Tag: Business

PSU Murder Mystery Fundraising Event – March 21

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

On March 21, a group of MA Event Management students are hosting a networking event with a twist. Join them for their Murder Mystery Networking Evening for anyone in the legal profession.

You will team up with to solve crime, whilst widening your connections in the legal field.

While benefiting from meeting and connecting with new individuals, all profit generated from the event will be provided the legal charity

Personal Support Unit (PSU). The PSU help individuals in the Bristol area who are facing legal processes alone by assisting them to represent themselves effectively in civil and family cases and tribunals. You can read more about their work here.

For just £12, you will receive admission to the Murder Mystery Networking Evening, along with a welcome drink and nibbles.

Come along to get to know new people whilst competing against your colleagues and friends to solve the murder the fastest – there is a prize for the quickest team!

Register here or find out more information here .

 

Professor Nic Ryder on Paradise Papers: UK’s complex tax code and complacency leads to more tax avoidance

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Post taken from the Research, Business and Innovation Blog.

Nicholas Ryder, who is a Professor in Financial Crime at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) says the UK authorities’ ‘lacklustre’ approach to enforcing its financial crime provisions, and a highly complex tax code, has played a significant role in enabling individuals to avoid or evade tax.  Tax evasion expert Sam Bourton (who is an Associate Lecturer in Law at UWE Bristol), agrees that such complexity means a lot of money is siphoned from the City of London.

Once again documents revealing the tax activities of some of the rich and powerful have come to light in the media, after a whistleblower leaked 6.8m documents relating to Appleby, a firm that helps companies set up shop in low-tax jurisdictions. These ‘Paradise Papers’ (so-called because many tax havens are located on paradise-like islands) have led to a media storm, decrying the likes of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Apple because of their links to tax avoidance schemes through the firm. Tax avoidance involves by-passing payment of tax legally using loopholes to your advantage, while tax evasion means illegally evading paying tax.

“These schemes might not be a criminal offence per se,” says Ryder, “but ethically speaking, is it right for a multibillion pound company to be avoiding tax, when that money could go to funding a new hospital or a school?”

Ryder explains that a lot of jurisdictions, including the UK, have a flexible taxation system, as this can lead to more investment. It also possesses a highly complex tax code, which is one of the longest in the world. “You could argue that tax avoidance has been indirectly encouraged by government because it has such a complex legal framework that allows people to use loopholes,” says Ryder. “This also means that it’s often difficult to identify whether a business transaction constitutes tax avoidance or tax evasion,” he adds.

Bourton agrees, saying that there is often a connection between many of UK’s overseas territories (like the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands) and London, and this benefits the City. “Often tax advisers set up structures offshore that interact with accounts in London,” says Bourton. She points out that, looking at the data from the Paradise Papers, the UK features towards the top of the list when you look at individuals and companies implicated in tax avoidance.

Both Bourton and Ryder agree that more transparency in tax transactions is needed. “I am concerned about the secrecy that still exists around these tax cases,” says Ryder, commenting on the Paradise Papers. “How do we know that organised criminal gangs are not using these offshore financial centres to hide their proceeds of crime? If they are doing this, they are in effect money laundering, and that’s where they could be prosecuted,” he adds. In this respect, he believes that the UK adopts what he calls a “lacklustre” approach to enforcing its financial crime provisions.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has drawn up and is still developing a set of guidelines to ensure transparency and exchange of information where tax is involved.  But although most jurisdictions have signed up to the OECD standards, implementing them is likely to take several years to complete.

Pro Bono work at the Bristol Law School

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Original post taken from the Research, Business and Innovation blog .

Author: Jeremy Allen 

Whilst at UWE Bristol, students studying within the Bristol Law School and Bristol Business School have the opportunity to get involved in a variety of projects from supporting local residents in dealing with community issues to providing free legal advice and assistance to members of the public.

UWE’s Pro Bono work has also helped communities in Uganda and the United States, as well as making a large impact on communities and businesses in the Bristol region.

Undergrad and postgrad students provide all manner of unpaid assistance to businesses, and individuals who have limited access to legal help.

Associate Head of Department – Pro Bono and Law Lecturer Marcus Keppel Palmer commented:

“In this day and age, with the lack of governmental help, Universities who can assist are expected to do so. We have a repository of knowledge, expertise, and students who are keen to acquire experience.”

The numerous voluntary activities, which are led and developed by the students themselves, include the following:

Courts

Offered to individuals with no legal representation, the Law Court Clinics involve Bar students providing on-the-spot assistance to those with no prior knowledge of court proceedings. For two days a week, the postgraduates provide the service alongside a charity at the Bristol Civil Justice Centre. In the same vein, LIP Service (referring to ‘litigants in person’), which UWE Bristol is a part of, raises awareness for those representing themselves, in advance of their hearing. Undergraduates offer training on what to expect in court, what defendants can and cannot ask/do during proceedings, and how to present a case.

Welfare/ Benefits support

In collaboration with a number of charities and organisations, student volunteers help individuals with the wording in their claims forms to maximise success in receiving or retaining benefits. Legal advice is also provided if an appeal is required,  following an unsuccessful claim.

“If your disability benefits are cut, then you can’t afford a lawyer to challenge that, let alone access legal aid because it’s been cut in this area,”

Marcus Keppel Palmer

This work on appeal claims yields almost 100% successful.

Mentoring and Street Law

With a view to helping school pupils learn more about studying Law, first year students from the Law department provide mentoring at schools and colleges in the Bristol area. Pupils can also attend mock trials held at the Bristol Business School’s court rooms.

“This Pro Bono activity provides UWE students with additional skills such as public speaking or team work,” says Keppel-Palmer.

Private clients – Elder Law

Teaming up with charities such as Paul’s Place, undergraduate students from Bristol Business School’s law department offer assistance on matters concerning wills, probate and power of attorney.

Businesses

The business school’s Business Advice Clinics involves students providing basic one-to-one accountancy, marketing and legal support for graduate start-ups in Launch Space, UWE Bristol’s graduate incubation space. One accountancy and four law firms assist with this activity.

“This provides top quality advice to the Launch Space incubators and, for students, networking opportunities with the firms,” says Keppel-Palmer.

Pro Bono business activities also extend to helping musicians get a foothold in the music industry, where legal knowledge carries weight. BMAS is a system of clinics and one-to-ones run by law students who meet with budding musicians and other creatives from all over the world. The free legal service includes advice on publishing deals, contracts etc.

Crime

Pro Bono work has also enabled volunteers to work with countries in East Africa. With a focus on Kenya and Uganda, the African Prisons Project encourages prisoners to study Law to understand their legal rights. The service enables inmates to be in a stronger position to challenge their cases.

The Anti Death-Penalty Group is aimed at students interested in crime and criminology. This activity enables them to raise awareness about death row by working with a law firm in Virginia (US), where undergraduates can also attend a five-week summer placement. Some have worked on cases involving Guantanamo Bay.

“They often come back transformed after meeting death row inmates,” says Keppel-Palmer.

Community Asset Transfer

Closer to home, postgraduate law students offer free legal assistance in projects involving the takeover of public assets by charities. These are long-running projects and the University usually takes on one a year.

“All these activities provide incalculable benefits for students,” says Keppel-Palmer. “Many find themselves more confident and find that they get jobs out of them. There are also massive amounts of good will generated through the work that is done and that makes people feel good in themselves.”

To find out more about the Pro Bono work that takes place within the Bristol Law School and Bristol Business School please contact Marcus Keppel Palmer :Marcus.Keppel-Palmer@uwe.ac.uk

Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School Research Showcase

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School invite you to their Research Showcase on Wednesday 11 October at the Bristol Business School.

The showcase will celebrate the breadth of research within both schools in Leadership, Operations, Economic Analysis, Law, Legal Policy and Reform, Marketing, Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Management.

Throughout the showcase there will be 16 workshops taking place that will demonstrate the ways our leading edge researchers achieve real world impact, advanced knowledge, inspire people and transform futures.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

14.15 – 14.50: Registration & Refreshments, Atrium

15.00 – 15.10: Welcome Speech, lecture Theatre, 2X112

15.15 – 15.50: Showcase, Lecture Theatre, 2X112

15.55 – 16.25: Workshop 1, Assorted Rooms

16.35 – 17.05: Workshop 2, Assorted Rooms

17.10 – 18.00: Networking, Atrium

The workshops on offer are:

Workshop 1 (15:55 – 16:25)

  • Improving health and wellbeing through leadership and behaviour change – Bristol Leadership and Change Centre. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Creating Connections: The Entrepreneurial Mind-set and Ecosystem – Bristol Collaborative Entrepreneurship Research Group. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Rights, Citizenship and Nationality – Centre for Applied Legal Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Financial Crime – Centre for Applied Legal Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • The Changing Terrain of Employability and Careers – Human Resources, Work and Employment Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Delivering Value – How new technology continues to drive Business Model evolution – Innovation, Operations Management and Supply. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Working Effectively With Marketing Agencies – Applied Marketing Group; Rigorous Research, Impact on Practice. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Five things you should know about modern financial systems and the economy – Bristol Centre for Economics and Finance. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.

Workshop 2 (16:35 – 17:05)

  • Digital marketing: what everyone needs to know? – Applied Marketing Group; Rigorous Research, Impact on Practice. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Creative approaches to leadership and organisation development – Bristol Leadership and Change Centre. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Entrepreneurial Approaches to ‘Wicked’ or Intractable Problems – Bristol Collaborative Entrepreneurship Research Group. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Criminal Justice – Centre for Applied Legal Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Delivering Value – How new technology continues to drive Business Model evolution – Innovation, Operations Management and Supply. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Law, Vulnerability and Protection – Centre for Applied Legal Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Applying research to address policy issues – Bristol Centre for Economics and Finance. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.
  • Contemporary issues in reward management – Human Resources, Work and Employment Research. In order to attend please register via Eventbrite.

More information about the event and registration can be found here.

Zainab’s Visit to Amman Jordan

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Dr Zainab Kahn is UWE’s Leader for Continuous Enhancement (Law) and works closely with overseas partner institutions to engage international students in postgraduate roles here at UWE. She is extremely passionate about ensuring an outstanding international student experience and capturing external engagement to the fullest.

Dr Zainab Khan’s most recent visit was to Amman, Jordan for a week, to take part in exhibitions and meet with a number of agents as well as Faculty Management at some of the local universities. She had a full packed schedule that included productive meetings with the University of Jordan, Al – Ahliyya University and the Applied Science University. Furthermore, Zainab also delivered promotional presentations to students interested in coming to the UK for postgraduate studying opportunities. UWE offer international students a number of ways in which they can study and earn a postgraduate degree which they may not be able to do in their home country. Zainab’s trip was to assess the potential for international partnerships for business and law. These partnerships will aid the exchange of both students and information. The positive reception and interest in UWE and our provision in postgraduate opportunities is great news from this trip.

Zainab and UWE are looking forward to future collaborations and increased student numbers from the Middle East. Universities like, UWE are constantly looking to develop and extend the external engagement and enhance each student’s experience.

UWE Bristol Law alumnus Tim Hailes elected Sheriff of the City and Corporation of London

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

On 26th June 2017, Law alumnus Tim Hailes was elected one of the two Sheriffs of the City and Corporation of London.

The role of the Sheriffs of the City of London is to support the Lord Mayor by advising him on matters that are important to the City or helping to host dinners for visiting dignitaries and travel with him in his business visits. They also look after the Judges at the Old Bailey and make sure that the court’s business runs smoothly.

They are elected each year on Midsummer’s day by the City livery companies. One must be an Alderman – the senior representative of one of the City’s Wards, and another elected position – and both Sheriffs need to be members of a livery company. Tim was elected Alderman for the Ward of Bassishaw in the City of London in May 2013.

Tim studied his GDL and his Law Society Finals exams at UWE Bristol. Shortly after leaving UWE Bristol, Tim joined  J P Morgan and is currently co-head of the Global Equities & Global Regulatory Reform Practice Groups of the Corporate and Investment Bank Legal Department and senior lawyer in the EMEA region for regulatory modernisation.

Joining Sheriff-Elect Hailes to serve as a Sheriff for 2017-2018 is Neil Redcliffe. They will both serve for one year and will be admitted into office on 28 September.

Mr Redcliffe is an entrepreneurial businessman, who co-founded Currencies Direct, the international foreign exchange group, 20 years ago. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and spent much of his early career in building and property development.

Congratulations to Tim on this achievement!

 

Honorary Degree awarded to Gillian Camm for commitment to UWE Bristol

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Gillian Camm is to be awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University (Hon DUniv) by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) in recognition of her commitment and contribution to the University in the role of UWE Bristol Chair of the Board of Governors.

Gillian is Chair of the Board of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and Senior Independent Director of Wessex Water.

Gillian has held non-executive positions in a variety of organisations including in the Home Office, the General Medical Council and the law firm Capsticks. Her last executive position was a Board director of Clerical Medical Investment Group. Prior to that she was a partner in Hay Management Consultants where she developed a substantial South West office.

Gillian is a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers and the Honourable Gloucestershire Company and holds the position of the Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire. She is also a Vice President of Quartet Community Foundation.

The Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University (Hon DUniv) will be conferred on Gillian Camm at the Degree Ceremony of the Faculty of Business and Law at Bristol Cathedral on Wednesday 12 July at 17:00.

Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School host alumni networking event in their new building

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

In late May, the Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School hosted an alumni networking event in their new building.

The event was an opportunity for alumni to see first-hand the new state of the art facilities that the new Bristol Business School has to offer including a Bloomberg trading room and three fully equipped Law courts.

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The alumni at the event were given a brief talk from faculty Dean Donna Whitehead, before getting the opportunity to take part in guided tours around the building. Tours were led by academics from both schools.

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The Bristol Business School opened in April to staff and students. The £55 million project will now house staff and students from the Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School, as well as providing office space for local businesses. More on the building can be found here.

More photos of the event can be found here.

Successful first year for the Bristol Business School and Bristol Law School pro bono Business Advice Clinic

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

The pro bono Business Advice Clinic has had a successful first year of operation. Since October 2016 until the last clinic on 10 May 2017, a group of undergraduate and post-graduate law students has conducted interviews, provided advice and drafted documentation for a variety of business clients.

Work undertaken as part of the clinic includes preparing a new set of Articles of Association for a Bristol charity, drafting consultancy agreements for a start-up based in UWE’s Enterprise Incubator, providing a tailored due diligence questionnaire for the acquisition by an ex-UWE student of a local business and drafting a supply agreement for a beauty product start up based in the Enterprise Incubator at Future Space.

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The pro bono clinic was set up by Marcus Keppel-Palmer, head of pro bono legal work in FBL. The clinic has been run in collaboration with lawyers from two Bristol firms: Osborne Clarke and Gregg Latchams. At each pro bono clinic clients were able to make appointments to see a student team with at least one external lawyer present. Work undertaken between clinics was supervised by UWE law lecturer and solicitor, Diana Johnson, in addition to the Osborne Clarke solicitors; Natasha Grant, James Taylor, Victoria Lewis and Clare Lim (trainee) and Gregg Latchams lawyers; Chris Hayward, Ed Boal and Shalini Jagmohan (trainee).

All students who participated in the clinic found it extremely rewarding – comments from some participants are set out below:

Shifrah Walker-Abidoye, LPC:

“I enjoyed being able to contribute the knowledge that I have learnt throughout my undergraduate study in a practical way to start-up companies”

Stefano Pianigiani, LPC:

“I really enjoyed working with solicitors from Osborne Clarke and Gregg Latchams. Seeing how they run interviews has been an invaluable experience.” 

Hannah Walkeden, undergraduate Law:

“The clinic has been a great way to interact with start-up businesses, legal professionals and fellow UWE students” 

New £55 million building will change how UWE Bristol does business

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Staff and students working and studying at Bristol Business School (BBS) and Bristol Law School (BLS) at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) have moved in to a new state of the art £55million building.

The building is the jewel in the crown of a significant £300m capital investment programme across all campuses and will enable UWE Bristol to offer a new way forward in Business and Law Education to benefit students and businesses in the region.

Designed to foster formal and informal interaction between businesses the new facility promises to bring many benefits to the regional economy.

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Donna Whitehead, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of BBS and BLS says,

“This will be a live environment where staff and students and business work together – with collaboration at its core.

“We consult with our advisory board of key business figures who challenge us to make our provision meet the needs of employers and the latest developments in the business world.”

Professor Steve West, President and Vice-Chancellor at UWE Bristol, said,

“It is wonderful to see this flagship build fully occupied. But it’s not really about the building, it is about what will happen inside it.

“At UWE Bristol we teach business differently. A UWE education goes beyond getting industry accreditation, important though this is.

“We are harnessing relationships with thousands of businesses across the region, nationally and internationally helping us to shape our courses so that our students develop the skills that are needed to help the economy thrive.”

Donna Whitehead continues,

“Already UWE Bristol students are demonstrating entrepreneurial spirit through our Team Entrepreneur course where a degree is earned by students collaborating in teams to create and run a business over a three year period under the guidance of mentors.

 “We foster an enterprise mindset in all our students. Last year Bristol Law School students doing pro bono work gained £1 million in welfare benefits for people wrongly declared fit for work.

“They also advise start-ups and tech businesses though our Business Clinic, which will diversify into digital marketing, finance and tax advice over the next year. This service has been set up in collaboration with Bristol law firm Gregg Latchams Ltd and international legal practice Osborne Clarke LLP and is based at the Future Space Centre on Frenchay Campus.

 “Activities like these keep us in touch with what is happening in the region and provides students with relevant work and placement opportunities as they interact with business, owners and developers.”

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Features of the new building include two showcase law courts, a city trading room, a 300 seat lecture theatre, two Harvard lecture theatres, an incubator for our Team

Entrepreneurs, technology enhanced and flexible learning spaces, IT suites, meeting facilities and parking for business, an external business engagement space, a central social space and a café.

Key professional organisations will have a base in the new building enabling barristers, accountants, small business owners and start-ups to mix with staff and students in the learning and social areas.

Throughout the building there are flexible workspaces that staff, students and visitors can use.

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See also a 3D-modelled film showcasing the internal design, layout and infrastructure and also a YouTube 360 degree video visualisation of the new building.

Bristol Business School recently achieved the prestigious European programme accreditation (EPAS), placing it in an elite and internationally recognised group of modern Business Schools.

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