In Brief: Irwin Mitchell; Berwins; CDS

A SURVEY examining the readiness of Yorkshire SMEs for auto-enrolment pension rules has revealed that with less than a year to go, many are at risk of facing significant fines for non-compliance.

According to the report which questioned 257 organisations, many businesses revealed that they had not yet fully considered some of the key issues that need resolving ahead of implementation of the new rules.

The study by law firm Irwin Mitchell found that almost 60% of firms had not budgeted for the additional costs that can be incurred as a result of auto enrolment, whilst 40% said that their payroll system was not compliant.

Fifty five per cent said that they had not checked the pensions provisions contained within their staff contracts and assessed how they affected plans for auto-enrolment.

Launched in October 2012, auto-enrolment is considered to be the most significant shake-up of occupational pension schemes in more than 60 years. It makes it necessary for all UK employers to place all ‘eligible job holders’ into a qualifying pension arrangement. All employers are obliged to contribute to that pension arrangement and monitor their workforce and keep records of their workforce’s membership of the scheme.

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HARROGATE law firm Berwins has launched a new family mediation service in response to Government moves to encourage separating and divorcing couples to use the process as a first step.

Berwins Family Mediation is led by managing director Sarah Smith, an FMA qualified mediator, family law solicitor and member of the Law Society’s Family Panel.

Smith said the decision to launch a family mediation unit fulfilled her own long-term ambition to provide greater access to the process as well as helping to meet the demand following the latest government guidelines.

“Mediation can cool down conflict, encourage open and honest dialogue between those concerned and reduce overall costs,” said Smith.

“Creating a mediation facility at Berwins was a natural progression for the family law department.”

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INFORMATION and communication specialists CDS has invested in its telecommunications to boost its internal operations and improve service to clients.

CDS operate eight offices across the UK and has 170 employees with half based in Leeds. Its core business is in helping organisations to improve the way they communicate and how they manage, store and publish information.

The company has invested some £40,000 in a new telephone system at three of its offices – Leeds, Cheltenham and Belfast.

The new system, installed by Wakefield-based NGC Networks, covers telephone equipment with advanced features such as voicemail to email functionality and a global address book.