Lovetts Solicitors has been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) British Credit Awards. The firm has been named as a finalist in the B2B/Consumer Supplier of the Year and Legal Provider of the Year categories.

The CICM British Credit Awards recognise the stand out achievements of the most deserving individuals, teams and organisations in the international credit industry. Launched 8yrs ago, the programme is seen as one of the most important in the credit management industry, a sector that makes up a significant proportion of the Lovetts client base.

“We are delighted to have received this recognition in both the supplier and the legal provider categories,” said Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts. “The firm supports the work of credit professionals on a day-to-day basis, helping them to manage late payment and cashflow issues as they occur. When claims do become more serious, our legal team is on-hand to provide advice, and assist our clients directly in recovering debts. This recognition from the CICM is a true reflection of the of the hard work that goes on right across the firm, and we’re extremely proud to have been shortlisted in both areas.”

The 2020 ceremony will take place on Wednesday 5th February at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. You can find out more about the CICM British Credit Awards programme here.

Lovetts Solicitors has been named as the Debt Recovery Firm of the Year in the 2019 UK Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards. The programme recognises the achievements of law firms and individuals who have delivered exceptional results for their clients over a twelve month period.

The award caps-off a strong calendar year for Lovetts, which saw its Managing Director, Michael Higgins, nominated for Business Person of the Year at the Surrey Business Awards in November. The firm has also been nominated in two categories at the upcoming Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) British Credit Awards, which will take place in London next month.
The Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards programme seeks to reward those firms and lawyers who have demonstrated peerless accomplishments within their sector. The judging process typically takes several months to complete from nominations being received, to shortlisting, before firms are put forward to the final judging panel.

We are delighted to have received such strong recognition from an internationally established body, and look forward to a busy 2020 ahead in which the firm will strive to improve upon its excellent customer service and debt recovery capabilities even further. 

Lovetts Solicitors is featured in this month’s edition of Credit Management magazine, in an article looking at the firm’s attendance of a recent Federation of Small Business (FSB) Roundtable hosted by the association’s National Chairman, Mike Cherry OBE.

The advertorial piece was run to coincide with Lovetts’ ‘Free LBAs in November’ campaign, which offers both existing clients and new sign-ups the opportunity to send free Letters Before Action (LBAs) throughout the month.

In addition to supporting the Prompt Payment Code over many years, the firm has previously collaborated with the Federation of Small Businesses to promote the importance of prompt invoice payment for SMEs (Small-to-Medium sized enterprises) and offer advice on how small businesses can optimise their credit management procedures. The recent event provided an opportunity to update the group on best practices within the wider context of how the FSB can successfully support small businesses going forward.

“We work with companies of all size and sector, from FTSE 100 organisations down to independent businesses with less than ten employees.” says Charles Wilson FCICM, Chairman of Lovetts. “Despite progress in recent years in legislation and the debt recovery sector, and the relentless mission of organisations like CICM and FSB, we still find that not all businesses are clear about the debt recovery process.”

“It’s a shame. Educating themselves on the current regulations and best practice processes is particularly important for smaller businesses, where cashflow is their operational lifeblood. As always, we were delighted to sit down with the FSB and provide input in this area.”

The article, which was originally run on the Lovetts website, can be viewed in full here.

Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts, has been nominated in the category of Business Person of the Year at the 2019 Surrey Business Awards. The packed-out event took place at Epsom Downs Racecourse last week, and was one of the most highly attended ceremonies in the programme’s history.

A team from Lovetts, including Michael, attended the event, which this year saw 14 categories and 56 nominees recognised for their contribution to business across the county and around the world. The overall Businessperson of the Year prize was awarded to Giles Thomas, Operations Director for The Manor Collection, a small group of individually styled hotels based across the South East of England.

“It’s a great honour to have been acknowledged amongst such a strong awards programme in the Surrey Business Awards,” said Michael Higgins, Managing Director for Lovetts. “While it’s an individual award, it is representative of a wider team effort, which has seen the firm go from strength to strength in recent years. I’m tremendously grateful to the entire Lovetts Team and congratulations to the overall winner – it was a great event to be part of.”

Amongst the other winners were Glucorx, a Guildford-based business that produces diabetic products and glucose testing solutions for type 1 & type 2 diabetes. The company received both the Large Business of the Year and the Company of the Year awards.

Additionally, it was hugely rewarding to see a number of Lovetts clients recognised for their work in the area, and local mental health charity, Oakleaf Enterprise, received the award for Charity of the Year.

To view more images from the event click here. 

Lovetts Solicitors recently attended the 2019 Women in Business Expo – an annual gathering described as “a clarion call to all women looking for business and back to work opportunities.” The event was extremely well attended, and included presentations from a programme of leading UK female speakers.

Held at the Farnborough International Conference and Exhibition centre, the event provided a local perspective on the current issues associated with increasing the number of women involved in UK business, particularly in senior positions.

Amongst the speakers, Baroness Karren Brady spoke candidly about the setbacks professional women can face when progressing in their career, telling the room: “We [need] to raise women’s aspirations and present real opportunities”. She also emphasised that that childcare concerns, including costs, remain a major setback to advancing women.

Taking part in local – as well as national – women in business events is something that the firm feels particularly strongly about. This time last year, Cassandra McCarthy spoke at a Business Women in Surrey (BWiS) event focused on flexible working in modern business.

You can find out more about the Women in Business Expo here.

Debt collection and recovery specialist law firm, Lovetts Solicitors, recently joined a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) roundtable hosted by National Chairman, Mike Cherry OBE and attended by, amongst others, Managing Director for UK Connect, Pj Farr.

In addition to supporting the Prompt Payment Code over many years, the firm has previously collaborated with the Federation of Small Businesses to promote the importance of prompt invoice payment for SMEs (Small-to-Medium sized enterprises) and offer advice on how small businesses can optimise their credit management procedures. The recent event provided an opportunity to update the group on best practices within the wider context of how the FSB can successfully support small businesses going forward.

Despite advancements in late payment law and credit management software, many UK entities remain reluctant to chase both domestic and international debts, fearing a long, drawn-out procedure.

However, Lovetts research shows that the firm’s Letter Before Action (LBA) is successful within 86% of UK cases, and with a No Win, No Fee service in place internationally, the process of chasing overseas debts is now also risk free.

“We work with companies of all size and sector, from FTSE 100 organisations down to independent businesses with less than ten employees.” says Charles Wilson FCICM, Chairman of Lovetts. “Despite progress in recent years in legislation and the debt recovery sector, and the relentless mission of organisations like CICM and FSB, we still find that not all businesses are clear about the debt recovery process. It’s a shame. Educating themselves on the current regulations and best practice processes is particularly important for smaller businesses, where cashflow is their operational lifeblood. As always, we were delighted to sit down with the FSB and provide input in this area.”

Lovetts CaseManager software is a free tool that provides clients with a complete solution to manage the legal aspects of their collections online. It’s just one initiative that the firm has implemented to help make the credit management and debt recovery processes more transparent, more hassle-free, and more direct for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Photo by Richard Dunford

In September, Lovetts once again passed its annual Lexcel accreditation assessment, the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for the highest standards in legal practice management and client care.

2019 marks the first year that the firm was assessed on the new 6.1 version of the accreditation criteria, which places strong emphasis on new regulation changes and Data Protection. It’s the eight consecutive year that the firm has received the quality mark for the Law Society’s highest standards in the legal sector, and is testament to all of the hard work and dedication that our staff continue to apply on behalf of our clients on a daily basis.

Lovetts assessor, Roger Newman, said: “This Annual Maintenance Visit has shown continued progress against high standards of policy and procedure implementation, and the requirements of Lexcel 6.1 have been adopted professionally and efficiently. The firm was very well prepared for the Lexcel.”

You can find out more about the Law Society Lexcel excellence in practice management and client care accreditation here.

Earlier this month, Lovetts Solicitors took part in a special archery event aimed at raising the profile of – and fundraising for – local mental health charity, Oakleaf. The Guildford-based organisation provides vocational training for people with mental health needs, delivering work experience in upholstery, horticulture and IT as well as social inclusion activities such as literacy and numeracy sessions, guitar lessons, and meal nights.

Hosted at Guildford Archery Club and administered by FdK Design, the midweek archery evening was extremely well attended, raising more than £1,000 for the Oakleaf Enterprise charity. Professionals were on-hand to teach the basic skills required to hit the targets, and a huge amount of encouragement was provided along the way.

In total, twelve Lovetts staff members attended the event, creating three teams of four archers, between which the proceedings became extremely competitive! 

As a law firm operating in a sector in which we witness first-hand the psychological anguish that debt can cause to both creditor and debtor alike, Lovetts understands the severity of the growing mental health challenge currently being faced within the UK and around the world. Our new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme places a high emphasis on investing in projects in this area, and we look forward to supporting Oakleaf again in the future.

Beyond the great work that was done by all who hosted and attended the event, the archery evening provided a highly entertaining opportunity for the firm to let its hair down collectively as a team, and you can see a range of photos from the day here.

Lovetts Solicitors today released a report looking into the potential implications of Brexit for the flight compensation sector, examining the possible legal outcomes of a deal, no-deal, or no-Brexit scenario. The Firm said that the ability for consumers to claim compensation from EU airlines not based in the UK would be ‘severely hampered’ in the event of a no-deal.

Timeline

• Since 2004, passengers traveling between, or on airlines registered to EU Member States, have been entitled to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights under the EU Law EC 261/2004.
• However on Thursday 23rd June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union, in a decision now commonly referred to as ‘Brexit’.
• On Wednesday 14th November 2018, Theresa May and the EU agreed a preliminary Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration.
• Despite its considerable length (585 pages), this document did not cover the future trading relationship between the UK and EU. It was originally rejected by the UK Parliament on Tuesday 15th January 2019, and has subsequently been rejected a number of times since.
• Failure to pass the Withdrawal Agreement means that the UK is now in a situation where it is approaching a hard-stop to its EU membership on 31st January 2020, with no legislation in place for a future trading relationship with the other 27 EU Member States.

Full report

The full report examines the potential legal implications for the flight compensation sector in the event of a deal, no-deal, or no-Brexit scenario, and can be viewed and downloaded in full here.

About Lovetts

Lovetts Solicitors is a UK-based firm providing domestic and international legal and pre-legal services, and specialising in debt recovery and dispute resolution. For more information, please visit www.lovetts.co.uk.

Kimberley Bonham began working at Lovetts Solicitors in July, as a Digital Marketing & Client Services Executive. In this account, she recalls her first few weeks at the company, and what it has been like to start work in her first full-time, post-graduate position.  

Kimberley’s account
The prospect of starting my first full-time job was both daunting and exhilarating. After spending a total of twenty consecutive years in education, with six of those years being split between part-time and seasonal jobs, I decided I needed a palette cleanser. One that I suspected had the potential to develop into a full three course experience.

Why have I Chosen Lovetts
Since spending around three months – no time at all compared to some post-graduates – looking for a job I was well suited to, I was feeling somewhat hopeless. My University career had been busied not only with studies and social gatherings, but with plenty of experience both in and out of office. Yet, I was not quite having the immediate success I had hoped my dedication would provide. I would attend various interviews; answer a list of questions with both thought and dedication and wait patiently for the rejection email to come. It always did. 

When I first saw the Digital Marketing and Client Services Executive role featured on the Lovetts website, I was hesitant. The role itself was a perfect match to everything I desired for a career start. As a product of ‘Generation Z’,  I was familiar with the growing popularity of digital media and had used it both professionally and for my own interests. This was similarly so for Client Services; I was and remain comfortable interacting with the public and gather a great sense of accomplishment from resolving problems and queries independently.

In all, Lovetts was a prospect I was exceedingly passionate about. The wage was great, the firm was resolute, but there was only one minor small issue: My route in. As a learner driver, I was aware that the location could become great motivation for me to get my licence soon. For the present time, living just outside Guildford meant relying on both public transport and my own two feet. Regardless of such ‘immense’ challenges, I went ahead and applied.

Even the application was one of the best forms I had yet encountered. I was able to mention pre-planned dates without the guilt of not being consistently available, as well as offer a written reference as to why I suited the role. Quickly, my location queries went out of mind and I found that the more I discovered about the company, the more I liked it.

Surprisingly, the interview itself went well. Though I studied Literature at University, I had always harboured an interest in Law. Admittedly, as a recent graduate, I did have a few concerns that perhaps I was not yet qualified enough to be an Executive. Research, in conjunction with some rational thinking, sorted this insecurity very quickly and I approached the interview with the view that no matter how it went, I had the tools, experience and drive to do a good job. So far, my time at Lovetts has illustrated that. My interviewees believed me and within a week or so of applying, I was offered the role.

Week One
Firstly, the very route I was daunted by before applying has quickly become a leisurely stroll. I am able to take a number of buses towards Shalford, walk the homely route across the River Wey, and honour my own Social Media with such aesthetically peaceful views. All in all, it is an easy and relaxed forty-five minute commute.

Regarding the role itself I was aware I had made a good impression. This was mostly because, unlike many other interviews, my hard work was actively praised. So I was looking forward to being a part of a team that I felt truly welcomed by. Furthermore, Lovetts Solicitors prioritises a happy and healthy Work to Home Life balance. So regardless of my outside commitments, which were treated with the utmost flexibility and respect, I was also flattered to be included in Team Support events like the Bakes for Life: Lovetts event for Cancer Research and other Team Building experiences.

My first five days consisted of a great mix between training, learning and doing. I was enlightened on everything from admin work, the office layout, client take-on and how to make a really instant coffee. I also had department introductions which meant that I could witness how each division worked both independently and collaboratively towards a wider focus.

This has made the role even more rewarding. I have a multitude of material and possibility at my hands. With a team that is invested in making the most out of their working day, I am part of a business continuously dedicated to providing the best service for every client in every step of their journey.

Week Two
By the second week, rather than recede with routine, my enthusiasm only grew. I was granted the opportunity to take on more responsibilities both marketing and services focused, while choosing to simultaneously plan for my own projects. Despite my unwarranted apprehensions, I was promptly considered a noted voice. While new to the team, I am often asked for my input, ideas and suggestions. In fact, I have taken to meetings like an office party.

While this might undoubtedly be a testament to the little things that I take great joy in, it is also telling of the environment at Lovetts Solicitors. Like many new starters, my second week did not go without some pause for thought. I was consistent on writing down instructions verbatim, and still often require input from colleagues to either to check information or to ensure I have not missed a step. At each and any interval, my learning curves are treated with understanding, patience and trust. Consequently, I adopted this infectious approach and have been able to meet my projects with a new level of refinery and sophistication.

Week Three
If week two was my most productive then week three was my most challenging. Due to those other commitments, I was away for three of the five week days. If every weekday were a few words, then by Friday, you could find that you had accumulated a sentence or two. If a few of those words in-between are missing, it is more difficult to not only make the sentence, but make sense of the paragraph altogether. I met my challenge with the same amount of enthusiasm as the previous weeks, but felt disheartened that I was not yet informationally self-sufficient.

Nevertheless, just by reviewing my notes and tasks, as well as the various reminders I have put in place for weeks like these, I have found that the dread of not knowing the answer is so much worse than not actually knowing it. Moreover, I am assured that my unconscious memory has stored such information; when I think too hard, I scramble for the answer. Once I am confident, comfortable and patient, I find whatever I am looking for usually turns up instantaneously.

End of my First Month
On now coming to the end of my first month, I am more capable, more driven and more excited to gather more insight. The handling of more responsibilities has often meant relying on my short term memory without much consciousness. This has often left me surprised at how easily I can share matters with customers without the surveillance of watching my every word, or quickly confirming definitions.

Though I am still within the stage of asking questions, as most people are at this stage, I have found that the more I ask, the more I know. Similarly, as I familiarise myself with the company, the better I can market myself as a resource to clients and follow the general management of a business. With four weeks done, and a comprehension of important terms, policies, directions, notes and history made accessible to my learner brain, I am looking forward to seeing what a long term career at Lovetts Solicitors will make of me. Plus what I can make of it.

As I enter my second month within the business, I find myself setting a few goals:


For more information on Careers at Lovetts Solicitors, click here.