During their life-time all companies, businesses, partnerships and sole traders will have to react to personal, economic, financial and political change (or indeed anticipate it and take proactive action) as certain factors become more salient at any given point in time. Organisations that refuse to change with the times face the risk of becoming obsolete…
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If two or more people want to establish a business arrangement between them, they can choose to do so by creating a partnership rather than setting up a company. The legislation governing the establishment of partnerships is the Partnership Act 1890. Section 1 of the Act defines a partnership as ‘the relation that subsists between…
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At the beginning of February this year, the Sentencing Council’s guidelines for health and safety offences came into effect. The message they sent was clear; the regulatory authorities expect health and safety to remain a key priority for all businesses. The guidelines make it clear that persistent offenders or those who adopt a cavalier approach…
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A recent case heard before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has highlighted the grey area surrounding an employee’s right to privacy when accessing social media during company time. In this case, involving a company in Romania, an employee used a workplace messaging account to send private e-mails. This was in clear breach of…
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Do you supply consumers with credit or credit hire? Do you make use of credit facilities and credit advertising? Have you entered into a consumer credit agreement in the UK? If the answer is ‘yes’, then you are affected by the Act. PLEASE READ ON FOR WHAT THIS MEANS IN PRACTICAL TERMS. If you provide…
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Company directors should know that as well as their duties to shareholders, they also have a duty under both common and statute law to protect the interests of creditors. When this duty is not adhered to, the consequences can be severe, as a recent case illustrates. The director concerned was a director of a group…
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Mixing business and personal relationships can produce additional complications if a break-up occurs, as evidenced by the stalemate reached by a warring former couple who are at loggerheads over the future of their deadlocked business and its intellectual property (IP) rights. The ex-couple were partners in business and in life for 26 years and ran…
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In a case which underlines the need for both full and accurate disclosure of potential liabilities when selling a business, a lawyer who failed to reveal the existence of a potentially substantial negligence claim against his firm before disposing of it will receive a lesser sum for its sale, following a High Court ruling. The…
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Normally, when a building dispute arises that leads to an adjudicator making an award in favour of one party, the award is simply paid to the other party and that is that. However, sometimes things are more complicated. Recently, a company went to the High Court arguing that it should not have to pay an…
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