Cats, dogs, children and old people…

Gillian Nuttall (PR & Marketing Manager)

Thirty years ago if someone had put a cat into a dustbin (bearing in mind that cats, at least the ones in my neighbourhood) enjoy rummaging in bins, it would not have even made the newspapers.

We have all embraced social media, especially the marketing team at Ralli, and we have used it to our great advantage. Had we not had this technology, word of the cat in the bin would probably not have made it to tomorrow’s fish and chip paper.

Quite what Mary Bale was thinking of is beyond anyone’s understanding, sticking a cat in a wheelie bin should not be anyones idea of fun and I fully understand the furore surrounding this matter.

However… only yesterday a Bolton pensioner was sentenced to a prison sentence for the abuse of a young girl over an 18 month period, only a couple of weeks ago the Guardian reported a young, vulnerable 14 year old girl who had been forced into prostitution after being targeted with offerings of vodka and cigarettes, in March of this year an inquest heard of a war veteran who had died in a nursing home just ten days after moving in. It was found that most of the residents in the home (which was eventually closed down) were unkempt, dirty and left wandering around.  www.nursinghomeabuse.co.uk gives far more serious examples of elderly abuse and has acted for some truly shocking, very sad cases.

The point I make here is that we appear to be a nation of animal lovers and are utterly outraged by Mary Bale’s ridiculous act of sticking a cat in a wheelie bin. Yet what of the child abused by the pensioner, the young child prostitute, the war veteran left to die? Who cares about those vulnerable members of society? Where are the CCTV cameras then? Who Tweets that information? Hard to do in 140 characters but certainly food for thought.

Fancy footwork

As featured in the Law Society Gazette, 3th June 2010.

With just over a week until the World Cip kicks off, it seems football fever is already take a vice-hold over the legal profession. Fancying themselves as solicitor versions of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard et al (in football terms only, we stress), lawyers at Manchester firm Ralli have made an amausing video to show their support for charity Soccer Aid (which raises money for UNICEF to help children around the world) and to demonstrate their backing for England’s bid to host the 2018 tournament. Read more »

Employment tribunals delayed by huge backlog‎

Jennifer Smith (Employment Solicitor)

As featured in Crain’s Manchester Business.

Recent reports have confirmed that the Employment Tribunals Service in the North West is currently suffering such a backlog of cases that people are now being told that it will be at least 12 months before their case is heard.

There has indeed been a sharp rise in claims over recent years in various areas of employment law, but especially regarding class actions, with the most prominent escalation being in equal pay disputes, and the tribunal system is straining under the massive rise in equal pay claims. Read more »

“Just nipping out for a loaf”

“Nipping out for a loaf” will probably become one of the phrases remembered in connection with the 2010 election.    Poor Gillian, had she known the furore that was about to occur, I’m sure she would have carried on to the shops, grabbed her loaf and made her way home.  

Only last week I was accosted in St Anne’s Square here in Manchester and asked if I would speak to some reporters.   Never one to be shy at coming forward, I agreed and started to perform for the cameras.  I think they got more than they bargained for, as I basically gave my very own,  word perfect, Party Political Broadcast!   After I had finished they asked me what I did for a living and the penny dropped when I explained I was head of PR & Marketing at Ralli.    I realise that they really wanted the genuine “man on the street”  but they just happened upon me!  Read more »

From EON With Love

Phil Hitchen - Associate

Ben Hoyle, Arts Correspondent at The Times reported yesterday that EON Productions, the producer of the James Bond films, has announced that the 23rd installment in the series has been postponed indefinitely because of the financial woes of its distributor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

If you are a corporate buyer or investor you are only going to buy or invest in MGM if it makes commercial sense and you will get a return.

If a major factor in MGM income stream is the rights from the “Bond” films a buyer or investor will want to know that those rights and income stream are in place.

If there were few potential buyers or investors in the current climate the possibility of buying or investing in an MGM which doesn’t have the rights or the income from them in terms of new content is going to be a major put off.

I would be saddened if it causes any further delay with “The Hobbit” which has already been delayed due to contract/IPR disputes. Read more »