A new team providing specialist legal advice to holiday and home parks across the region has been launched today by a South West law firm.
Stephens Scown, which has offices in Exeter, Truro and St Austell, has decided to pool all its expertise across the company into one group of lawyers dedicated to servicing the needs of this sector of the Westcountry’s tourism industry.
The firm is a member of the British Holiday & Home Park Association (BH&HPA) and amongst very few law firms in the South West to have a dedicated Holiday Parks Team.
Some of the new team members took part in a photo opportunity at Lady’s Mile Holiday Park in Dawlish to mark the announcement this week. The group’s leader Richard Baker was joined by fellow lawyers Ian Newcombe and Simon Trahair-Davies and client relationship manager, Mandy Reynolds (all pictured).
Commenting on the launch, Richard Baker, partner at Stephens Scown said there are many legal issues facing this sector of the region’s tourism industry, “We know tourism has played a key role in the local economy for years and this brings with it a wider and more diverse range of legal requirements than almost any other sector, from multi-million pound deals to the employment of seasonal workers.”
The firm will offer both business and personal legal advice through the new initiative including drafting and reviewing commercial contracts, debt recovery, disputes
and litigation, employment law, family and relationships, immigration, property and planning, trusts, wills and estate management.
Richard added, “Legal issues have become a relatively small, but significant area of the business for holiday park owners. For example, they might be dealing with compliance of site licences, health and safety or environmental issues, looking at renewable energy opportunities, organising events or dealing with general planning issues for the development or change of use on-site.”
Alf Jeffrey, owner of Lady’s Mile in Dawlish is a client of Stephens Scown. He said, “Holiday parks are busy places, particularly during the summer, and we don’t have much time to think of all the legal ramifications of running the business. I’ve been a happy client of Stephens Scown for a number of years and I think it’s a great idea to have one team that really understands the issues we face and can help us.”
Richard said Stephens Scown has built a long association and wealth of experience, “We’ve got a good reputation for legal advice in the tourism and rural sectors, especially where farmers or landowners and farmers have diversified into holiday parks. The team understands the marketplace well and is delighted to be offering a special service that can deal with all our clients needs in the future.”
