Due to a high level of demand for our public London courses, we are pleased to announce that we will be running an Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate in London from 6th – 9th February 2012. Running from our London Branch just off The Strand, this central venue has attracted learners nationally and internationally to train with UK Mediation.

For the past few years Nottingham has been a venue where we have delivered a number of our public courses, and 2012 is no different. Having said this we have decided to move the venue to the Nottingham Conference Centre, which is easily accessible by all forms of public transport – whether you decide to commute each day or stay overnight. The reason for moving venues is because the Conference Centre is a vibrant, versatile and modern space, ideal for learning such a hand’s on skill. Aside to this all rooms are fitted with state of the art technology.

The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition has proven very useful for us over the past few years. It has allowed us to catch up with people that we have previously trained, and see how they are putting their mediation skills to good use. It is also great to see new faces that are enthusiastic about the benefits that mediation can give. If you are at the event, then please feel free to pop over to stand 6010 to chat about mediation.

Is an unresolved dispute getting in the way of your business? Are you facing the expense, delay and distraction of an impending court case? If this sounds familiar, commercial mediation could hold the key to resolving a variety of business disputes.

Is an unresolved dispute getting in the way of your business? Are you facing the expense, delay and distraction of an impending court case?

Are you a counsellor or psychotherapist who is thinking about training in mediation? If so, we have last minute availability on our forthcoming Accredited Mediation Training for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. This will be running from Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th October at our London branch.

I don’t think anyone who has had access to the news over the last few days could be unaware of the riots that have been spreading across the country in our major cities. What has caused the most shock for some people is how young some of the rioters are, and how many people seem to be getting involved. With the impact of social media and access to video clips as situations are happening, it is easy to feel that this has become an unruly mob, with no individual presence but rather a group consensus that deems acts of violence and looting to be considered o.k.

With the recent riots taking hold in some of the major cities in the Midlands, the residents of Leicester have been praised after there were “no reports of disorder in the county.” These words have come from Leicester's city centre commander, Chief Superintendent Rob Nixon, in response to the communities that are fighting back in a bid to tackle anti-social behavior.

Sometimes it is difficult to attend events when there are diary clashes within departments, and it can be extremely time consuming with the added travel. In a bid to prevent these issues, UK Mediation is now offering the popular Becoming a Mediator event as an online seminar.

We are currently looking to increase our panel of commercial and interpersonal mediators. Alternatively, if you are experienced in delivering and assessing accredited or competence based training programmes, we are looking for a number of affiliate mediation trainers.

Don't miss out on our public accredited training taking place in York in September.

We have been busy scheduling in dates for all of our 2012 courses. As ever, we have tried to make the training accessible by offering the courses at venues throughout the entire UK, as well as delivering numerous programmes at our London Branch. We will be presenting our free Becoming a Mediator event in a number of new cities, and we are also offering a variety of our established courses at the usual venues.

There has never been a better time to train as a mediator. Kenneth Clarke’s extensive cuts to the legal aid system mean that employees will no longer have routine access to legal aid when entrenched in an employment tribunal. As an alternative, Clarke has recommended the use of mediation, due to the speed and cost effectiveness that it provides. A tribunal is often expensive to both the employer and employee, and in this climate saving money is at the top of everybody’s agenda. If you can step in as a mediator and prevent these disputes from reaching formal procedures, organisations will see you as a valuable asset.

According to the 2011 CIPD survey the number of organisations using mediation has increased by 8%. This coupled with recent government plans that make mediation mandatory for divorcing and separating couples, has made mediation a genuine alternative to litigation and formal procedures.

Our publically run, externally accredited mediation training courses are filling up faster than ever before. Due to this overwhelming demand, we have added an additional course date to our 2011 training schedule. This course will take place at our Duncannon Street office in London, from Monday 26th – Thursday 29th September.

Over the past few years we have strived to make training accessible to all areas throughout the UK, by offering training courses in most of the big cities. In a bid to make our training even more accessible than ever, we want to offer 10% off our accredited mediation training in York. To take advantage of this special offer, simply book before Monday 1st August 2011, and quote the code: York0811.

We still have a few places left on the Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate in York, which is running during September. Holders of this certificate are qualified to work with a variety of interpersonal disputes including; workplace, neighbourhood and community, intergenerational conflict within families, and any dispute where interpersonal relationships need to be restored. The course runs over 4 days and is externally accredited by the Open College Network, and recognised by the Law Society. During this highly participative course, delegates are given the chance to develop mediation skills through a series of lectures, group discussions, dispute simulations and case studies, as well as learn a structured mediation framework.

Listening to the new Coldplay song this week I was reminded of another of their hits, with the significant line "And I will try to fix you". Fixing problems and people, seems to take up a large amount of many people’s time and work from day to day. A challenge that many mediators face is the urge to fix the dispute, sort out the problem and suggest or lead parties to an agreement the mediator thinks will work. We know by doing this that we lose our impartiality and step over the boundaries of our role as a facilitative mediator. So why do we struggle not to fix the problem?

Billed as the “Global City with a Local Heart”, Birmingham has slowly become an essential venue for us when delivering public training courses. It is a city that always seems to bring out the best in learners, which is partly due to the various different backgrounds that the course delegates possess. Having such a diverse group means that each learner brings a different dimension, and an alternative pool of thought as to how you are able to apply mediation skills after attending the course. People that have previously attended the Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate in Birmingham have been; individuals looking to start a career as a freelance mediator, HR professionals, Complaints Managers and solicitors, amongst many others.

Mediation to take ‘centre stage’

Personnel Today has added a new category for innovation in dispute resolution to their employment awards that will be held in November 2011. Personnel Today state that: “This award recognises efforts taken by an HR team to develop and embed a system for resolving workplace disputes, grievances and complaints.”

In keeping with our bid to offer mediation training to all parts of the UK, we are delivering our flagship mediation training programme in York during September. Having previously delivered at this venue for many years, it has become a regular date in our calendar. During this time, the course delegates have not only enjoyed the programme, but they have always found something different to do during the evenings.

1 Place Left on Manchester Training Course Due to unforeseen circumstances we have received a double cancellation on our Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate in Manchester from the 9th – 12th May.

According to the CIPD 2011 Conflict Management Survey, 46.6% of organisations do not use mediation because they feel that there is ‘not a clear business case.’ Having said this, there has been an increase in formal procedures, with 49.5% of organisations stating that disciplinary action has increased, and in 47.7% of businesses grievances have risen. Organisations are faced with the difficult task of minimising conflict, and in response to this we have created a few tools:

Following recent announcements by the government, whereby separating couples who are in dispute over child and financial issues will be referred to mediation before going to court, UK Mediation has seen a significant increase in the number of referrals for Family Mediation.

Civil and Commercial Mediation is currently experiencing considerable growth in the USA. According to Jason Downey, licensed attorney and mediator, “budgets in our court systems are slashed, cases are continued (postponed) from trial calendars, and the case load grows.” With this in mind, mediation seems to be a quicker way of resolving different types of disputes, without relying on the court system. In certain circumstances court proceedings are necessary, but for many commercial/civil disputes, such as contractual disagreements between a buyer and supplier, mediation is not only quicker, but the outcome is favourable to both parties.

Only 3 weeks until the HRD event at the Olympia in London. If you are attending, come and have a chat with us at stand 610. We have also been invited to deliver a topic taster upon the “Wider case for using mediation”, so if you’re lucky enough to be at the event on Thursday at 12.45pm, come and see how mediation could benefit your organisation.

An Italian legislative decree requiring mandatory pre-trial mediation of civil and commercial cases comes into effect on March 21st, 2011. It was introduced to try and reduce the backlog of cases that are currently slowing down court proceedings in a country that is very much focused on litigation.

After the seminar that we delivered in Newcastle last year, we have received an overwhelming number of enquiries for us to run another. This time the event will cover; potential mediation training routes, where mediation can be applied, and is rounded off with a look at the impact that current legislation is having upon mediation.

The need for family mediators is likely to increase due to the introduction of mandatory mediation for divorcing couples.

Overwhelming demand for mediation training across the UK, coupled with our desire to make training accessible to everyone, has allowed us to expand our public courses to different regions. For this reason, we have added a date in Newcastle to our training schedule for 2011.

As the demand for mediation training has increased over the past few years, more and more people from all over the country are looking to access fully accredited mediation training. We are now actively working in the Newcastle area, and are pleased to inform you that the Thistle County Hotel will host one of our Summer public training events. As this is the first course running in the area, we are offering an introductory 10% discount!

The 2011 HRD conference is just around the corner, and preparations are well underway. As well as exhibiting at this year’s event, we have been invited to deliver a presentation for the second year running. Last time we had an overwhelming number of people gathered around to watch our showcase, and this time will be no different.

Over the past 5 years, we have seen a steady increase in the number of commercial mediation cases and the number of people training in this field. For this reason, many people that have already undertaken accredited interpersonal training are now transferring their skills to the commercial arena. The driving factor behind this is that mediators want to enhance their skills set and increase earning opportunities, by broadening their offerings.

Although our offices are in Derbyshire and London, we run courses around the country to try and meet the needs of potential delegates who do not want to travel too far from home. One of our more prestigious venues, Bristol Engineers’ House, is a firm favourite with trainers and delegates for it’s ability to mix elegance and charm with an energised business atmosphere.

In order to get off on the right foot in 2011, we have developed two brand new free events. Based on feedback from past delegates that attended our Introduction to Mediation seminar, we felt it was necessary to offer events that were tailored to how people may use mediation.

The CIPD Conference is now only 1 month away! So if you have any questions about mediation, come to Stand F40 where one of our professional mediators or mediation trainers will be able to give you advice.

Earlier in the year we set out to offer mediation training to all parts of the UK, which included adding Southampton and Newcastle as new locations to our public training calendar. 2011 is going to be an even bigger year, as we have announced brand new dates for the first half of the year at various venues throughout the UK. To find your nearest training course visit www.ukmediation.net/cms/Regional_Search 

We are currently experiencing high demand from solicitors, accountants and law professionals for our Accredited Commercial Mediation training course. A contributing factor behind the increase in mediation is that solicitors are referring cases to trained mediators, when they could gain a qualification themselves and mediate between the disputing parties. They also have the power to create binding contracts, which is certainly beneficial at the end of a mediation case.

A contributing factor allowing counsellors to become exceptionally good mediators is the skills set that both disciplines demand. Many of the skills demonstrated by a counsellor on a daily basis are easily transferred to mediation. Some of the necessary skills include maintaining impartiality, communication, understanding boundaries, but above all the ability to listen and reflect is paramount.

For many individuals involved in lengthy divorce proceedings, agreeing on who owns specific assets or how the house will be split is expensive and time consuming. The natural reaction in these situations is to speak with a solicitor, but many are now taking up the option of training as mediators, offering this as an alternative service.

When the word ‘training’ arises within an organisation, there is often an element of fear, wondering whether it will be dull, boring or both. But this course certainly does not warrant that reaction.

In order to compensate individuals affected by the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has decided to appoint an independent mediator. This role is likely to act as a self sufficient entity, and will be the key to ensuring that those affected are rightfully compensated. As the mediator is ‘free to disagree with BP's position’ it should allow for reasonable and realistic agreements to be forged, as well as instilling impartiality.

As most of you are aware, the World Cup in South Africa is now underway, with a nations hopes pinned on England. With the World Cup comes an increase in sick days, as people are eager to see the crucial matches.

As June rolls around, it seems like only last month that we were welcoming in the New Year. Having said this, it is only a month until we run our first ever course in Southampton. Our Free Introduction to Mediation programme will be running on the 2nd July, so if you were looking at dipping your toe in the water of mediation, then this is the perfect opportunity. To book your place, visit the training section of our website and complete the booking form.

Conflict between neighbours can arise due to over hanging trees, building work or access disputes, which can damage longstanding friendships. We can resolve your conflict for just £25 per party, if you are able to travel to our head office. Find out more information about our Neighbourhood Mediation initiative.

Due to overwhelming demand for places, we had to add an extra course date to our London calendar for 2010. Places on this course are now filling fast and we are beginning to finalise numbers for the Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate from the 26th-29th April. As an avid reader of our news pages, we can offer you a £95 discount on the course, which could be spent on theatre tickets or a couple of meals during the course.

There are numerous reasons why commercial mediation is slowly becoming extremely popular. The first of which is that ongoing relationships can avoid being tarnish or ruined, because mediation is effectively employed to reach agreements, rather than dwell upon who was in the wrong. When compared to typical judicial terms, where everything needs to be proven, mediation simply relies on the willingness of participants and creates an ideal environment for both parties to muster a mutual agreement.

According to an NHS survey “Stress, depression and mental health problems in the workplace are costing employers billions of pounds in lost productivity.” This can range from having inadequate equipment, to being set tight and unrealistic deadlines.

 Due to incredibly high demand, we have scheduled an additional Mediation Practitioner's Certificate programme in London. The dates of the course will be 26th - 29th April 2010 and the venue will be the very popular Fleet Street Meeting Rooms.

 If one of your New Years resolutions was to undertake some exciting training or embark on a whole new career, then 2010 could be the year you qualify as a mediator!

 Nearly four in 10 (39%) HR professionals blamed the downfall in relationships between managers and workers as being the main reason grievances were lodged last year, a survey by law firm Speechly Bircham and King’s College London found. This compares to just 1% in 2008.

Due to overwhelming demand for mediation training throughout the UK, we recently expanded our courses over the border into Scotland. The first Interpersonal Mediation Practitioner’s Certificate we plan to run is taking place at the Teacher Building, which is an historic former whiskey house located in the heart of Glasgow, and is running from the 19th-22nd April 2010.

As a qualified solicitor, mediation may be beneficial to your continuing personal development, and provide you with an alternative framework for resolving a whole host of disputes. With particular reference to family disputes and divorces, mediation can be employed between couples to result in an amicable settlement. The effects on children during a separation can be difficult, but a mutual and respectful split will minimise the impact.

Due to extremely high demand for our Mediation Practitioner's Certificate course in London (8th - 11th March 2010) we have now added additional dates to accommodate those of you wishing to undertake this qualification within the near future.

Hedge disputes costing £160,000 and toxic workplace disputes -  read about  the real cost to the arguing parties and the courts system.

Family breakdown can be costly in many ways. It can cause financial hardship, lead to acrimonious court battles, and have a lasting effect on the emotional wellbeing of any children involved. But a good family mediator could make all the difference and can often help warring couples sort out their problems without ending up in court.

From time to time neighbours can become locked into conflict for a whole host of reasons. These can range from hedge boundary disputes, to disagreements over noise and can seriously diminish long standing relationships that have taken years to establish. This type of mediation would also be beneficial for divorcing couples, as it will encourage an amicable separation.

First of all, we would like to say a massive thank you if you visited our stand at the 2009 CIPD Conference in Manchester. It was a pleasure to talk with a plethora of old faces as well as chatting to a whole host of new ones about all things mediation. For the people that we spoke to and scanned, we hope that you have received the information requested, and are looking for ways to introduce mediation into your existing practises, as a means of workplace dispute resolution.

A new survey by the CIM (Chartered Institute of Management) has highlighted the effect that a "bad boss" can have on your working life by reporting on the numbers of people who have, or would consider, quitting because of this.

A new survey conducted by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) has found that productivity in the UK is being seriously affected due to employees suffering from stress caused in and outside work.

We have undergone a period of extensive change and updates to our existing courses and introduced many new ones. To support these changes, UK Mediation are now pleased to introduce a brand new full prospectus which can guide you through your training from start to finish. A new website will be live from the beginning of December and we aim to help you navigate your way through all our services easily and quickly.

We understand that our customers like a well planned course and we strive to organise things well in advance. With some of our more popular courses, this can mean planning the finer details many months before it takes place. To say thank you for helping us by booking your place early, we are offering a 5% early-booking discount for the Mediation Practitioner's Certificate and Commercial Mediation Training programmes. If you book your place at least two calendar months before the course start-date, then the 5% discount will apply.

Due to huge demand for places on our OCN Accredited Mediation Practitioner's Certificate course in November ( 9th - 12th), we are pleased to confirm that an additional programme has been arranged.

"More than ever before, employers need to ensure that the culture of their organisations is inclusive and that any incidents of discrimination are promptly dealt with". This was the comment made by Rachel Dineley, partner in the employment and pensions group at law firm Beachcroft.

On GMTV this week, Nigel Gray (of Roguecustomer.com) and Tommy Walsh (known from BBC's Ground Force) discussed the disputes raised by both traders and customers in the building trade and associated industries.

Today's free lunchtime seminar at Belper was well received - both by delegates and UK Mediation representatives. The seminar is a way of finding out more about mediation within an informal but informative environment. A presentation delivered by a practising mediator and mediation trainer introduces the session, which concludes with a bite to eat and opportunity for delegates to chat amongst themselves or ask questions and seek advice from our team.

We are pleased to announce that UK Mediation has now been fully approved for the NEESPR (North East England Service Provider Register).

Times Online has recently reported on the challenges that leaseholders and property management companies have when finding common ground with regards to service charges.

For those of you visiting the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) annual conference and exhibition this year, we would be pleased for you to visit us at Stand 406.

Do you have at least two years' experience as a mediator?

It is hard to believe that 370 million working days were lost last year - not through holidays or sickness, but through dealing with workplace disputes.

In April, the UK saw the implementation of the new ACAS Codes of Practice for disciplinary and grievance. This new code, however, did not affect the current legislation in Ireland.

We are now pleased to inform you that a One-Day Introduction to Mediation programme has now been scheduled for Tuesday 15th September 2009. Find out more about the programme, or contact us for more details, and we will be pleased to advise you.

Further to a recent article in Guardian Weekend magazine (23rd May 2009), we are pleased to see the use of mediation being promoted as a fast, efficient and viable method of resolving neighbour disputes.

UK Mediation are celebrating 10 years of success and during our anniversary drive for continuous improvement, we have worked hard to ensure that we offer something for everyone.

... that 83% of organisations believe that mediation improves employee relationships?

22nd September 2009 - UK Mediation, Belper

Owing to an increase in our mediation cases, we are looking to increase the number of mediators listed on our Panel.

Within a few days of offering the lunchtime seminar on 18th December, places were fully booked. We have now added a years worth of dates for you to choose from so please contact us if you would like to reserve your place on any of these dates. Lunchtime seminars commence at 11.30am with welcome drinks, followed by a presentation, Q & A session, and free advice to follow with a buffet lunch. Each of the seminars will take place at UK Mediation, Belper, Derbyshire.

For some, decorating one's home with a huge quantity of lights and animated seasonal animals is fun and festive. For the neighbours, it can be a nightmare! The Independant looks at some past cases of seasonal neighbour disputes, and how they can be reolved. Read the full article.

The mention of redundancy is becoming more frequent due to the current economic climate and organisations needing to cut costs. But whilst laying-off staff is often the quickest and most obvious method of belt-tightening, there are other options to consider.

In 2009, UK Mediation will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary, and we have many plans to mark this occassion.

Congratulations to Bradford Council who have won an award for a ground-breaking scheme to tackle noisy neighbours. 

This morning on GMTV, the Apprentice runner-up, Claire Young, talks to Ben Shephard about the causes of workplace stress and how the average employee wastes two hours per week dealing with it.. See the video.

Michael Gibbons, author of the Report which led to the Employment Act 2008, will be attending a number of venues this autumn as a guest speaker.

John Gunner, previous chairman of Mediation Hertfordshire has been fundraising to help keep this valuable resource afloat, the local press reported this week.

Happy talk

A new report on workplace mediation is being delivered today by CIPD at the Annual Employment Law Conference 2008.

We are all familiar with the term "anti-social behaviour", and it certainly isn't just the younger generation who are guilty of it or that feel the outcomes of it

Research conducted by Law Firm Dundas & Wilson shows that two-thirds of employers are still shying away from mediation in the workplace. It is shocking to discover that only 36% had used mediation as a tool to resolve workplace disputes...

In December 2006, the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry invited Michael Gibbons to carry out an independent review of the 2004 statutory dispute procedures, with a view to simplifying and improving dispute resolution in the workplace.

Starting on the 19th July at Millennium Square in Leeds, and finishing in London a month later, Walk Talk is a new intiative aimed at encouraging people - from all backgrounds - to engage in conversation.

If you are a cousellor or psychotherapist, and interested in accredited mediation training, then this course is for you!

We have now scheduled a summer date for the mediation refresher one-day programme. Places will remain strictly limited, so please contact us if you would like to know more, or if you would like to book a place.

Our main accredited training programme, the Mediation Practitioner's Certificate, is usually delivered over four consecutive days.  Some individuals, due to work or family commitments, for example, find it difficult to schedule in four day's training in the same week.

Is HR ready for mediation in the workplace, and what are the problems and concerns HR professionals may have?

Whether it is the aftermath of the Gibbons Review, or the increasing mention and popularity of mediation within the workplace, commercially or within relationships, UK Mediation has noticed a record number of places being booked on their training courses during the last few months.

Companies confused and concerned over disciplinary procedures are becoming frightened of taking action against employees for fear of reprisals.

This Easter, 100,000 British holiday makers face travel disruption if BA's pilots choose strike action.

"Opportunities", the public sector publication, has today published an article by Mike Talbot, Director of UK Mediation, regarding the cost of conflict to organisations UK wide.

Eversheds, the employment specialists, have identified the eight most significant law issues for HR professionals in 2008.

Failing to follow an appropriate code of practice for workplace disputes and grievances could land employers a "big tribunal fine", according to the pending Employment Bill.

Mike Parr of Radio Newcastle has today conducted an interview with Mike Talbot, Director of UK Mediation.

Up-to-date research from Nabarro states that £33 billion per year is the cost of workplace disputes to the UK economy, and yet two-thirds of employers are failing to educate staff in early dispute resolution methods.

The pending Employment Bill is treating early dispute resolutions procedures as a priority in order to reduce the financial and administrative burden caused by the current unsatisfactory and confusing recommendations.

A survey conducted by Eurpoean law firm, Field Fisher Waterhouse, shows that dispute resolution is an "ongoing problem" with 79% of respondents claiming that disputes within their organisation "are not handled well".

A number of employment tribunals have have recently been conducting trials into mediation as a cost-cutting option for dispute resolution.

UK Mediation regularly works with housing associations across the UK, and resolving disputes between tentants and landlords, as well as neighbours, continues to be the perfect example of where mediation can really work.

Do you want to see what a typical workplace mediation looks like?