North West Business Briefs
Bolton family law solicitor, Victoria Melling, has set up her own company.
Victoria, who was head of family law at KBL Solicitors and has now established VM Family Law in the town, went to Rivington and Blackrod High School before gaining her law degree and Legal Practice Course in Newcastle, then worked for local firm Stephensons for 19 years before joining KBL in 2017.
She said: “I wanted to set up a firm where the culture was more important than billing targets. If the culture of the firm is right then this leads to a happy team which means happy clients.”
Victoria has been a member of Resolution – the association for family lawyers – for many years and is an accredited specialist for dealing with financial matters following divorce. Resolution members are committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes.
She said she likes the job satisfaction in helping people at what can be the lowest point in their lives to one where they can see a real future “knowing I have helped them secure a financial settlement or effective arrangements for their children whilst providing a caring service.”
She added: “I enjoy family law for the variety of people I get to meet and the varied work as no two cases are ever the same.”
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The AlphaBiolabs test
Warrington-based AlphaBiolabs has created 10 roles to cater for demand from UK businesses for its coronavirus testing kit which gives results within 15 minutes.
The firm has been swamped with orders since it launched the rapid screening kit in September. The test, which works in similar fashion to a pregnancy test, can detect the presence of COVID-19 after the onset of symptoms or from 14 days after initial exposure to the virus.
Managing director, David Thomas, said the kit has become the company’s best selling test as businesses seek to screen their staff without having to wait days for the results to become available following laboratory analysis.
He said demand for the COVID-19 antigen screening kits is highest in industries where people cannot work from home and are in contact with others in the workplace. These include manufacturing, engineering, energy, warehousing, transport, infrastructure, construction, film and TV production.
The new posts at AlphaBiolabs include scientific, kit assembly, administration and and customer service roles. The company’s latest recruitment drive has taken staff numbers to more than 100.
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Liam Lomax
Sections of Ramsbottom’s power network will be upgraded as part of a seven-figure project in the new year.
Stockport-based Electricity North West, which operates the region’s power network, will commence work on the £1.1m project this month. The project, starting in Church Close, will see engineers install 2.1km of underground electricity cables replacing several cables first installed back in the 1960s.
Expected to last three months, the crucial work will reinforce the electricity network benefiting thousands of customers in the future.
Liam Lomax, Electricity North West’s project manager for the work in Ramsbottom, said: “The need for electricity is only growing, the Government are setting ambitious net zero targets and Electricity North West is at the forefront of ensuring those targets become a reality.
“That’s why crucial projects such as the one in Ramsbottom need to be carried out. More and more people are becoming reliant on electricity so that’s why we’re proactively replacing cables which were first installed in the 1960s.”
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Passengers using Liverpool John Lennon Airport will now be able to have a COVID-19 test on their return using the TAG facility at the airport, to reduce their quarantine period when returning from destinations that require quarantine.
The airport’s COVID-19 testing partner, TAG, said, in partnership with Salutaris, Randox Health has now been added to the list of private providers for coronavirus testing (test to release) and general testing by the UK department for Health and Social care.
The news coincides with the decision from Randox Health to base its first mobile laboratory with TAG and Salutaris at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, reinforcing the ongoing commitment to the Liverpool City Region from Randox.
The mobile facility offers the ability to get a fit to fly or test to release certificate within 1-3 hours of taking the PCR test.
Lucy O’Shaughnessy, commercial director at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, said: “Being able to offer our passengers the facility to reduce the self isolation period from 10 days to five days in line with government guidelines, is great news. 2020 has been a very difficult year for our industry and this addition is another step forward. We share the excitement of the team at TAG and Salutaris with the arrival of the mobile testing facility from Randox Health at our airport.”
