NEW MANDATORY CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALCOHOL RETAILERS

The Government has recently announced a new code of conduct for alcohol retailers.

The changes and their dates of implementation are set out in the table below. They will apply to all licensed premises although many will in reality be unaffected by them. Of most concern to many people however is the fact that they fail to address what is seen by many as the main problem affecting the licensed trade. Supermarkets will be largely unaffected and will continue to be able to sell alcohol as a ‘loss leader’ at considerably lower prices than the rest of the trade. Not only does this directly affect the profitability of pubs in particular it is seen by many as a major contributor to the problem of binge drinking as it allows drinkers to ‘load up’ on cheap booze before going out.

Mandatory licensing condition	Coming into force
Banning promotions such as “all you can drink for £10” or “women drink free” deals.	6 April 2010
Banning “dentist’s chairs” where alcohol is poured directly into the mouths of customers.	6 April 2010
Ensuring free tap water is available for all customers.	6 April 2010
Making sure all sellers of alcohol have an age-verification policy in place.	1 October 2010
Ensuring small measures of alcoholic drinks are made available to customers.	1 October 2010

Penalties for breaching the code

Premises that breach any of the above conditions will risk a range of sanctions, including:

• Having additional conditions imposed on their licence.
• Losing their licence.
• A maximum £20,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment.

More information

If you require any more information on this or any other licensing matter please contact Bruce Faulkner on 01603 675609 or by email at bwf@rogers-norton.co.uk.

£3000 Raised for Macmillan Nurses!

Macmillan Cancer Support in Norfolk has received a welcome boost thanks to the effort of over 100 golfers who took part in a special event in September last year.

Just over £3,000 was raised at our Annual Charity Golf Day held at Bawburgh as part of Macmillan’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ event. We have supported the Macmillan Coffee Morning for the last 11 years and have raised a substantial sum during this time thanks to the continued support of our clients and contacts for which we are very grateful.

"Rogers & Norton have once again surpassed themselves by organising their golf day to support us,” said Helen Chapman, Macmillan’s Fund Raising Manager. “Raising over £3,000 is fantastic, especially in the current economic climate. It is enough to fund our Mobile Information Centre to visit Norfolk for a day, bringing cancer information to the community or to fund a Macmillan nurse for just under a month. I would like to thank Rogers & Norton for holding the golf day and everyone who took part.”

Macmillan does such a superb job across Norfolk which is why we support their Coffee Morning every year. I am sure that is why people responded most generously on the day as they knew the money was going to such a worthy cause.

If you would like more information about our Golf Day or more details of the Charity please contact me (Graham Knights) on 01603 675618 or gjk@rogers-norton.co.uk.

R&N go to the Panto

We are delighted to let you know that our outing to the theatre on 14th January was a great success and we were able to take 25 children to see the Pantomime at Norwich Theatre Royal. The seats were offered to children through Nelson's Journey, a local Charity dedicated to supporting children in Norfolk who have experienced the death of a close family member or friend.

With the brilliant help of the Theatre Royal staff we were able to make it a really special event as the children were treated to a back stage tour and had their own tea party before enthusiastically enjoying the Panto!

The whole event was a great exercise in how a little effort and some well directed funds can bring so much enjoyment to children in real need of a lift at a very vulnerable time in their lives. We will certainly consider repeating the event next year as a result of this experience. More information about Nelson's Journey can be obtained from http://www.nelsonsjourney.org.uk.

R&N 5-a-side League

Following the completion of another competitive season of 5-A-Side football in the Rogers & Norton Football League the presentations were made today to Larking Gowen and TSI Structures, for winning their respective divisions.

Thank you to all the teams that took part in the leagues last year. If there are any other professional organisations that would like to join the League please feel free to contact Paul Warden on 01603 675628 or pw@rogers-norton.co.uk. Our league is played on a friendly but competitive basis with no referees. The current format allows each team to play a home and an away fixture at a time and day to suit both teams. We look forward to welcoming you into our league soon.


Larking Gowen receiving the Division 1 trophy from our Practice Manager: From Left to Right: Matt Pilgrim, Steve Van Raalte, Shaun Powley.

TSI Structures receiving the Division 2 trophy from our Practice Manager: From Left to Right: Stephen Wright, Matthew Wright, Marty Broadwater, Scott Measures, Gavin Douglass, David Williams.

Clare School Life Skills Room Grand Opening

We are delighted to be able to advise you that the project to renovate the Life Skills Room at the Clare School in South Park Avenue has finally been completed and officially opened by the Lord Mayor Cllr Eve Collishaw and The Right Hon. Charles Clarke MP on Friday 4th December 2009.

This project has taken almost three years to complete and was originally a fund raising idea by the Practice to help disadvantaged children at the School develop their culinary skills in what were very dated surroundings as no improvements had been carried out since the 1970s. We held a Grand Charity Ball in aid of the school in June 2007 at Drayton Old Lodge and raised a sum of just under £20,000 from the event. This has been added to other donations and grants to allow the refurbishment to take place.

We would like to take this opportunity to not only let all our clients and contacts know about the improvement but to say a big thank you to all those individuals and Companies who contributed in some way, large or small, towards making this happen. Without such support the renovation would not have been possible. We are including links to some photos and video footage of the speeches at the opening so you are able to see what has actually been achieved with the money and the enormous difference it will make to the children attending the School.

As a result of our liaison over the last three years we have become a Business Partner of the School which we hope will benefit the children in the future too.

If you would like further information about the School or the project please conact either the School Headmaster Nigel Smith at office@clare.norfolk.sch.uk or Graham Knights at Rogers & Norton gjk@rogers-norton.co.uk.

Watch Right Hon. Charles Clarke MP & Lord Mayor Cllr Eve Collishaw perform the opening ceremony here

Watch Nigel Smith's speech here

Photos can be viewed here

R&N Newsbrief Autumn 2009

R&N Newsbrief Autumn 2009

R&N Legal 500

The 2009 edition of The Legal 500 has just been published and will be accessible in paper copy and online at www.legal500.com.

Rogers & Norton are once again delighted to be acknowledged in many areas of the Practice.

Some of the comments that have been made include:

Corporate & Commercial
‘one of the leading small private law firms in Norfolk, providing value for money and taking pride in caring for clients’. Richard Etheridge brings a ‘commercial and constructive approach’, a ‘detailed knowledge of the law and a personable nature’ that is appreciated by many local businesses.

Licensing
'Working with them has always been great, response times are very quick, and they have a wealth of experience’, say clients of Bruce Faulkner. It is a ‘one-stop shop’ for licensing law and property advice.

Dispute Resolution/Employment
Multi-talented litigator John Cadywould has ‘a wealth of experience coupled with a professional ethos and empathy’ in everything from libel to contractual disputes.

Phil Kerridge is ‘highly professional, very knowledgeable and can talk in layman’s terms’ to the great satisfaction of clients, who report ‘friendly, professional service’.

Personal Injury
The team at Rogers and Norton ‘focuses on the personal relationship with the client’. Tim Nobbs and Mark Hambling are recommended.

Family
Amy Walpole and Colin Grooms, a founder member of the Norwich Family Law Group, are reliable choices for ancillary relief and domestic abuse cases.

Private Client
‘a very good all-round firm for private client work’. Tom Lawrence has built a reputation for high-quality, attentive service in Catherine Hawdon’s team.

Property
Rogers and Norton is experienced in complex transactions thanks to Bruce Faulkner, Marc Greig and Robert Pyke, who represent many local businesses and property developers. Recent matters include advising in relation to a new bridge over the River Wensum, and new hangars and a helicopter terminal at Norwich Airport.

These extracts are all taken from The Legal 500 2009 edition.

"It is particularly gratifying to receive acknowledgements in The Legal 500. A substantial amount of research is undertaken with clients and fellow lawyers before the publication is written and we are therefore delighted to receive the glowing acknowledgements detailed above."

Richard Etheridge