We’re really grateful for the help and advice given to our charity by law firm Charles Russell Speechlys.
The past 12 months has been a period of exciting change for Emmaus North Staffs, as we moved premises and opened two new shops. We couldn’t have done it without the kind support of the Charles Russell Speechlys team, who gave us their expertise free of charge.
How they helped
In late 2021 we decided to vacate our long-held warehouse showroom in Hanley. This gave us just six months to find Emmaus North Staffs a new home.
Despite several attempts to find a new warehouse, an offer on a premises wasn’t accepted until six weeks before we needed to vacate our existing premises.
Charles Russell Speechlys stepped in to guide us through this potentially complicated legal process. Our licences to occupy and the new lease were agreed in a smooth and timely manner, and we were proud to open our new Furniture & Home Charity Warehouse on Josiah Wedgwood St in Hanley.
In early 2022, we decided to open a second shop – leasing a 5,000 sq ft retail unit at the Potteries Centre in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent. Again, the Charles Russell Speechlys team provided excellent advice on the lease, and our Emmaus shop (on the lower-ground floor) opened on time.
Speaking about the support, our Executive Lead John Webbe said: “The team at Charles Russell Speechlys patiently guided me through exiting the existing lease and negotiated hard on our behalf for the leases for both of the new premises. We are hugely grateful as we could not have achieved all this without their assistance.”
The firm has also been working to help Emmaus communities across the UK, through their charity partnership with Emmaus UK.
You can watch a video on the Charles Russell Speechlys website here – featuring an interview with John Webbe.