NIHF helps members zoom ahead legally through spring webinar series with McKees

The webinars will cover key legal issues currently affecting businesses in Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector: ‘Post Pandemic Staffing’ (March 8), ‘What new licensing laws mean for hoteliers’ (March 22) and ‘Overseas Workers – Immigration’ (April 5)

The sessions will be delivered by McKees managing partner Chris Ross and partner Andrea McCann who will be joined by barrister Ryan Cushley.

Chris Ross has extensive experience and expertise in running all forms of disputes including litigation, mediation and arbitration. Andrea McCann specialises in employment law and licensing law and is a recommended lawyer in The Legal 500. Over the past 25 years she has developed specialisms in employment and liquor licensing matters. Ryan Cushley is a barrister, specialising in employment law and licensing law in NI.

Stephen Meldrum, President of the NIHF, said: “The last two years have been very difficult for hoteliers, the tourism and wider hospitality sector. Brexit and the pandemic created a range of extremely challenging issues. We are now hopefully returning to more normal times and having listened to feedback from our members, the time is right to update and inform them on key industry issues.

“The Federation is delighted to be able to team up with law firm McKees to deliver a free Spring webinar series that looks at post pandemic staffing, the introduction of the new licensing laws and changes in immigration rules for overseas workers. The series kicks off on Tuesday, march 8 looking at staffing and its post pandemic ramifications. Collectively, the team at McKees has a wealth of experience in dealing with the legal issues the hospitality sector faces and their insights will undoubtedly be of great benefit to our members.”

Chris Ross, managing partner at McKees, added: “NI’s hospitality industry has been the most affected by lockdowns and restrictions which has put immense pressures on all businesses within this sector. Whilst all restrictions have now been lifted, the repercussions of the pandemic are still being felt – for example job vacancies are higher than pre Covid, creating all sorts of employment issues. We are pleased to be partnering with NIHF in this series of webinars to provide help and information on some of the key legal issues that hoteliers are currently facing.

“The licensing and employment teams at McKees have extensive experience in licencing law and employment law and have been working closely with industry clients to help them navigate through these particularly challenging times. Joining me on the panel is McKees Partner, Andrea McCann, and Barrister, Ryan Cushley, who both have decades of knowledge and expertise dealing with the issues the industry faces in these areas. I am confident that NIHF members will gain helpful insights from the webinars and we’re looking forward to delving into the topics and answering any related queries that businesses may have.”

NIHF members can register for the free Spring Webinar Series with McKees by logging on to nihf.co.uk/legalseminars

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