Tuesday May 15, 2012 at 9:08am
The failure of Greece to form a government following elections has led to many believing that a Greek default and exit from the Eurozone is now more likely than not. If this happens, then it is probable that other countries in difficulty, such as Portugal, Italy and Spain, will soon follow, and possibly other countries too. If you trade with any of these countries, then you should now be putting plans into effect to protect your business and minimise your exposure. What a Euro default will look ....
(read more...)Friday May 4, 2012 at 7:30pm
We hear plenty about celebrity pre-nuptial agreements in the media. Whilst I’m not about to discuss the merits or otherwise of those, I do think there is plenty of merit in what could be called a business ‘pre-nup’. What I’m referring to is a shareholders’ agreement. A shareholders’ agreement is an agreement between all or some of the members of a limited company. In such an agreement the shareholders can deal with issues which either aren’t covered by t....
(read more...)Thursday April 26, 2012 at 11:36am
New and significant changes to the Licensing Act 2003 came into force on 25 April 2012, as a result of implementation of some parts of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The remainder, including Early Morning Alcohol Restriction Orders, the Late Night Levy, and the power for licensing authorities to set their own fees, are likely to come into force in the autumn 2012 or spring 2013, as a major redrafting of the Statutory Guidance is required. The chang....
(read more...)Friday April 20, 2012 at 9:56am
Working out time periods in legal documents can be tricky. We have seen this highlighted very publicly in the case of Abu Qatada where there is currently some doubt as to whether the Home Secretary acted a day too soon to avoid a legitimate appeal being lodged. It may be some time before a ruling is given, but the consequence if Theresa May got it wrong by just one day is a potential delay of several months – not to mention the adverse publicity for the government. It is just as important ....
(read more...)Thursday April 19, 2012 at 9:12am
Running a business is stressful; there’s no doubt about that. But new research from business insurer Hiscox suggests that, in spite of increased physical and mental stress, UK SMEs are determined and up for new challenges.According to their SME Health Check research commissioned amongst 502 business leaders in businesses with up to 249 employees, 45% were more stressed than a year ago and 77% reported suffering ailments like lack of energy, headaches and anxiety. That’s the bad news.....
(read more...)Wednesday April 4, 2012 at 9:25am
I saw an article recently which made interesting reading. It compared the length of the terms and conditions on a number of well-known websites with works of Shakespeare. PayPal came out top of the survey beating Hamlet with 36,275 words compared to 30,066. That was well ahead of the next contender, Apple iTunes with 19,972 words as against Macbeth with 18,110. That’s quite a bit of reading when all you want to do is to make a quick purchase. OK, I was exaggerating in the title by referrin....
(read more...)Tuesday April 3, 2012 at 11:50am
Since the Licensing Act 2003 came into force in 2005 there have been a number of occasions when certain police forces have closed down licensed premises with immediate effect where they consider that they are operating in breach of the conditions on their Premises Licences. Often the breaches are trivial. Examples have included CCTV systems not fully functioning, CCTV tapes not kept for the required period, a copy of the Premises Licence displayed instead of the original, and so on.
But do the....
(read more...)Friday March 30, 2012 at 9:12am
As a solicitor who defends directors when they get into problems with liquidators, fellow directors and shareholders, suppliers and customers, as well as government bodies, I am constantly struck about how most of these problems could have been avoided if directors hadn’t made a few basic mistakes. So here’s my list of 6 mistakes that I’ve seen since the beginning of the year that have led to real problems, heartache and unforeseen expense for my director clients.
Going in....
(read more...)Wednesday March 28, 2012 at 10:00am
When starting a new business the legal aspects are often the ones that get forgotten, or at best sorted out with reluctance. As your business grows and becomes more successful the risks involved can become greater. Still, worrying about the legal side of things may not take number one priority. I’ve put together these tips for small business owners, they cover the essentials you should consider from a legal perspective and will hopefully keep you out of the hands of my dispute manage....
(read more...)Tuesday March 20, 2012 at 9:57am
New research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - The $4.2 Trillion Opportunity: The Internet Economy in the G-20 - highlights the importance of web based businesses to the UK economy and contains some surprising details. Their latest study showed that in 2010, the internet economy in the U.K. accounted for the highest percentage of national GDP of all the G20 economies. The internet contributed 8.3% of the UK economy and was worth £121bn in 2010, making it bigger than the heal....
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