Professionals: Law firm takes off with Gatwick extension project; Accountants advise on two acquisitions; and more

LEEDS law firm Stone King has advised on a major project to double passenger lounge waiting capacity at Gatwick Airport.

The firm’s business property team acted for facility operator No1 Traveller during the complex reorganisation of its lounges at Gatwick’s north and south terminals.

No1 expects to welcome more than 300,000 travellers to its newly-enlarged south terminal lounge this year and more than 500,000 at its refurbished north terminal lounges, where seating capacity has been doubled.

Stone King advised on all property and commercial aspects of the project.

Sarah Lane, who heads Stone King’s business property team, said: “Timing is everything when carrying out complex fit out works in the centre of a terminal – an operator needs to work around everything else that is going on in an environment that operates around the clock, with many competing interests.

“Making that happen smoothly is both logistically and legally challenging. So we’re delighted to have provided No1 Traveller with the specialist legal advice they needed for this important infrastructure project. It will help ensure that Gatwick can accommodate growing numbers of air travellers well into the future.”

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HULL and East Yorkshire-based 360 Chartered Accountants has completed work on two separate acquisitions.

360’s Sean Maloney has recently helped secure the acquisitions of coffee roasting business York Coffee Emporium by multi-million pound vending company the Upton Group, based in Selby, as well as the Country Park Inn by Beverley consortium Country Park Leisure.

Mr Maloney, who specializss in advising on the structure of acquisitions and the way they should be funded, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted to be involved in both of these acquisitions.  It took a year to put the deal together to acquire York Coffee Emporium but working closely with Uptons we put together a great business plan which was backed up by all the necessary financial information required to access funding.  It’s this due diligence and a painstaking attention to detail that is essential in order to secure a successful funding application.”

Meanwhile, the deal to acquire the Country Park Inn took two months from approach to completion.  It had been in administration for around 18 months.

Mr Maloney added: “It was great to be involved in securing the Country Park for a local company. This deal is a perfect example of what happens when a business is operating in administration and the administrators are looking for a disposal.  It required speedy analysis and assessment as well as the production of essential financial information. There were a lot of elements to put together but working closely with the directors of CPL we achieved our goal.”

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LANGLEYS Solicitors has launched a service to help employers avoid employment tribunal claims and reputational damage when dealing with misconduct in the workplace.

The law firm has introduced disciplinary training for managers, supervisors and HR professionals who carry out inquiries into conduct at work.

Employment law solicitor Lyndsey Crook said: “Most managers will have to deal with misconduct issues at some stage in their careers and it is important to ensure a proper procedure is followed to avoid any subsequent dismissal being held as unfair by an employment tribunal.”

The employment team at Langleys has developed two training sessions, one focusing on carrying out investigations, which explains why the investigation stage is so important and provides practical guidance on how to carry out a fair and thorough investigation. The second training session covers the entire disciplinary process.

Ms Crook said: “The investigation training covers everything required to be sure of carrying out a full and proper investigation including whether an employee should be suspended while the investigation takes place and the taking of evidence from an employee and witnesses.”

Mini Setty, employment partner at Langleys, added: “Managers who deal with disciplinary hearings or appeals bear a lot of responsibility and it is important they understand the overall process and the key issues they need to consider. Our training gives managers the confidence to deal with this difficult task.”