Hugh James

With the festive period fast approaching, we have been out and about helping the community in lots of festive ways. 🎅 Our Private Wealth Dispute team participated in 'Santa in the City,' a 5k run around London dressed as Santa, raising over £1,100 for the British Heart Foundation. 🐕 Some of our Quality & Risk team ventured to Cardiff Dogs Home to take the dogs on their Christmas walks. ☃️ Our Commercial Property team went all out with their Christmas jumper day to raise money for Save the Children UK. 🎄 Members of the Clinical Negligence team became elves for the day when they helped make The Birth Partner Project’s Christmas Party a magical event for all their volunteers and Mums. 🎁 Our team in Manchester went to Ronald McDonald House Charities to help decorate the house and wrap presents for the children. Find out more about our CSR days and charity partners here 🔗 https://bit.ly/3U4BArh

🛫 As Christmas approaches, it’s the time of the year when people start heading off on their winter vacations. Rebecca Gilmore, Senior Associate and Travel litigation specialist, shares her top tips on staying safe on Winter holidays in her latest blog. "For many, the thrill of a winter holiday is no longer limited to traditional activities such as skiing, sledging and skating. Racing across magical icy landscapes on a skidoo, ice fishing in Scandinavia, snow rafting and ziplining in Norway, and night sledding with huskies and reindeer are just some of the brilliant winter adventures on offer. Being prepared for if something was to go wrong will not dampen the thrill and fun of your adventure, but it will put you in a better position both practically and legally if it does." 🔗 Click here to read more: https://bit.ly/49HAgRA

🙌 We are pleased to have advised Primacare Holdings Limited on the successful reorganisation of the Primacare Holdings Group and subsequent disposal of the group to an employee ownership trust. The transfer of the business into employee ownership is an exciting and positive step for the future of the company. Corporate/Commercial Partner Andrew Hoad led the deal, assisted by Solicitor Kate Wilson and Trainee Solicitor Ruby Duncalf. 💬 Commenting on the reorganisation, Andrew said: “It was great to be able to assist David and the Primacare team with pulling this transaction together within such a tight time frame. We look forward to working with them as they embark on their next stage as an employee-owned business.” 🔗 Find out more here: https://bit.ly/4gCCBzj

✨ Welcome back! ✨ Catherine Adamec, Trainee Solicitor in our Corporate/Commercial, has recently finished up her time on our international secondment program with our e-sports client, BetVictor, after spending three months with them in Gibraltar. 💬 Speaking on the opportunity: “I’ve had a fantastic three months working at BetVictor and have learnt so much during my time here. Working in-house is a completely new experience and comes with many different challenges compared to private practice. Being able to lead one-on-one meetings with various stakeholders in the company has been a great way to improve my communication skills, and it has been very interesting to gain insight into the gambling sector. It has also been great to be involved in such a wide variety of different contracts, as it has allowed me to really expand my knowledge.” We would also like to thank Ruby Duncalf, who joined our corporate commercial team at our London office and made the swap from Gibraltar. 🔗 Read more on the program here: https://bit.ly/4fWedZL

💻 There has been an alarming rise in crypto fraud in the last couple of years. Losses have increased by more than 40%, surpassing 300 million GBP for the first time last year. With the increase in these scams, crypto experts Partner Roman Kubiak TEP and Senior Associate Kieran Forsyth sat down to discuss them, how to avoid them, and the importance of using legitimate crypto exchanges and wallets to combat them. 🔗 Watch the full podcast here: https://bit.ly/3ZTOxr7

🚜 In collaboration with CLA Cymru, we recently welcomed the agricultural community from across Wales and the South West to the Forage Farm Shop & Kitchen for an engaging evening focused on diversification, future-proofing farms, and navigating the impact of the recent Labour budget. The evening featured expert insights from Alex Madden, Head of Planning & Environmental, Samantha Roberts TEP, Partner and Trusts and Estates Administration specialist, and Thomas Homfray, farmer and owner of Forage. It also provided an invaluable opportunity to hear first-hand from farmers about their concerns regarding proposed legislative changes and the challenges of adapting to an evolving agricultural landscape. ✨ A special thank you to Tom for hosting and sharing his farm’s inspiring diversification journey and to his team for preparing a delicious farm-to-fork meal that beautifully showcased locally sourced produce. ✨

🙌 We are proud to have advised leading property management company Seraph with the acquisition of JW Block Management, a family-run property management business known for its outstanding client service and presence in Bristol and London. The strategic acquisition of JW Block Management reflects Seraph’s commitment to expanding its footprint in London, while further developing its management portfolio across the South West. Partner Siôn Tudur led the deal with Hinna K. 🗨️ Siôn commenting on the deal: “We were delighted to support Seraph on their acquisition of JW Block Management. It is fantastic to see and support Seraph’s growth, and even more delightful when this is achieved through acquisition.” 🔗 Read more here: https://bit.ly/4isIj8J

🏠 Looking back at Hugh James Housing Week, many of our clients and contacts in the Housing sector collaborated with us to find ways to make a positive impact on the current housing crisis. 🔗 Find out more here: https://bit.ly/471sP51 During the week, Head of Social Housing Caroline O'Flaherty sat down with Peter Crockett of Melin Homes and Brian Pickett of ccha to explore the evolving role of finance in social housing and how we are helping teams work cohesively 👇

🎁 Over the last couple of weeks, boxes filled with gifts have been delivered to our Nursing Care team. We were thrilled to hand 100 boxes to Age Cymru on Friday, surpassing last year's total. Age Cymru, Care & Repair Cymru, and Age Connects Cardiff & The Vale will distribute these boxes to elderly people across Wales who are alone and may not receive a gift this Christmas. ✨ Thank you to everyone who participated and generously contributed! ✨ Big thanks to Saran Estebanez from our Nursing team for organising the collection.

Thanks to our growing presence in London and expansion of our office space at 1 King’s Arms Yard, we were able to hold our first ever HR Open Day in the City for students this week. Evie Koper, HR Assistant in our London office, said: 🗨️ “We were delighted to welcome students to the first HR open day at our London office. The students were keen to learn more about what a career at Hugh James would look like and commented that they found the session informative, reinforcing their aspirations to begin their career here. “It was a great opportunity for me and my HR colleagues to answer any questions and to spend some invaluable time with our current trainee solicitors. The session finished off with a tour of our office space, and many of the students going away ready to submit their applications for the next summer placement intake.” 🔗 To find out more about our summer placement scheme and training contacts, visit https://bit.ly/3VsEDtE