Frequently Asked Questions
Kimbells Freeth’s specialist team has worked with brewers, drinks companies, pubcos and other operators in the hospitality industry for over 25 years.
Why use Kimbells Freeth for your legal work?
Answer:
If you are active in the drinks and hospitality sector and value advice from those who truly understand the industry and the issues you face, then you can be confident that we will meet your expectations. Our team has over 25 years’ experience of working solely in the sector and will have dealt with the legal and commercial points on which you need advice many times before.
We are not just a bunch of property lawyers who dabble in the industry. Added to that, we are highly committed to building long term relationships with our clients – many of whom have used our services for a considerable time. That means that we take time to get to know you and your business concerns so you can be confident that you can leave things in our hands – leaving you free to run your business.
How do you manage quality control?
Answer:
Naturally you can take it as read that the quality of legal advice will be of a high standard – this is a requirement of our Lexcel accreditation. In terms of service delivery, we allocate an account team to work with you so that there is always someone who is up to speed with your work and a familiar voice at the end of the phone.
Our service standards dictate agreed timescales for responding to you – but the fact is we ensure our lawyers take responsibility for relationships with their clients, and we make sure we are accessible and respond quickly when you need something dealt with. And to ensure we are doing what we say we will, we ask an independent party to carry out a service review with you to give you the opportunity to feedback exactly how we are performing and whether there are any areas which need attention.
What legal services can you offer?
Answer:
Our lawyers provide a full service, dedicated to solving your operational issues, offering a unique mixture of high level strategic advice, bespoke high value transactional advice, and also volume capacity. The aim is to provide, as far as possible, a one stop shop, so that you don’t need to co-ordinate a number of advisers and you can benefit from greater economies of scale in terms of costs.
How do you structure your charges?
Answer:
We quote fixed fees wherever possible and we pride ourselves on sticking to our quotations (unless there is a very significant change in circumstances). We are, however, entirely flexible and can fit with your preferred way of working.
Some clients like to have a ‘menu’ of pre-set prices for specific types of work, in other circumstances we have worked on a conditional fee arrangement. What we do recognise is that value for money equates to more than just price. It covers strategic input, offering legal advice in a commercial context, and being proactive and responsive.
How do you report on progress of work?
Answer:
The simple answer is however you like! Some clients like a daily update email or a weekly phone call to chat about where projects are up to. Others like information on status of work, costs against budget etc prepared in a format which fits with their internal reporting procedures.
We are happy to configure information to meet your specific working style and needs. One thing we can offer is a secure extranet, where data, deeds, documents etc can be stored and accessed 24/7 by designated individuals – a popular option when managers who need to access information are frequently on the road.
What is the size of the firm?
Answer:
Kimbells Freeth is part of the Freeth Cartwright group – a national practice with offices throughout the country. This means that although most of the work is delivered from our dedicated team in Milton Keynes, we have access to a significant additional resource, both in terms of numbers and specialist expertise.
What additional benefits can you offer?
Answer:
In practical terms, being part of Freeth Cartwright, we can offer clients the opportunity to use meeting rooms on a complimentary basis in offices in various locations – particularly useful when field based teams need facilities to get together.
In addition we can provide training on legal issues – either through attending topical seminars at our network of offices or by providing briefings for in-house teams. Our industry specific web site covers numerous relevant topics which your business can use as a resource to keep on top of recent and expected legislation and its affect on the sector.
Where required, we can make introductions to other advisers in the market for property, accounting, licensing and funding requirements.
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