National firm Addleshaw Goddard has launched a television-style service over the Internet, providing clients with employment law news and training programmes.

Called the Employment Channel, the service broadcasts news programmes targeted at human resources managers and in-house lawyers, providing them with up-to-date information as well as interviews and comment on employment news, case law and legislation.

The interviews will be with partners and barristers the firm regularly instructs.

The service also broadcasts training programmes for line managers, covering aspects of the management of employment relations and how to handle issues such as disciplinary matters and stress at work.

Each news programme will typically last between five to six minutes, while the training programmes will be around ten minutes long.

The project, which took 14 months to put in place, is the brainchild of the national firm's head of employment training, Joe Glavina.

He told the Gazette that the idea for the service came to him when he was giving on-site training workshops to clients.

'They said that they just did not have time to read all the journals and newsletters they get sent, and this got me thinking about different ways of delivering training,' he said.

Mr Glavina added that the firm had made a significant investment in the service, particularly in IT and equipment, to make it as professional as possible and was looking for it to become profitable in its own right.

'There is huge interest internally and from clients we are showing the service to, not just in employment but in other areas of the business as well,' he said.

Mr Glavina and two colleagues will present the programmes, having received training from a former BBC newsreader.

Subscriptions for the first year start at 2,500 for either of the news or training programmes and 5,000 for the full package.

Subscribers are alerted to new programmes by an e-mail containing a hypertext link which connects them to the channel.

News alerts are saved for up to three months, while training programmes are kept indefinitely, allowing clients to choose when to watch.

The broadcasts are transmitted by streaming media from a specialist host server and users connect via their own Internet connection.

The service was launched after a trial by Vertex, the business process outsourcing company and Addleshaw Goddard client.

The company's human resources director, Hilary Campbell, said she found the service an effective means to keep up to speed on employment issues and to train staff.

'We see this as a cost-effective development that will enhance our ability to improve our training in this crucial management area,' she said.

Philip Hoult