Thompsons Solicitors, formerly Robin Thompson & Partners, is a large firm of solicitors founded in 1921 with longstanding links to the trade union movement. It is 45th on the list of largest United Kingdom-based law firms. It specialises in personal injury claims and employment law, and only acts for claimants. [1]
The Black Solicitors Network's Diversity League Table in 2009 found the firm had the largest proportion of women and lawyers from an ethnic minority background of the top 100 firms in the UK. [2] It moved its Birmingham offices to Embassy House in Church Street in April 2017. [3]
Numerous Labour Party politicians have worked for the firm, including Mick Antoniw, Jo Stevens, Vicky Phillips, Vaughan Gething, Rob Marris and Andy McDonald. Lord John Monks is a non executive director of the firm.
It has been involved in many leading cases, especially in relation to UK labour law, including Williams v Compair Maxam Ltd and personal injuries. In the case of Ian Paterson it secured compensation totalling £1,987,000 for 89 NHS patients treated by Mr Paterson at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and is acting for 350 patients treated privately at Spire Healthcare. [4]
It is often a participant in Workers' Memorial Day ceremonies in the UK. [5]
In September 2019 Thompsons' staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, following the offer of a below-inflation 2% pay rise. [6] 89% voted Yes, on a 72 per cent turn out. GMB union sources told the Morning Star that members had consistently accepted below inflation pay deals in the past but were angered this year as the firm's accounts had shown significant profits.
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's largest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a handled traffic of 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). In 2019 it was ranked the UKs 7th busiest port.
In the United Kingdom, junior doctors are qualified medical practitioners working whilst engaged in postgraduate training. The period of being a junior doctor starts when they qualify as a medical practitioner following graduation with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree and start the UK Foundation Programme. It culminates in a post as a consultant, a general practitioner (GP), or some other non-training post, such as a specialty doctor or associate specialist post.
Capita plc is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales.
The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from general taxation, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal English residents and residents from other regions of the UK, with most services free at the point of use for most people. The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the National Health Service in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.
Care UK is a provider of residential care for older people. They operate more than 150 homes offering residential care, dementia care, and nursing care. The company formerly also operated a wider range of healthcare services until 2019 when these were split off to Practice Plus Group, private-equity firm Bridgepoint Group retaining ultimate control over both companies.
Spire Healthcare Group plc is the second-largest provider of private healthcare in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Francis Thomas Maguire PHB, LLB, S.A., SSC, NP. was a Scottish lawyer, joint managing partner of personal injury law firm, Thompsons Solicitors, a solicitor advocate and a campaigner for the victims of injustice.
Andrew Joseph McDonald is a British politician and solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough since 2012. A member of the Labour Party, he sat as an independent MP from October 2023 to March 2024 after being placed under "precautionary suspension" for a period of three months, pending an investigation from the Party whip. McDonald had the Labour whip reinstated on 11 March 2024.
Simon Laurence Stevens, Baron Stevens of Birmingham is Chair of Cancer Research UK and an independent member of the House of Lords. He served as the eighth Chief Executive of NHS England from 2014 to 2021.
Patrick McGuire is a Scottish solicitor and solicitor advocate. He is a partner with personal injury law firm Thompsons Solicitors Scotland.
Rebecca Roseanne Long-Bailey is a British politician and a solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, Long-Bailey served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2020.
The immigration health surcharge was introduced by the Cameron–Clegg coalition by the Immigration Order 2015, made under the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014, to deal with the issue of medical tourism involving the NHS in England. Once the surcharge is paid people are entitled to use the NHS in a similar way to UK residents.
United Voices of the World (UVW) is an independent grassroots trade union, established in London in 2014.
William Henry Thompson (1885–1947) was an English radical lawyer closely involved with trade unions, who founded Thompsons Solicitors. From the 1920s he was associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He was married to Joan Beauchamp, a prominent suffragette.
Since late 2021, the prices for many essential goods in the United Kingdom began increasing faster than household incomes, resulting in a fall in real incomes. This is caused in part by a rise in inflation in both the UK and the world in general, as well as the economic impact of issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Brexit. While all in the UK are affected by rising prices, it most substantially affects low-income persons. The British government has responded in various ways such as grants, tax rebates, and subsidies to electricity and gas suppliers.
Since May–June 2022, a series of labour strikes and industrial disputes have occurred in various industries of the United Kingdom's economy as workers walked out over pay and conditions. The strikes took place with rising inflation, and demands for pay increases that would keep pace with this inflation.
The 2022–2023 National Health Service (NHS) strikes are several ongoing industrial disputes in the publicly funded health services of the United Kingdom.
Events of the year 2023 in England.