Member Article

Lodders’ partner is new chairman for CLA Warwickshire

Ian Flavell, a partner at Midlands law firm Lodders, has been elected as the new Chairman for the Warwickshire branch of the Country Landowners Association (CLA), which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses.

Based at Lodders’ Stratford upon Avon office, Ian is a partner in the firm’s top ranking Agriculture and Landed Estates teams and also a member of its specialist Equine Law team.

He has spent most of his professional life providing succession and tax advice to landed estates and farmers, and specialises in estate and tax planning, trusts and wills for owners and trustees of landed estates and farmers, and advises on heritage property.

Previously a member of the CLA’s taxation committee, Ian is also a member of the Agricultural Law Association, the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners (STEP) and the Solicitors for the Elderly. He is named as a specialist in the field of Agriculture & Rural Affairs by Chambers and Partners.

Commenting on the challenges faced by Warwickshire CLA members, Ian said: “Services that are taken for granted by those that live in our cities and towns are not always available to those who live and work in the countryside, and this is not acceptable in the modern day.

“For example, as someone who lives in the country I know from personal experience how poor rural broadband can be, and this government must follow up as soon as possible its promise in the Queen’s speech to provide every household with access to high-speed broadband.”

With his interest and background in succession planning, he added. “There is a lot of press speculation about tax at present, but successive governments have understood the importance of the continuation of successful and profitable rural businesses to the well-being of the countryside. Helping members understand the specific implications of the complicated tax regime to their farms, families and businesses has been an important role for the CLA for over a century, and it continues to be so.”

Lodders Solicitors LLP is an established and thriving law firm based in Stratford upon Avon, Henley in Arden and Cheltenham. The firm is recognised as a leading private client law firm, offering specialist advice to both private individuals and privately owned businesses, including its highly regarded work in the agricultural and real estate sectors. For more information, visit: www.lodders.co.uk

For more information about the CLA visit: www.cla.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lodders Solicitors LLP .