Welcome to InBrief Autumn 2019

At this time of the year we focus our attention on some of the many issues affecting our rural and farming clients and there is always much to think about. The Weald of Kent Ploughing Match on 14th September will provide a great opportunity for us to catch up with our friends and clients and chat over some of the concerns that they may have for their business or which may be affecting their family. The end of a busy harvest season is always a good time to pause and take stock and think about some of the changes you might want to make over the next few months.

One area that is increasingly affecting all of us is that of rural crime and we highlight many of the different issues that the rural community and the Police are dealing with here in Kent on pages 6 and 7. The issue of fly tipping can be a very expensive one to deal with for landowners and increasingly property owners and the Police have recently highlighted the issue of baled waste.

Our employment partner Amanda Finn looks at the implications of a ruling on overtime on page 4 and on page 5 one of our newest members of the team Peter Burfoot looks at a Court of Appeal ruling on proprietary estoppel, which is leading to the sale of a family farm.

We are also delighted this month to highlight our involvement with the Taste of Kent Awards, which are organised by Produced in Kent and we look forward to finding out who the winners will be in the spring. Details of how to get involved and vote for your favourite food and drink producers are on page 10.

We welcome four new starters to the Gullands’ team across a range of our departments and you can find out more about each of them on page 12.

We hope all of our clients have had a busy and productive summer, a successful harvest and we look forward to seeing you all at some of our events taking place over the coming weeks.

John Roberts
Managing Partner