Professionals: Sovereign Healthcare appointment adds up for Pantheon Financial; Interim liquidators appointed at Hebridean Sea Salt; and more

Leeds-based financial advice company Pantheon Financial has appointed Sovereign Health Care to provide health care cash plans as part of a commitment to employee wellbeing.

The Bradford headquartered cash plan provider was selected following a review by Pantheon Financial of various health care cash plans and other employee incentives.

The company’s employees can now claim money back towards the cost of everyday health care treatments, such as dental and optical check-ups and treatment, physiotherapy, chiropody and health screening.

Pantheon Financial was founded in 2000 and its financial management and investment businesses advise private and corporate clients throughout the UK.

The appointment will see Sovereign Health Care work with the company to implement the scheme, manage all claims directly with employees and assign a dedicated account manager.

Pantheon Financial human resources manager, Lisa Whitehead, said: “We understand that our people are vital to the success of our business, so we want to ensure we provide them not just with great incentives, but also help look after their health and wellbeing.

“We chose Sovereign because of its excellent track record in providing corporate health care cash plans and its reputation for providing a supportive and responsive service. The plan is comprehensive and provides our people with a range of flexible services. It has been very well received and its implementation has gone smoothly.”

:::

Sheffield-based insolvency specialists Wilson Field have been appointed as interim liquidators of Hebridean Sea Salt.

The company, which had supplied a number of retailers including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, the Co-op and reached US and Canadian markets through the T K Maxx group, ran into difficulties following an investigation by the Western Isles Council’s officers on behalf of Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

Problems at the Lewis-based Hebridean Sea Salt have been well-documented in the local and national media, with claims made by the FSS that the product labelling was misleading because products contained 80% of imported table salt.

Owner and founder, Natalie Crayton, strongly disputed that her actions were deceptive and accused the FFS of “bully-boy tactics”.

Insolvency practitioners Fiona Grant and Lisa Hogg of Wilson Field were appointed as interim liquidators on July 12.

Under Scottish insolvency law, liquidators are tasked with realising the company assets and distributing the proceeds amongst creditors. Calum Jones of Kepstorn solicitors is acting as legal adviser to Wilson Field.

Following the media attention the company lost contracts and as a consequence ran into financial difficulty. The business ceased trading earlier this year.

Ian Maycock of specialist chartered surveyors Charterfields handled asset disposals.

:::

Law firm Bond Dickinson, which has a large presence in Leeds, has been appointed to the West Yorkshire Legal Framework, WYLAW, for the next three years.

The framework covers Leeds City Council, Kirklees Metropolitan Council, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Wakefield Council, the City of York Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Bond Dickinson was appointed to the panel to provide legal expertise across six lots covering  General Litigation; Property; Contracts, Commercial and IT; Highways and Environments (including Planning); Major or Complex Procurements and Employment and Pensions.

Jackie Gray, partner and head of the local government group in Leeds said: “The WYLAW legal framework is a strategically important appointment for the firm and for our Leeds office as we look to grow our footprint of local government work. We are therefore delighted to be appointed by WYLAW and look forward to working with the member authorities, some of whom are new clients for Bond Dickinson.

“To support this ambition, we’ve grown our Leeds based local government team with the recent appointment of Andrew Hirst, managing associate, who joined the firm from Eversheds Sutherland. Andrew comes with a wealth of legal expertise in projects and procurement across the education, energy and waste, health, leisure and transport sectors.

“Having a dedicated local government team means that together with our Property, Planning, Employment, Pensions, Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Teams in Leeds we have a local responsive team of lawyers who can advise members of WYLAW every step of the way.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close