General

• Additional Work is at Contracted Rate

• In the building industry it is normal for work to be needed to be done by contractors after the expiry of the original contract. Recently, a case came to court in which a company that had obtained work under tender for Brunel University continued to...

• Business Property Relief - More Traps for the Unwary

• Most business people know that for family businesses there are generous Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs, which generally operate to make assets used in the business exempt or partially exempt from IHT. The reliefs take various forms, but are collectively known...

• Collecting Your Debts - a Brief Guide

• If a business cannot recover a debt from a customer after the normal credit control procedures are exhausted then it will need to consider taking further action to recover the sum due. Mediation with the debtor, involving negotiation through a third party,...

• Company Formation Checklist

• You may have come across advertisements which make forming a company sound very easy, but before you go ahead there are some serious issues to think through. If you have decided that a company is the best vehicle for your new venture then here is a...

• Considering Outsourcing

• These days more and more processes are being outsourced (run by external contractors under a service agreement) by more and more businesses. It is particularly common to outsource IT functions and telephone call management. Outsourcing can offer many...

• Contractors Are Your Responsibility

• A handbook produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outlines the responsibilities of both the contractor and the client in situations in which work is carried out by contractors rather then employees. It does not apply to circumstances in which...

• Directors Who Compete Face Court Wrath

• The courts have again shown that they will crack down on directors who put their own interests before their fiduciary duties as directors of the company, to the extent of causing it detriment. In the case of British Midland Tool Ltd. v Midland...

• Directors' Duties Under the 2006 Companies Act

• The Companies Act 2006 was designed to modernise British company law, making it fit for purpose for the 21 st Century. In particular, there are several changes which affect directors. As of 1 October 2007, the duties of directors are, for the...

• Email Received is Document Delivered

• A recent case in the Commercial Court has confirmed that the receipt of an email will be taken as delivery of the email even if it is not opened and read. Furthermore, delivery will be regarded as valid even if the email address is no longer used, if it has...

• Email and Copyright

• Copyright is a right which exists without any specific steps having to be taken. It applies whenever there is a work created which contains original skill or labour. It applies to written material and that includes email, as a recent High Court ruling has...

• Employee Fraud

• Fraud is estimated to cost the UK economy between 13 billion and 16 billion a year and fraud by employees accounts for sixty per cent of all frauds committed against business. In a study by Leicester University, over seventy per cent of employees admitted...

• Employee Fraud Update

• Employee fraud continues to rise -however, the Fraud Act 2006, convictions for fraud are more easily obtained than they were under the predecessor legislation. Under the old legislation, obtaining a conviction for fraud was difficult and depended on...

• Financial Fraud - What Not to Do!

• With recent surveys showing that instances of employee fraud are still on the increase, and HMRC showing regrettable lack of ability to safeguard personal data, eliminating poor security practices which make fraud easier is becoming even more important. ...

• How To Do Strategic Review

• Most businesses have some sort of business plan, even if it is only or a few lines on one sheet of paper. Larger businesses may have a formal business plan, which charts out the expected development of the business over the next few years in a systematic and...

• Intellectual Property: Who Owns It

• One of the biggest sources of disputes in industries based on innovation is a difference of opinion about who owns the intellectual property (IP) created in terms of designs, software, processes and systems. This is a general guide for businesses to the ...

• Is Your Website Disability-Friendly?

• The British Standards Institution has published (at 30) new guidance on making sure that your website is disability-friendly. Under the Disability Discrimination Act , it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by...

• It Wasn't in the Contract

• A common problem in contract disputes is that matters that create disagreement are sometimes not referred to specifically in the contract. However, as well as the express terms of a contract, there are also terms that are implied that is, they apply without...

• Letters of Intent - Getting Them Right

• What Is a Letter of Intent? Letters of intent, commonly referred to as heads of agreement , are used to indicate the terms under which two or more people intend to enter into a contractual relationship when doing business together. The term ...

• Loan Guarantee Scheme - How it Works

• 1 December 2005 saw a relaxation of the rules for qualification for the Government s Small Firm Loan Guarantee scheme (SFLG), aimed at giving further assistance to small- and medium-sized firms in overcoming obstacles to obtaining finance. To qualify for...

• Money Laundering Regulations

• Money laundering is the process by which criminals turn their 'dirty' income which is usually earned in cash into 'clean' money, by undertaking transactions which hide the original source of the cash and/or turn the cash into 'legitimate assets'. ...

• New Contract, New Danger

• Every business needs customers, but every customer, especially a new one, represents a risk to your business. It is a very serious issue but there are many things you can do to make sure that you increase your chances of getting paid. Clearly, the...

• Outsourcing the Processing of Personal Information - Guidance

• The Information Commissioner s Office has issued a good practice note giving guidance on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when you outsource the processing of personal information, such as your payroll function or customer mailing...

• Real Estate Investment Trusts

• The Government recently published its draft legislation on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which will be companies listed on the stock exchange which carry out a qualifying property letting business . Already, in his latest budget, the Chancellor has...

• Remedies for Breach of Contract

• Having the right contract is always a good idea, but no matter how much protection it offers, no contract can prevent a breach of contract by the other party. If you enter into a contract and it is breached, there are several possible remedies available to...

• Retirement Planning and Your Business

• It is arguable that the whole point of any business should be to enable the owners to retire when they want and with the lifestyle they want on retirement. Of course, enjoying it as you go along is a good idea too, but retirement comes to most of us...

• WEEE Regulations - Take Back Scheme

• Since 1 April 2007, producers of electrical goods have been required to mark them in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006. The appropriate mark, which features a crossed out wheelie bin, must be affixed...

• Your Home Office - The Legalities

• If you run your own business, working from home, there are legal ramifications which need to be considered. There are few regulations that apply to 'normal' businesses that do not apply to 'home' businesses: you are not exempt just because you operate...