COVID-19 Coronavirus

23/06/2020 - Visiting Brethertons – Here is how we will keep you safe

Following the government’s guidance, we are pleased to tell you that our offices have started to re-open.

How will we keep you and our staff safe?

As you might expect, we have introduced some new measures to keep you safe when you visit us.

A thorough risk assessment has been carried out across all three of our offices. We have set out below a summary of some of the key areas from this assessment.

Our aim is to provide a safe environment for you, our staff and to put you at ease when you visit us.

Our Customers

We are open to customers by appointment only.

If you wish to engage with our lawyers by phone, Zoom, Skype, Face Time or any other method, please let us know.

Pre-booked Customer Meetings

Where a face-to-face meeting is scheduled to take place, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire prior to attending the meeting.
When you arrive at our offices, you will be collected from an agreed meeting place by the lawyer you are meeting, to enable you to then access our offices.
Hand sanitiser will be provided, and you will be encouraged to use this as you enter and exit the building.
The lawyer you are meeting will maintain social distancing throughout and take you directly to a well-ventilated meeting room.
We have reduced seating in our meeting rooms, and have appropriate signage, sanitiser, and PPE items. You will see a taped division of desks to help maintain social distancing.
Our lawyers will try and ensure that the time spent with you is kept to a minimum, so that potential exposure time is reduced.
There will be a minimum 15-minute gap between meetings, so that the room can be sanitised after each use.

Our Staff

Hand Washing

Our employees will be reminded on a regular basis to wash their hands for 20 seconds with water and soap and to remember the importance of proper drying with disposable towels.
Our staff are also reminded to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues – following “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it” advice and will avoid touching face, eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands. You can expect to see tissues made available throughout the workplace.

Social Distancing

Staff will be reminded on a daily basis of the importance of social distancing both in the workplace and outside of it.
Management checks will be undertaken to ensure advice is followed.
Visible awareness will be reinforced via social distancing posters and signage throughout the office.
Our lift in Banbury will remain out of service; the lift in Rugby will be limited to single occupancy at a time.
We have reduced the number of staff in any work area by introducing a rota system. This will enable us to comply with the 2-metre (6.5 foot) gap recommended by the Public Health Agency.

PPE

Our staff have been informed that the wearing of masks and other PPE is not an essential requirement whilst they work within our offices. Our staff have been reminded that the wearing of gloves is not a substitute for good and regular hand washing.

Our Premises

Entrances/Exits

Hand sanitiser will be provided, and all staff will be encouraged to use this as they enter and exit the building throughout the day.

Surface Cleaning

The lawyer will wipe down meeting rooms at the conclusion of every meeting.
Surfaces and touchpoints used will be wiped with antibacterial wipes.
Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of objects and surfaces that are touched regularly will take place throughout the working day. Particularly in areas of high use, such as door handles, light switches, and meeting rooms.

Screens, Barriers and Workstations

To increase customer and staff confidence although the use of masks is not a recommended guideline, gloves and masks will be available for use if requested by you.

We are glad to be back and hope to see you soon.

Alison McCormack

CEO

31/03/2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus Announcement: In response to the spread of COVID-19, we would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything possible to continue to provide a full service offering to you. Our Lawyers are now all working remotely from home and can continue to assist you with your legal transaction.

We have developed alternative ways of meeting with our customers via virtual means (e.g. by video conferencing whenever it is possible to do so). Because of the measures to help mitigate the risk of increased infections, we will also have very limited access to post. Therefore, we strongly advise that you email or telephone your lawyer directly, and wherever possible communicate with us by electronic means only. Likewise, during this period all communications with you will be done exclusively by either telephone or email.

Although we are working remotely and have been for some time, please rest assured your matter will continue to be progressed, and all our services remain available.

We have also had to make the unenviable decision and furlough a number of Brethertons staff. This has meant that the number of staff available to process matters has reduced but you can contact our lawyers by following the instructions below.

We are confident that we have retained sufficient staff to process the work available.

Like you, we have friends and family among the vulnerable groups. Like you, we are unsure what this will mean for our communities. I can assure you that we aim to assist all customers with the legal issues that they face.

If there is one thing I can say with complete certainty, it is that we’ve never been a stronger team here at Brethertons than we are right now. I feel honoured to be part of such a spirited group and I feel inspired by how Brethertonians are handling all of the obstacles that are thrown at them. Our top priority is ensuring that all of your needs are met at this time and to support you all as best as we can.

Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.

Alison McCormack - CEO

Existing Customers

Existing customers should continue to call or email the lawyer dealing with their matter.

If the lawyer concerned is currently not available for work, the out of office message and answer phone message will identify to whom the matter has been transferred.

New Enquiries

Thank you for your interest.

Listed below are the names and details of Brethertonians that you can call and speak to regarding new matters only.

Wills, Trusts and Probate - 01788 557722

Divorce & Finance - Manpreet Shokar on 01788 557587

Family/Children - Kim Lehal on 01788 557670

Family/Care - Carmel Thornton on 01295 661478

Serious Injuries - Jon Rees on 01788 557617

Residential Conveyancing - Emma Crocker on 01295 270056

Commercial Property - Julia McVeigh on 01788 557605

Enfranchisement/Residential Leasehold - Dani Green on 01295 661458

Employment Law - Tracey Kingsford on 01295 661509

Dispute Resolution/Litigation - Shaun Jardine 07866447 603

Company Commercial - Brian Auld 07977 127154

If you have received a demand for payment of Service Charges and are calling to pay, then please call Property Management Payment Desk on 01295 661515 pma@brethertons.co.uk

If you are not sure which person to speak to, please use info@brethertons.co.uk

24/03/2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus Announcement: In response to the spread of COVID-19, we would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything possible to continue to provide a full service offering to you. Our Lawyers are now all working remotely from home and can continue to assist you with your legal transaction.

Following recent UK Government guidelines, we have taken the difficult decision to close our office premises. This means that with immediate effect you will be unable to visit our offices for an appointment. We are working hard to find alternative ways of meeting with our customers via virtual means (e.g. by video conferencing whenever it is possible to do so). Because of the measures to help mitigate the risk of increased infections, we will also have very limited access to post. Therefore, we strongly advise that you email or telephone your lawyer directly and wherever possible communicate with us by electronic means only. Likewise, during this period all communications with you will be done exclusively by either telephone or email. You can obtain your Lawyer’s personal contact email and direct telephone number by visiting the Brethertons website at www.brethertons.co.uk/site/people/ .

We appreciate this is a difficult and uncertain time for everyone. We will do our upmost to continue to offer high quality legal services to you. We thank you for your understanding and support.

19/03/2020

At Brethertons the health, wellbeing and safety of our staff as well as our customers is paramount. In response to the spread of COVID-19, we would like to reassure our customers and other visitors to our offices that we are following UK Government recommendations and putting in place measures to help mitigate the risk of increased infections.

In the coming weeks, it is inevitable that our day to day activity may be affected, however we are confident that our policy ensures that disruption will be kept to a minimum and we are able to maintain our services whilst following all Government guidance. As the situation develops and Government guidance changes our working practices and response will likely change.

Many of our staff are already working from home, our offices in Rugby, Banbury and Bicester are open and will be working reduced hours. We will have a reduced staff presence on site. If you do want to visit our offices, please do ring us before doing so.

Our serviced office in London is not currently available for appointments.

At present, we can continue to provide a full service to clients. We have a variety of measures to help customers engage with our lawyers using conference calls, Skype and FaceTime. Our lawyers direct dial and mobile numbers appear on their profiles on our website.

Our lawyers do have access to our secure online case management systems from home. So even if our offices do have to close, we can continue to progress matters. Our switchboards can redirect calls to our lawyers mobile telephones. Customers can of course continue to email and telephone us in the usual way.

Our approach is and will continue to be to follow the guidance issued by Public Health England (PHE), which can be found here.

Regards,

Alison McCormack, CEO

alisonmccormack@brethertons.co.uk

19.03.2020