Drive the News 24 April 23

I’m hoping this will be newsworthy. I’ve crocheted a couple of fancy hats /headpieces for myself and a friend to wear to go and watch the Coronation. We plan to wander up and down the Mall in matching Lion and Unicorn hats with crowns on. I’ve already been contact by a local journalist and a researcher for the BBC who is covering the Coronation who may want to do a live interview with us on the day. I’ve put some pics on my profile/Newspage. 🦄🦁

Ambition recently surveyed over 400 hiring managers and employees from professional services firms in the UK. We discovered that:

- Salary is THE key driving factor for jobseekers at the moment - above career progression and even flexible working.
- As a result, firms are having to increase their salary bandings and offer higher salaries to attract and retain talent.
- In the past 12 months, jobseekers moving to a new firm gained an average salary increase of 15%+. Compared to an average 3-5% increase staying in the same firm.
- Hybrid working is the norm, most employees want to work 2 days in the office yet employers are pushing for 3
- There's an anomaly between the perks and benefits employees most want and what firms are offering.
- Employees want to see tangible action around D&I - 59% of BD & Marketing employees and 39% of legal finance employees have said they would review a firm’s diversity and inclusion policy when considering joining a new firm.

Solicitors Near Me recently carried out a data study to find the best cities to live in in 2023, taking into account house prices, council tax, crime rates and healthcare scores.

The losers were:

1. Brighton – Index Score 0.70 (total score 3.61)
2. London – Index Score 0.72 (total score 3.73)
3. Oxford – Index Score 0.73 (total score 3.78)
4. Reading – Index Score 0.76 (total score 3.92)
5. Bristol – Index Score 0.76 (total score 3.96)


And the winners:

1. Aberdeen – Index Score 1.00 (total score 5.18)
2. Newport – Index Score 0.98 (total score 5.06)
3. York – Index Score 0.93 (total score 4.81)
4. Glasgow – Index Score 0.92 (total score 4.77)
5. Newcastle – Index Score 0.92 (total score 4.75)

The full data study results are here: https://www.solicitorsnearme.com/legal-advice/data-study-the-best-cities-to-move-to-in-2023/

Without question, an issue within the industry is the problems caused by people getting spray foam installed in their lofts. With energy cost increases we can see why it may seem attractive, and all of a sudden my social media is awash with firms advertising this service. Funny that not a single one of them mentions the catastrophic impact it can have on financing the home.

ESG is the new buzzword in the business world. Short for Environment, Social & Governance, the term was initially used in 2004 in the investment world as a means of measuring non-financial risk.

In the last year or so, ESG has become more mainstream and is certainly commonplace in the corporate world.

But ESG is not a term recognised or understood by most small businesses although as relevant for them as it is for larger companies in order to evidence responsible business practices.

The governance aspect in particular needs a slightly different approach to that used in the corporate world. Nonetheless, the importance of understanding and embedding ESG principles should not be underestimated for small businesses....

Something that needs media highlight is the fact that Housing Associations, on Shared Ownership property transactions, have far too much power in their draconian lease agreements. It has especially become evident, due to the financial crisis, that owners of shared ownership properties, through some Housing Associations, can't gain access to their equity, by Debt Consolidation remortgages should they find themselves through no fault of their own in financial turmoil. For some homeowners, we have found that they have accumulated significant equity in their homes but the Housing Associations refuse to grant them permission to borrow against this. In our opinion, and only for the right circumstances, we don't feel that the government, which is the backbone of these schemes, should allow these freeholders such control over people's money. We have attempted to raise this point with a number of Housing Ministers however sadly to date none of them have responded on this.