Press Releases

This Christmas, the team at Palmers Solicitors once again joined forces to support the Polly Parrot Appeal, raising funds to make a meaningful difference during the festive season.

Embracing the holiday spirit, the Palmers team held a best-dressed competition across their five offices for ‘Christmas anything day’, encouraging staff to swap their usual attire for something festive.

From classic Christmas jumpers to full-on costumes, everyone accepted the challenge enthusiastically.

After much deliberation, the ‘Best Dressed’ award went to Gina Newman for her amazing Rudolf costume. It was clear she was all in and she was very happy with her prize.

In addition to the dress-up festivities, a raffle was held with a range of fantastic prizes, including Amazon vouchers, prosecco, Yankee candles, chocolates, and more.

Lucky winners included:

• Gemma Johnston
• Debbie Bransgrove
• Kimberley Portas-Bailey
• James Foley-Bronze
• Helen Jago
• Sharron Keenes
• Izzy May

Through these festive fundraising efforts, Palmers Solicitors successfully raised nearly £200 for the Polly Parrot Appeal, supporting vital services for young patients and their families.

Kimberley Portas-Bailey commented: “It’s always wonderful to see our team come together for such an important cause and have a great time while they do it.

“The Polly Parrot Appeal does incredible work, and we’re proud to play a small part in supporting them, especially during the festive season.

“Congratulations to all of the prize winners, we hope everyone enjoys the holidays”

Palmers Solicitors remains committed to giving back to the community and looks forward to continuing their support for charitable causes in the future.

When you take out a commercial loan, you may have to put up some assets as security against the loan in case there is a default on the loan.

This gives a lender the right to claim the asset and sell it to recover what they have lent to you.

However, in some situations, you may seek to release the security and gain full control over your asset again.

When would security be released?

Security on a loan may be released in a number of circumstances, including:

• Repayment – If you have repaid the loan, then you have the right to seek release of your asset, provided you have satisfied all other conditions.
• Refinancing – You may have the option to refinance the loan, which may adjust the collateral needed.
• Substitution – In some cases, the lender will accept a substitute security if both parties agree, although this is less common.

The most common scenario is that security is released once you have satisfied all conditions relating to your loan, including full repayment with any relevant interest and costs.

How do I release my security?

This will depend on the type of security, but generally you will require some signed documents, such as Form DS1 or a deed of release, from the person to whom you have granted security.

A deed of release does what it says on the tin – releases you from your legal commitment to provide security to your lender once the loan has been repaid.

Form DS1 may be used to release you from security on a property, which will need to be submitted to HM Land Registry.

If your company has provided the security, any deeds may need to be submitted to Companies House.

If this is straightforward and the lender cooperates, the cost for this is likely to be in the region of £600 to £900 (plus VAT and disbursements) as a minimum.

In more complex circumstances, costs can rise quickly, so it is important that you seek advice from an expert when seeking to release security on a loan.

For advice on drafting and signing commercial loan agreements, please contact Dashna at DashnaMorarji-Sagoo@palmerslaw.co.uk or by calling 07903 631780.

Embezzlement, the misappropriate or misuse of company funds by an employee, is a serious allegation, and its impact on businesses can be significant, ranging from financial losses to reputational damage.

If an employee is discovered to have embezzled money from your company, you must act swiftly and carefully to protect your interests and ensure you do not land in legal difficulties.

What action should I take?

When embezzlement is discovered, it is important to take immediate action to minimise financial loss and damage to your reputation.

The key steps to take are:

• Investigation – You should launch an internal investigation to obtain the facts, including a review of financial records, interviewing witnesses and speaking to your employment law team, as well as a commercial law specialist.

At an early stage in the investigation process, consideration should be given to suspending any suspected staff to prevent them interfering with an investigation or concealing evidence and to minimise the opportunity for further losses.

• Disciplinary action – After completing your investigations and consulting with HR and your legal advisers, there may be a case for commencing disciplinary proceedings against any staff who appear to have been complicit in any wrongdoing or have not adhered to any fraud prevention policies/procedures. Any disciplinary action should be conducted in accordance with the ACAS Code on Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures and company policies/procedures.
• Reporting – Embezzlement is a crime so, if it is discovered and reasonably confirmed, you should consider reporting it to the relevant authorities. There can be liability for organisations whose managers choose to turn a blind eye.
• Managing potential reputational damage – You might wish to consider whether any additional public relations services are needed.
• Recovery – You may consider taking civil action to recover misused funds and consider whether you have any relevant insurance cover.
• Review – You should review your internal processes and strengthen controls to ensure this does not happen again.

Employers must tread carefully when dealing with allegations of embezzlement.

Accusing an employee without evidence or mishandling the investigation could lead to legal claims including wrongful dismissal, unfair or constructive unfair dismissal, or defamation.

Particular care is needed when there might be a concurrent criminal or regulatory investigation to avoid jeopardising a potential prosecution.

Consulting employment, commercial and even criminal specialists as appropriate at each stage is critical to ensure the correct procedures are followed and the business is protected from further risks.

For more information or to discuss your specific concerns, contact us today.

As the festive season approaches, we are approaching the end of the holiday year for many employees – and a time when many are looking to book time away from the office.

While we understand that this can be a busy time of year, it is important that you understand your employees’ holiday entitlements and allow them to take the holiday days to which they are entitled.

Failing to do so could result in penalties, as well as poor staff satisfaction.

For those earning commission or regular overtime, the payment made to employees for holiday must be considered as it is not straight forward. Please contact us for further advice on this.

Basic entitlement

If you are an employer, most of your employees will be classed as workers (if they have a contract with you and you pay them) and will therefore be entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year as a minimum.

For those who work ‘traditional’ hours – i.e. they work a five-day week, statutory leave entitlement is 28 days or more of paid leave per year, although many employers now offer more.

This can, for example, be eight bank holidays and 20 days (four weeks) of holiday.

However, if you offer additional holiday allowances within an employee’s contract, you must allow them to take this holiday, not simply their statutory entitlement.

Part-time and irregular workers

Part-time workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ leave, pro-rated to the number of days that they work. For example, if someone works two days per week, they are entitled to 2 x 5.6 days, which equals 11.2 days.

Changes to the Working Time Regulations earlier this year also amended the way in which holiday entitlement is calculated for part-year and irregular hours workers.

Holiday entitlement is calculated at 12.07 per cent of the hours they work in a pay period, paid either in the month in which it is taken or spread evenly across each pay period.

Refusing leave

Taking leave can put additional strain on busy teams, so we understand that it is sometimes necessary for employers to decline leave requests.

You must give the employee at least the same notice as the time they wish to take off. For example, if an employee asks for a week off, you must refuse the leave at least a week ahead of the date on which they wish to start their leave.

If you do not, they will be entitled to take the leave and be paid for it.

Additionally, you must give employees the opportunity to take their full leave and pay them appropriately for that leave taking account of regular overtime for example.

If you repeatedly refuse leave to the point that employees are not able to take their entitlement, you may find yourself subject to grievances or an Employment Tribunal, if the situation escalates.

For advice on your employees’ holiday entitlement or their pay entitlement when taking holiday, please contact us.

Continuing our annual tradition, we have lent our support to a number of high street retailers in the lead-up to Christmas.

We proudly sponsored the Best Dressed Window competition for retailers on Rayleigh High Street, organised and judged by the Rayleigh Town Council.

This year, many local businesses pulled out all the stops to dress their windows for the festive season, making it incredibly challenging for the judges to choose their favourites.

Adam Davis, a Director at Palmers Solicitors, joined members of the Town Council on 17 December to present trophies, certificates and hampers full of Christmas goodies to the winners.

Adam Davis said: “The High Street is a huge part of the community in Rayleigh, which is why every year the team at Palmers Solicitors are always on board to sponsor the Best Dressed Window competition to show our support.

“Over the years, we have been able to build close relationships with neighbouring businesses and hope to continue to do so for many more to come.

“A big thank you to everyone who took part in the competition, and congratulations to the businesses that claimed a prize this year. We hope you enjoy the Christmas treats!”

As 2025 approaches, many are busy setting New Year’s resolutions, from personal growth to professional development – but how many will forget their Will?

We recommend updating your Will regularly, every five years and after major life events.

If you have not updated your Will in a while or 2024 has been a big year for you, it may be time to revise your Will and ensure it reflects your current wishes.

When Wills need updating

Aside from regular updates and reviews, there are a number of circumstances when you need to update your Will to reflect your family situation and estate.

These may include:

• Marriage or civil partnership, as this usually revokes existing Wills
• Divorce or dissolution as provisions for ex-spouses are typically invalidated
• The death of a beneficiary or executor
• The birth of children or grandchildren
• Significant asset changes, such as aquisition or disposal
• Changes to your relationships with family members or loved ones
• Changes to Inheritance Tax legislation

Reviewing a Will regularly ensures it reflects your current wishes and circumstances.

Updating your Will

There are generally two ways to update your Will, depending on the information you need to include. These are:

• A codicil – A formal, legally binding document that makes small changes to your existing Will, which must be signed and witnessed, like the original Will.
• Writing a new Will – For significant changes, it’s often better to create a new Will, which should clearly revoke the old one and detail your current wishes.

When writing a new Will or updating an existing one, it is important that you get it witnessed and signed properly, otherwise it may not be valid and your estate may not be distributed according to your wishes.

Recent changes

One of the headline changes to the UK tax code from the recent Budget was the updates to Inheritance Tax (IHT) law.

Agricultural Property Relief is being reformed from April 2026, meaning farms passed on will be subject to 100 per cent relief for the first £1 million of combined assets and 50 per cent relief for additional assets.

For advice on updating your Will in the new year, please contact our team.