In Brief: Mills & Reeve; Garbutt & Elliott; Atmosphere; Barclays

LAW firm Mills & Reeve has been celebrating five years of business in Leeds.

The firm said it has succeeded in developing the office at an annual growth rate of 20% since its opening in 2008, and has been named once again by the Sunday Times as one of the top 100 companies to work for.

Mills & Reeve has expanded its service provision to offer legal guidance on family law, insurance, tax and trusts, and real estate, tripling employees in the process.

Philip Way, partner and head of the Leeds office, said: “We are hugely proud of this milestone with success achieved through a combination of our local knowledge and experience, with the backing of an established national network enabling us to provide the best possible advice for our clients.

“We look forward to the continued growth of the offices and expanding the services that we provide to our clients.”

Firm-wide, Mills & Reeve has a turnover of £77m.

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YORKSHIRE accountants Garbutt & Elliott has almost doubled its payroll portfolio over the past two years.

Garbutt & Elliott, which has offices in York and Leeds, has taken on 97 new payroll clients since November 2012 and the firm’s payroll department now looks after more than 4,300 employees.

In 2011 Garbutt & Elliott had 160 companies on its payroll books. This number had increased to 196 by the end of last year and it now stands at 310.

In response to this, the firm’s payroll department has increased from one manager and two executives in 2011 to one manager, five executives and two administrators today.

Lorraine Young, the firm’s payroll manager, said: “Our payroll portfolio has increased by 94% during the past two years, which is an amazing rate of expansion. We have had to take on five extra staff, which is great news in a challenging employment market.”

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TWO Atmosphere Bars and Clubs businesses in Yorkshire have been closed, after the company went into administration last month.

Chicago Rock Café in Barnsley and Chicago’s in Halifax have ceased trading. Joint administrators at Deloitte have confirmed that 11 of the company’s venues have been closed and all 186 employees at these locations have been made redundant. 

The company has a further 13 venues which are trading as normal.  The Joint Administrators continue to review options for the sale of these venues. 

Daniel Butters, joint administrator and partner at Deloitte, said: “Unfortunately, we have had to close a number of the Atmosphere Bars and Clubs’ venues which have suffered as a result of reductions in consumer discretionary spending and general difficulties in the market.  We are grateful for the continued support of all employees and stakeholders to the business during this difficult time.”
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SME decision makers are overlooking the ‘significance of a smile’ to foster customer loyalty and increase business growth, according to a new report.

The ‘Lost Art of Loyalty’ launched by Barclays in partnership with Kingston University Small Business Research Centre examines the retail behaviour of consumers and the loyalty business practices of decision makers in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Yorkshire and reveals that a smile and a friendly hello is the most common reason why consumers feel loyal towards small and independent retailers, with 62% respondents citing this.

However, only 60% of SME respondents stated their business employed this practice.

Thirty one per cent of consumers said their loyalty to small businesses was due to brilliant customer service and 24% said they valued businesses remembering their usual order – but only 54% of Yorkshire businesses are remembering or recording customers’ previous orders.