£100,000 fund opens for applications to support ward residents

Following £100,000 of support having been successfully awarded to support ward residents in January 2024, a further £100,000 is now available this year. At the beginning of 2024, 37 organisations from across the city applied for a share of funding and 16 were successful. This next £100,000 pot will be offered in two lots of…

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Interest rates held, for now – Economist’s view

Commenting on the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates today, Max Shepherd, Group Economist at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The Bank of England has agreed to leave the base rate unchanged, at 5.25%, as expected. Andrew Bailey has said he is optimistic things are moving in the right direction, implying interest rate cuts…

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Rollits recruits experienced accountant to support Private Capital team

An experienced accountant who has held senior positions with firms across the region has joined leading law firm Rollits as Trust Administrator to the Private Capital team based at its York office. Clare Stones attended Joseph Rowntree Secondary School in York and then embarked on her career in accountancy, completing her Association of Accounting Technicians…

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Yorkshire Building Society welcomes new Chair at Annual General Meeting and donates £25,000 to Fareshare

Yorkshire Building Society welcomed new chair Annemarie Durbin at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Met Hotel in Leeds last week. Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of all resolutions, including the appointment of board members, and in so doing raised £25,000 for FareShare, the mutual’s charity partner. The Society donated 20p for every vote…

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AAB’S Restructuring & Recovery team grows to support businesses in challenging times

AAB, the tech-enabled business critical services group, has announced a significant appointment to its Restructuring & Recovery team. Glasgow-based Phil Dunn has joined AAB as Restructuring & Recovery Director, bringing over 20 years restructuring experience within three of the big 4 accounting firms. With Phil’s appointment, the Restructuring & Recovery department now comprises 28 professionals…

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SMH appoints new director to leadership team

Leading Yorkshire and Derbyshire based Chartered Accountants, SMH Group, have appointed ACCA qualified Senior Manager, James Salim to Director at their Sheffield office. James will also be appointed as RI of Sutton McGrath Hartley. James qualified in 2016 following a number of years with a large regional practice, joining SMH Group as a Client Manager…

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Sheards Chartered Accountants merges into SMH Group

Huddersfield based Chartered Accountants, Sheards, have merged into the SMH Group, allowing the established firm to offer even more services to their clients, backed by the strength of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire based group. The firm, now named SMH Sheards, continues to operate from their office in Huddersfield, with all the team remaining unchanged. The…

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£750,000 funding secured to extend and improve Acomb Explore Library

£250,000 has been secured to add to the Council’s committed £500,000 capital investment to extend and redevelop Acomb Explore Library. The additional £250k is the result of a successful application to the Arts Council’s Libraries Improvement Fund. It will support significant upgrades to the popular library learning centre in Acomb to ensure it continues to…

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AAB Private Client team short-listed for prestigious Tolley’s Taxation Awards

Tech-enabled, business critical services group, AAB, has been shortlisted for the Best Private Client Tax Practice award, in the coveted UK-wide Tolley’s Taxation Awards 2024. The Group’s Private Client team are set to attend the glittering awards dinner in London on 16 May. The Awards celebrate exceptional achievements, unwavering commitment to the industry, and groundbreaking…

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Law firm bolsters top-ranked Private Capital team with senior hire

A lawyer who spent more than 60 years working for the  practice his father founded has now made the move to join another firm in the city. Patrick Burstall has been appointed as a Consultant Solicitor in the Private Capital team at Rollits LLP. Burstalls was founded by Bryan Burstall in 1946 and Patrick joined…

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Yorkshire Building Society supports customers and colleagues with hidden disabilities

Yorkshire Building Society has joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower network, showing its support for customers and colleagues with non-visible disabilities. It is estimated that around 80% of disabilities are non-visible, including physical, mental, sensory and chronic conditions. Branches and offices will display “We Support the Sunflower” stickers and colleagues have taken part in training. Colleagues…

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Rollits adds property specialist to residential team

A property professional who made the switch from an estate agents to a legal career has now completed her move to Rollits LLP. Amber Deas joins the firm’s residential property team as a Paralegal and is based in the York office. Amber lives in Stillington near York and attended Easingwold Secondary School before starting out…

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YBS commercial underlines commitment to supporting clients through ongoing commercial market challenges by doubling team

YBS Commercial Mortgages has revealed it expects to double its workforce this year, compared to 2022, bolstering its teams by a further 20 per cent, which builds on an 18 per cent increase in numbers during 2023, taking the total workforce to 105. The commercial lender has taken the opportunity presented by an overall dip…

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School of Law teams up with GMB Union on pioneering project

The School of Law at the University of Bradford is partnering with the GMB (North East, Yorkshire and Humber region) to provide its students with valuable experience around employment law issues. Students will act as accompanying representatives for union members at employee disciplinary hearings where such members do not have a workplace representative. Students who…

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Mutual delivers strong results and record support for members

A record number of savings accounts were opened with Yorkshire Building Society last year, according to its annual financial results, announced today. Savers benefitted from interest rates 1.01 percentage points higher than the market average, equating to an additional £441.1m in interest paid – more than double the previous year. The Society grew both its…

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AAB Wealth accredited as one of top-rated financial advice firms for 2024

AAB Wealth, a leading independent chartered financial planning firm, has qualified as one of the top-rated financial advice firms for 2024 by VouchedFor, following outstanding client feedback. This marks AAB Wealth’s inaugural VouchedFor accreditation since the initiative launched four years ago. The 2024 application process required firms to meet a higher standard of client experience…

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Spring Budget commentary by Paula Fraser

In today’s Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a series of tax reforms which will significantly alter the UK’s fiscal landscape. One of the positive changes will see National Insurance contributions for employees decreasing from 10% to 8%, which will result in average savings of around £450 annually for approximately 27 million workers nationwide. This follows…

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R&D Tax Relief Procedures: HMRC’s latest notification requirement by Derek Gemmell, Head of Innovations Tax AAB

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, where staying ahead often means innovating and adapting to change, research and development (R&D) tax credits have emerged as a key tool for businesses, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  As an R&D tax credit specialist, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact that these incentives can have on businesses….

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The role of finance in driving down NHS carbon emissions

Carbon reduction commitments already play a role in the assessment of public sector suppliers, but for this to genuinely shift the dial towards net zero, we all need to improve how we understand, assess and monitor carbon reduction both within our own organisations and among our suppliers. Since April 2023, suppliers for all new government…

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Council’s Executive proposes tough reductions to balance budget

City of York Council publishes its 2024-25 budget proposals today, including what senior leaders have described as ‘deeply troubling but unavoidable cuts’ to deliver a balanced budget. A November 2023 report to the council’s Executive Committee said delivery of the council’s Medium-Term four-year Financial Strategy would be extremely challenging for residents and for the council,…

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Rollits invests in the future with the recruitment of two new trainee solicitors

Two young lawyers who completed legal work experience have now joined the firm as trainees. Harry Milner’s interest in the profession was sparked when he sat in on a high profile murder trial at the Old Bailey during a school trip to London. Aidan Johnson made his career choice after studying law at A level….

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Fareshare and Yorkshire Building Society to help 2,500 into work through £1Million employability programme

Yorkshire Building Society has announced FareShare as its charity partner for the next two years, pledging £1million to support the charity’s Building Skills for the Future programme to help 2,500 people enter the world of work. FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. The charity redistributes quality surplus food from the food industry…

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Yorkshire businesses ‘pushed to the brink’ by escalating financial distress

High interest rates, together with persistently high inflation and a weakening economy, are combining to push increasing numbers of businesses across Yorkshire to the brink, according to the latest Red Flag Alert data from leading independent business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor. The report found that in Q3 of this year combined distress rates…

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Rollits inspires client confidence in latest Chambers legal rankings

Leading York law firm Rollits LLP has reinforced its strong credentials across its practice areas in the latest legal directory rankings. The 2024 volume of Chambers and Partners UK highlight’s the firm’s work in agriculture & rural affairs, employment law corporate, particularly mergers and acquisitions involving SMEs and owner-managed businesses, and in social housing. The…

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Client feedback counts as Rollits reinforces credentials in Legal 500

Clients and contacts have underlined the responsiveness, knowledge, efficiency and overall professionalism of a leading law firm in testimonials and case studies submitted for the annual report published by the legal profession’s most prestigious directory. Rollits LLP, which has offices in Hull and York, is commended by clients and contacts for a wide range of…

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Yorkshire Building Society announces enhancements to family leave policy

Yorkshire Building Society has announced enhancements to its Family Leave Policy to support parents and parents-to-be. The enhancements, announced during Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October), include paid bereavement leave for two weeks for parents who experience early baby loss (pre-24 weeks). Currently the law does not have any parental bereavement leave provision if a…

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Rollits adds to its ranks with appointment of dispute resolution specialist

A lawyer with more than 20 years of dispute resolution experience has joined leading law firm Rollits LLP as an associate based in the York office. Emma Farrell, who lives in York, draws on an extensive background of advising in all areas of commercial and general civil disputes. She will work closely with colleagues in…

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2023/24 Council Budget: Proposals for investment in York’s communities, protecting the vulnerable and combating cost of living crisis

City of York Council has today published its draft Budget proposals for 2023/24, which are set to be discussed at a public meeting next week. The proposals have been prepared following a public consultation with the city’s residents and considering the current financial challenges that are seeing Councils across the country face unprecedented pressures, with…

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