chosen to do is to pilot achange to how we charge people who do not qualify for Legal Aid. “So instead of the normal legal fee hourly


rate, typically £160-£210 per hour, in family work we are going to offer asliding scale of charges, based on the client’s income and ability to pay. “Most people, who don’t qualify for Legal


Aid, often can’t afford to pay us privately, so this we hope will help people to afford our fees. Weare also making arrangements for clients to set up monthly standing orders to help them to budget costs.” The six month pilot is initially being rolled


out to cover clients and prospective clients in Newport, Cwmbran and Tredegar all of which are in areas in which the firm offers Legal Aid. Elliott said: “We have avast number of


client's who come in and are just over the threshold for legal aid. Sometimes they are only over this threshold byamatter of afew pounds and therefore would be unable to pay £160-210 per hour for legal advice, as it simply isn't affordable. “A sliding scale to assess contributions payable is already used by The Legal Services Commission and a


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TO LET


FORMER AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS LLANOVER,ABERGAVENNY


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HUTCHINGS&THOMAS TEL: 01633 214444 “We’ll see how it goes for six


months and review the position afterwards. Iwould imagine that we would permanently adopt the scheme if we see that the scheme works for our clients. “Its mainly people divorcing, who


have children or financial issues on the back of relationship breakdowns who are seeking our help and who we hope to be able to help with this initiative.” The legal practice admits that


operating such ascheme is likely to hit the bottom line of the business seeing areduction in the firm’s profit margin but feel that it’sagood move for clients in these hard times. Keith Evans and Company,


Elliott Evans, of Keith Evans and Company


number of other organisations so it seems a natural and obvious progression for us to follow suit. It is achange that we have decided to try and one which we believe will receive a great deal of support. “We are currently having to turn people


Solicitors, established in 1990 has its head office at Clytha Park Road in Newport city centre, employs some 50 people across its six offices in Abergavenny, Cwmbran, Monmouth, Tredegar and Chepstow.


The practice, awarded the Lexcel Practice Management Standard by The Law Society in 2009, is one of just 35 law firms in Wales to hold the prestigious quality mark. For more information on this scheme contact Elliott Evans on 01633 860900.


Resortcommitsto staying hygienic


Newport’s five star luxurious hotel and golf resort, the Celtic Manor Resort has underlined its commitment to exceeding food hygiene levels with Check Safety First. Check Safety First will work closely with


the hotel’s management to ensure only the best food hygiene standards are reached and all processes compliant on an international level in its 11 kitchens which serve more than 1,500 meals on adaily basis.


Owned by Wales’ first billionaire, Sir


Terry Matthews, the resort consists of two adjoining hotels, acountry inn, two golf and country clubs with a1,500 delegate multi- purpose conference centre and exhibition hall with 40 function rooms. Following the success of hosting the


2010 Ryder Cup, the resort aims to maintain and further enhance its health and safety processes to meet legislative demands for food hygiene. E-Cristal will electronically gather and record hygiene data from each kitchen on a


monthly basis and alert managers to points of weakness that need to be addressed. In order to guarantee high levels of hygiene, the system has been developed in accordance with guidelines from the World Health Organisation and far exceeds the hygiene levels required for HACCP compliance. Peter Fuchs, culinary director at Celtic


Manor, said: “When employing alarge number of staff and asite with multiple outlets and operations, it is crucial that each manager is able to easily keep track of hygiene standards, especially when catering for around 510,000 covers ayear. “Our goal is to continually improve


standards within the hotel. By having the E- Cristal system in place our managers can effectively prove all health and safety measures have been successfully implemented, it will also offer us agreat platform for growth and maintain our position as one of the leading golf resorts in the world.”


Tuesday April 17, 2012


Talking shares


away who need our help but don’t qualify for Legal Aid but can’t afford typical hourly rates that solicitors charge. We’ve adopted the pilot to see if we can provide legal services to people who couldn’t usually afford it.


By Daniel O’Connell, stockbroker and managing director, Redmayne-Bentley Stockbrokers, Newport


The first quarter of 2012 has been one of the best opening quarters since equities reached their peak levels at the end 1999. Share prices are absorbing most negative


news flow without adverse reaction amid signs of growing confidence by investors. Bond yields have started to rise as investors sell the so-called ‘safe haven’ assets such as US Treasuries and UK gilts in favour of more risk-based investments. The European Central Bank’s long-term


refinancing operation has continued to bolster confidence –the loans, available for up to three years and at an interest rate of just one per cent, have been taken up by many European banks and have helped pull down the cost of borrowing in the most vulnerable regions. Astring of encouraging economic reports


from the US, including good news on the employment front and hints that the US housing market may be close to recovery, has also helped share prices. Although some analysts are suggesting this


optimism will carry the market upward to test last year’s high points, there are still challenges ahead. There are clearly ongoing problems in Europe


and the Spanish budget has illustrated the depth of the crisis in some countries. Not everyone is convinced that the recent


momentum in US economic growth will continue at the same pace through the rest of the year and one or two financial houses have suggested GDP growth will be less than two per cent. China’s growth rate is now expected to slow


to around 7.5 per cent per annum –arate defined by some analysts as a‘hard landing’. The rise in the price of oil amid Middle East tension threatens to push inflation higher and put restraints on economic recovery. These concerns could keep the lid on any


further extension of the equity rally but the market still has some momentum and results from recent surveys suggest that investors do seem to be a little more confident. Analysts’ estimates of company earnings for this year and into 2013 are still optimistic, suggesting that shares in general have a‘fair value’ look to them compared with long-term ratings. Many companies are increasing their dividends by amounts greater than inflation. Investors are also carrying more cash on the sidelines suggesting that, in the absence of any fresh bad news, bouts of profit taking in the near future following the market’s good run could well be limited and short-lived. Please remember that investments can also


go down in value. www.redmayne.co.uk/newport


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