34 business focus
Blandy & Blandy expands its reach
Data protection: the race is on, but are you up and running?
Whilst the good news for consumers and clients is that their personal data is about to get a lot more secure, there’s now more pressure than ever on business owners to ensure that unambiguous and – in certain circumstances – explicit consent is obtained for personal data they wish to use – and the penalties for transgressions are much more severe
A review of the existing legislation reveals just how easy it is to be on the wrong end of a sanction from the Information Commissioner, and the new regulation will be a good deal more difficult to navigate.
So for qualifying organisations that hold personal details, there is an urgent need to understand and comply with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) before it becomes fully enforceable in May 2018.
The time to act is now
According to Ardi Kolah, the programme co-director on Henley Business School’s recently- launched Data Protection Officer programme, many businesses are blindly ignoring the changes they are going to have to make and could find themselves incurring fines of up to 4% of their previous year’s global revenue, or a maximum of €20 million, whichever is the greater. Serial recidivists can also have their licence to operate removed, preventing them from processing personal data; that’s clearly a situation to be avoided.
The new regulation:
• redefines how personal data has to be collected and stored
• imposes a new raft of duties and responsibilities on the data controller (the organisation) and the data processor (any third party responsible for handling the data on behalf of the data controller)
• obliges specialist organisations and those with 250+ employees to set aside a budget to recruit
businessmag.co.uk
and train a data protection officer (DPO) to be responsible for compliance.
This is the biggest shake-up in data protection in over two decades. So if your organisation holds a large amount of personal data, you will almost certainly need to introduce – or enhance – policies, systems, processes and training to stay GDPR-compliant, and ensure that your requests for consent are explicit and clear, using plain English and not hiding them within the T&Cs small print.
And in the case of ‘special data’ – including sensitive information such as biometric, genetic, financial and medical data – there are even more onerous requirements.
The unique Henley Business School Data Protection Officer programme provides training to anyone responsible for personal data within an organisation and is designed to be completed within just five months. For details, visit the Henley website.
Diana Richards 01491-418767
exec@henley.ac.uk henley.ac.uk/dpo
Follow us on twitter: @HenleyExecEd
Brenda Long with Luke McMath outside Blandy & Blandy’s offices in Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames
Blandy & Blandy is recognised as a top-tier regional firm by both Chambers UK Guide and The Legal 500 and was recently awarded a one-star rating in the annual Best Companies survey, recognising workplace excellence.
Chairman Brenda Long said: “CDT is a long-established firm with a solid reputation for client service and is very much part of the Henley establishment. Blandy & Blandy also has longstanding connections with the area and a number of significant clients in Henley and this merger of our operations and greater investment in Henley will widen access to our full range of legal services and enable more clients to benefit from our partner-led approach and commitment to client care.
“We are in the process of writing to clients to share this exciting news and to reiterate that it is very much a case of business as usual. We look forward to offering CDT’s existing clients the same high standards of excellence.”
As part of the move Blandy & Blandy will welcome CDT’s staff, increasing the firm’s headcount by over 10%. William Fursman will join as a consultant, while Luke McMath will join as a partner.
Despite a heritage spanning nearly 300 years, Blandy & Blandy prides itself on being a progressive and forward-thinking firm, as it continues to grow and evolve. In 2015 the firm opened a new second office close to Reading Station and the number of partners has risen by more than a third since 2014. The firm now has offices in Reading, London and Henley-on-Thames.
Long added: “As we look ahead, Blandy & Blandy is poised to capitalise further on the investments it has made, both in recruiting excellent staff, and in our premises and infrastructure. I am proud to lead the firm into an exciting and ambitious future.”
0118-9516931
blandy.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2016
One of the Thames Valley’s leading law firms, Blandy & Blandy LLP, has acquired the business of Henley-on- Thames based firm Collins Dryland & Thorowgood LLP, giving the firm a presence in the town and cementing its connections with the wider South Oxfordshire region
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