Howells was recently delighted to have the honour of sponsoring the fourth annual Future Entrepreneur Awards to celebrate the success of some of Cardiff’s brightest young business brains.

The event, presented by the University of Glamorgan and Cardiff Vale and College, and held at Cardiff City’s Hall, hosted the great and good of Cardiff’s media and business communities.

Those walking home with this year’s awards in the higher education category were the video production company Cardinal Films, who pipped runners up Sarah Millman with her web comic Kairos to the prize and Anita Nemkyova with her self-titled fashion label.

In the further education category first prize was scooped by Pri-Pod, a project to produce specialist photography tripods for wheelchair users. The two runners up were Delicia Do Brazil and Helping Hands.

The awards were established by the University of Glamorgan in 2009 to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise among the university students and graduates in Wales. The deserving winners were the recipients of the much coveted Future Entrepreneur Award trophy along with a cheque for £1,000.

Mark Hobbs, managing partner at Howells, said: “As a firm we are delighted to support the Future Entrepreneur Awards which recognise and reward entrepreneurial spirit in today’s youth. The night was a major success we were delighted to be able to help.”

Read more about the event here.

by Tristan Lewis

Commenting on the survey released by the Nationwide Building Society today, Mark Hobbs, Managing Partner at Howells Solicitors, remains positive despite the reported fall in house prices.

Mark says, “Although there has been a fall in house prices in Wales, people are still moving and first time buyers are continuing to enter the market. Across our five south Wales offices, there has been an increase of 47% in the number of enquiries and completed transactions in November and December 2011 compared to the same months in 2011.”

This increase in activity correlates with the positive figures released in December by the Financial Services Authority and the Council of Mortgage Lenders indicating that lending to home buyers has gone up over the past few months. 

They reported that loans to first-time buyers in October increased by 14% compared to September and 19% compared to the same time last year.

Mr Hobbs continued, “There is a plethora of different opinions regarding the current state of the housing market and what might happen in 2013. Our own figures indicate that the conveyancing side of the housing market has been buoyant and the New Build market has contributed to this. Mr Hobbs explained, “We are one of the preferred conveyancers for five of the leading housebuilders in South Wales. There is certainly some optimism creeping back into this market, and it is encouraging to see an increase in potential buyers across parts of the country where the market has particularly suffered in recent years. That said, there is still a long way to go.”

by Tristan Lewis

According to a Legal Ombudsman report issued this week, 7,500 complaints were made during 2011-2012 about solicitors. Residential conveyancing, the area of law where most consumers find the need to engage solicitors, accounted for over 17% of these complaints. 

Mark Hobbs, the Managing Partner of Howells Solicitors, has reviewed the report and is of the opinion that the level of complaints could reduce if clients ask the right questions at the beginning of the transaction and make sure the conveyancer is qualified and has the resources for their specific requirements.

Mr Hobbs noted that the report specifies in some detail that the complaints seem to revolve around, but are not necessarily limited to the following issues: More...