Blacks Solicitors supports Talk Direct Leeds to save more than 20 jobs in portfolio disposal

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Blacks Solicitors advised retail and telecommunications provider, Talk Direct Leeds Ltd, on a portfolio disposal which has, in turn, saved 25 jobs locally.

Blacks Solicitors advised retail and telecommunications provider, Talk Direct Leeds Ltd, on a portfolio disposal which has, in turn, saved 25 jobs locally.

Previously one of the largest O2 franchises, Talk Direct Leeds operated eight successful telecommunications retail stores and one office in Yorkshire until the portfolio disposal was completed earlier this summer. The transfer of the portfolio began after the 20 year-strong relationship between Talk Direct Leeds Ltd and O2 was terminated following a change in strategy that saw all O2 stores become company-owned outlets.

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Within eight weeks, all eight stores and one office in the franchise needed to be disposed of, with only four stores needing to be handed back to O2. This involved either transferring stores and all employees or closing each Talk Direct Leeds store, resulting in the redundancy of employees.

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With the support of Lucy Storey, Associate Solicitor, Scarlett Fox, Senior Paralegal, and Chartered Legal Executives, Michelle Eyre and Clare Castillo, at Blacks Solicitors, all disposals were successfully completed within the deadline. In total, 43 people were made redundant and 25 jobs were consequently saved by the successful transfer of employees back to some O2 stores. Linda Jones, previously the Managing Director at Talk Direct, also assisted the remaining employees in finding alternative employment.

Speaking about advising on this deal, Lucy Storey, Associate Solicitor in the Real Estate team at Blacks Solicitors, commented: “It’s been a pleasure to support Linda and the team at Talk Direct to ensure a successful portfolio disposal. Our in-depth knowledge of the client was invaluable, providing us with a full understanding of the business and pressures.”

Linda Jones, previous Managing Director at Talk Direct, also added: “The Real Estate team at Blacks Solicitors has been fantastic in supporting this disposal within the short deadline. Our longstanding relationship with Luke Patel, Andrew Morgan and the Real Estate team has been incredibly important, giving us confidence in Blacks as trusted advisers on this difficult matter. I am delighted to have prevented 25 employees from unemployment, many of which have TUPEd to O2, but others I have assisted in securing alternative employment.

“I have always attended the regular HR seminars and webinars hosted by Paul Kelly, Head of Employment at Blacks Solicitors, which have been particularly helpful in managing and coordinating this.”

The 28 strong Real Estate team at Blacks Solicitors has vast expertise in supporting all aspects of real estate work. In the last financial year, the team worked with more than 400 new clients and dealt with more than 600 new legal matters.

The Real Estate team supports developers, investors, landlords and occupiers across the UK with specialist knowledge in residential development, energy, commercial development, holiday and home parks, banking and property finance, telecoms, property litigation, planning, and leasehold enfranchisement.

For more information on Blacks’ Real Estate services, please visit: www.lawblacks.com/business/real-estate/

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