This story is sponsored by LCF Law.

Here at LCF Law, we are lawyers you’ll like to work with. With offices located in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley, we are an established member of the Yorkshire legal community.

We support all our colleagues in their career development to maximise their potential. Whether it’s members of legal teams or support staff, we aim to meet colleagues’ aspirations for personal and career development and place great emphasis on training.

We have developed a series of pathways – guides to behaviours and conduct that direct colleagues to what is expected of them to reach the next level of their career progression with LCF Law. We recognise that supporting development gives strength to the firm while helping colleagues to meet their ambitions and aspirations.

At LCF Law we look after the wellbeing of all our colleagues whether physical or mental. We have 12 trained and accredited Mental Health First Aiders throughout the firm as part of that support network. We recognise the vital role that the team plays in the development of the practice and its importance in supporting colleagues careers.

Staff benefits and a prestigious award

To further support staff wellbeing, we provide a number of benefits including the Westfield Health cash plan, Westfield rewards, a 24-hour advice and health line, seven hours of paid wellbeing hours, Perkbox membership, a wellbeing hub and a full day off for your birthday. Happy lawyers are better lawyers. Colleagues who feel respected and appreciated better support their colleagues and our customers.

LCF Law celebrating being listed as a Sunday Times Best Places to Work.

In May 2023, LCF Law was recognised as one of the top employers in the UK after being named in the new Sunday Times Best Places to Work Awards. The prestigious award ranking index anonymously surveyed the opinions of employees from hundreds of businesses operating in every industry sector across the UK.

The Sunday Times 26-question survey was completed by 87% of LCF Law’s team. It measured employee experience using six key drivers – reward and recognition, information sharing, empowerment, instilling pride, job satisfaction and wellbeing. An excellent rating of between 84% and 89% was received in all six drivers

This is what makes us lawyers you’ll like to work with. Our colleagues are the core of LCF.

We are currently recruiting dynamic, high performing professionals at every level across our four Yorkshire offices. For further information, please visit www.lcf.co.uk/about-lcf/careers or contact HR Manager, Rebecca Gosling at rgosling@lcf.co.uk.

Ripon Grammar School has been named Secondary School of the Year for academic performance in the north – for the tenth year running. 

The school claimed the top spot – again – in Parent Power, The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2023, published online today and in print on Sunday. 

Ripon Grammar School headmaster Jonathan Webb said:

“We were delighted with this year’s results, given the disruption our students faced to their education during the two years of intermittent lockdown. They coped superbly well with the blended demands of remote learning and face-to-face schooling.

“My congratulations go to the students who worked so well and the dedicated staff this school is so fortunate to have. 

“Our results at A-level actually strengthened on 2020’s and 2021’s results, while GCSE results were on a par with those years, despite the fact that grading was recalibrated nationally to a mid-point between 2019-21.  

Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, at Thorpe Underwood, was named Independent Secondary School of the Year in the North for academic performance. 

The other northern winners in the ranking were: Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Otley (Comprehensive School of the Year); and Sheffield High School for Girls (Independent School of the Year). 

Nationally, schools in London and the south east outperformed the rest of the country. Wycombe High School in Buckinghamshire, St Peter’s Catholic School in Guildford and Francis Holland School in London were named Secondary School of the Year, Comprehensive School of the Year, and Independent School of the Year respectively. 

Henrietta Barnett School, a grammar school for girls in Hampstead, was named the overall top secondary school for academic performance, and St Paul’s Girls’ School took the equivalent title in the independent sector. 

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Godolphin and Latymer, Hammersmith was named International Baccalaureate School of the Year. 

The Sunday Times Parent Power guide has been published annually since 1993 and has a searchable online database of 1,600 schools across the UK. 

Helen Davies, editor of The Sunday Times Parent Power guide, said:

“These have been a challenging few years for teachers, pupils and their parents, and the success of many in our league table is testament to the stamina and support shown by all concerned. 

“It is also clear that more attention is being placed on well-being and mental health – from meditation rooms to counselling support, even therapy dogs – and schools are being proactive to bring about positive changes. 

“League tables are not the only criteria a parent can use when choosing a school, but they are a good starting point. We want to celebrate excellence. We want to champion schools that are doing wonderful work.”

Ripon Grammar School has been named as the top performing state school in the north of England by The Sunday Times for the ninth year running.

The school, which ranked 53rd nationally, was the only school in the Harrogate district to make the top 10 in the north. Skipton Girls’ High School was second and Ermysted’s Grammar School, also in Skipton, was third.

The results are contained in the 29th edition of The Sunday Times Parent Power tables, which identify the highest achieving schools in the UK, ranked by their examination results from 2017-19. A total of 78 per cent of Ripon Grammar School pupils achieved A-level grades A to B during this period.

Jonathan Webb (pictured above with students), headmaster of Ripon Grammar school, said the accolade was a tribute to the efforts of staff and pupils during the pandemic. He added:

“After a truly difficult 18 months this will give our students and everyone who works at the school a real boost.

“We offer an exceptional all-round, holistic education, with music, drama and sport also thriving.

“Staff have created recently a pioneering new student development programme as now, more than ever, we need to ensure students gain the valuable skills, qualifications and experience outside the classroom which will prepare them well for life beyond school.”

The Plus One programme will be showcased at the school’s sixth form open evening on January 17.

Alastair McCall, editor of Parent Power, said the need for clarity about school examination performance had never been greater, following two years of centre- and teacher-assessed grades, during which the numbers of top grades had increased dramatically.

Mr McCall, said:

“At a time when some schools are making it hard to substantiate claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2021 and 2020, we believe these rankings – and all the additional information on offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools today.”

Harrogate company Bettys and Taylors has said it will continue trading with a supplier in Malawi that is being sued over the alleged sexual abuse of workers.

A Sunday Times article today revealed a group of tea pickers, many of them single mothers earning about £1 a day, have filed a claim in the High Court against Lujeri Tea Estates and its British owners. PGI Group.

The lawsuit alleges there is a ‘systematic problem of male workers at plantations abusing their positions of power’ to rape, sexually assault, harass and coerce women they supervise into sex.

It names 36 alleged male perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, which produces Yorkshire Tea, is one of several British companies named in the article for being supplied by Lujeri.

Unilever, whose tea brands include PG Tips and Lipton, and Tetley, are also named.

Bettys and Taylors published an 850-word statement on its website today saying ‘human rights abuses have no place in our supply chain’.

But it added at this stage it did not plan to cut ties with its suppliers in Malawi:

“We can’t improve things unless we’re involved, and that’s why news of something going wrong in our supply chain doesn’t immediately result in us walking away from a producer, which can be harmful for the people reliant on our trade for their livelihoods.

“A key foundation of sustainable trade is long-term relationships – and our contracts guarantee that we’ll buy for several years in advance, at a level above the Fairtrade minimum price, plus an additional premium for quality.

“In situations like this, companies will often immediately stop trading with a supplier to try and limit reputational damage to their brands.

“We understand why but it’s hard to overstate the impact of suddenly cutting off some of the world’s poorest workers and smallholders from their source of income.

“So our first position is to work with a supplier, understand what’s gone wrong and support them to develop plans to put things right. If that’s not something they can do, we’d stop buying from them.”

The statement added Bettys and Taylors’ suppliers were “engaging fully and openly with this process”.

Grant Bramsen, managing director of Lujeri Tea Estates, told the Sunday Times it was “deeply troubled by these allegations” and processes it had introduced to prevent abuse “did not go far enough”.

Read more:

• 34 jobs at risk as Bettys closes York cafe
• Bettys to start reopening from end of the month

With its Georgian market place, two breweries and idyllic setting beside the River Ure, locals have known for years that Masham is a wonderful place to live.

But now the secret is out. The Sunday Times has included the market town in its annual Best Places to Live guide.

Masham is one of nine runners-up behind Ilkley in the north-east of England category. No other town or city in the Harrogate district was selected.

The Sunday Times judges based their decision on factors such as schools, air quality, transport and health of the high street.

They described Masham as:

“A picturesque market town in its own right that offers the best of both worlds.

“The extraordinary landscape of the Yorkshire Dales is on the doorstep and Ripon, with its top selective school and Curzon cinema, is just a short drive away.”

The judges listed their favourite things as the market, the Black Sheep Brewery and Johnny Baghdad’s ‘funky bright-yellow café on the square’.  

Colin Blair, aka Johnny Baghdad

Independent businesses

Colin Blair, who owns Johnny Baghdad’s, said Masham had got busier in the 20 years since he arrived and now had a good blend of independent businesses. He said:

“It’s a great place and a great place to run a business from.”

Mr Blair, who runs Johnny Baghdad’s with his partner Saeeda Zaman, was delighted to be recognised.

He said the cafe’s eclectic food, which includes everything from falafel and chicken shawarma to bacon rolls, went down well with locals, as well as the numerous cyclists and day trippers that flock to the town at weekends. He added:

“It’s the kind of thing you don’t see often when travelling around the Yorkshire Dales.”

Read more:

• Masham Steam Rally postponed due to covid
• Masham church reveals plans to extend graveyard

The cafe is currently open only for takeaways but is due to open with tables and seating on April 12.

The other regional runners up are:

·       Alnmouth, Northumberland 

·       Barnard Castle, Co Durham 

·       Easingwold, North Yorkshire 

·       Leeds 

·       Masham, North Yorkshire 

·       Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire 

·       Todmorden, West Yorkshire 

·       Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear 

·       York 

Strayside Sunday: Let’s get Jackie Weaver in to sort out Harrogate Borough Council

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

This week, I thought I would share something from my small but active Stray Ferret postbag. While working away at my kitchen table, my email pinged with a missive from a reader who, to spare blushes, shall remain nameless.

Attached to the email was a photograph of what turned out to be an article from 31st January’s Sunday Times (“The furlough firms that gave money to the Tories”). It turns out that several companies, both major and minor, availed themselves of shedloads of Dishy Rishi’s furlough scheme cash and, during the same period of time donated large sums of money to the Conservative Party.

As I scanned the list a familiar name stood out; The Fat Badger has never been at the top of my list of favoured watering holes, although I understand it is popular with the punters. It seems that the company that own’s Harrogate’s Fat Badger Pub had gifted £18,000 to the party of power all the while participating in the furlough scheme. In the subject heading of my reader’s email it said simply, “Is this right?”

Although The Times piece made clear that no laws have been broken (both individual and company donations to political parties are entirely legal), the answer, of course, in my view is no. All hospitality businesses are going through a torrid time and the furlough scheme is vitally important for their survival. But the issue here is that furlough money is intended to plug the gap in company finances created by the Covid-19 economic downturn. If companies in receipt of furlough monies still have the discretionary funds required to make political contributions, they are in danger of creating the perception that they are accepting furlough funds in bad faith. To avoid such bad ‘optics,’ business owners could and should make political donations in a personal capacity from personal funds, if so minded.

I for one don’t believe in political donations; in my view they should be banned and parties funded by the state to an agreed and equitable formula. I believe that state funding for political parties would be a simple and transparent way to reduce the undue and unwanted influence of those interests with the power and inclination to pay for it.

With the end of the Covid-19 crisis perhaps mercifully in sight, we are hurtling towards an inevitable reckoning for the government. It will be hoping that its success in testing and vaccinations (the latter of which has been nothing short of spectacular) will mask its howlers. Stories of wholesale furlough scheme and government emergency loans frauds are starting to surface. In its rush to do the right thing; to get money to where it was needed when it was needed, the government played fast and loose with the usual rules of engagement. Advantage has been taken.

My vote is that we should send in Jackie Weaver (from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils) to sort it all out. Clearly not a woman to be messed with, Ms. Weaver shot to internet stardom this week for her brilliant handling of a Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting. More specifically, for her handling of a group of swearing, raging, cackling and spluttering (mostly) men. This Iron Lady for our generation retained an icy calm and was ruthless in her use of the cursor, dispatching several misbehavers to that modern purgatory, the Zoom waiting room. Never has a row over standing orders been more compelling. My favourite line in proceedings was from Aled’s iPad, “she’s kicked Barry out, so I’m leaving.” Who needs Emmerdale?

Ms. Weaver’s matter of fact and straightforward response to the viral storm has been priceless. She can’t see what the fuss is all about. The impression one has is of a group of silly and frustrated men, egos inflated by their minor office holding, attempting to throw their weight about. Our Jackie simply sorted them out and got proceedings firmly on track. It strikes me that if councils were like football teams I would agitate for Jackie Weaver to be transferred to Harrogate. I’m not sure Richard Cooper and his merry bunch at the Borough Council would respond well to Ms. Weaver’s hard-tackling style. She would strike the fear of God in them. And I for one, would pay really good money to see it.

Maybe it was ever thus, that we are governed by ordinary people, doing their best. Mostly decent people who share our flaws, who have some good days and some bad. That’s why we need transparency about how decisions are made in government, especially when it comes
to spending vast amounts of taxpayer money. And it’s why we have rules, because people, human beings, left to their own devices, get things wrong. From the government in Westminster, to Harrogate Borough Council to the Parish Council in Handforth, politicians rise to their relative level of incompetence. We have to keep an eye on them or they will misbehave. Time to send in Jackie!

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Read More: 

• Strayside Sunday: It’s time to give praise where praise is due
• Andrew Jones MP calls for debate on stricken conference sector