Commercial Client - Henriques Griffiths LLP

Commercial Client

GDPR Documenting Processing Activities Article 30 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains explicit provisions that require organisations to maintain internal records of their data processing activities. This obligation reflects the increased importance of accountability...
Guide to the Technology and Construction Court The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has issued updated guidance to assist those engaged in litigation bound for the TCC. This takes into account developments in case law and regulatory changes introduced in recent years designed to give more...
Investing in Small Businesses and Start-Ups -The EIS and SEIS SChemes Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table...
A Guide to the Agency Workers Regulations The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR) came into force on 1 October 2011. They apply to those workers who are supplied by a temporary work agency to work temporarily for and under the supervision and direction of a hirer. All temporary agency workers...
Advice on Acquisitions Deductible One common area of dispute between companies and the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is that of deductibility of expenses. One of the hottest areas of dispute is often whether an expense is a trading expense (deductible as part of the day-to-day running costs...
Age Discrimination - Life After the Abolition of the Default Retirement Age Since the abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA), it is no longer permissible for an employer to dismiss an older worker on the ground of retirement unless this can be objectively justified under the Equality Act 2010 . This does not mean that...
Age Discrimination and Retirement Since the abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) in 2011, it is not permissible for an employer to dismiss an older worker on the ground of retirement unless this can be objectively justified under the Equality Act 2010 . This does not mean that...
Assured Shorthold Tenancy Rules 2015 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Landlords with tenants who occupy their premises under assured shorthold tenancies will be affected by changes introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 , which received the Royal...
Bank Deposit Protection Rules for Businesses : Guide The levels of protection available for different investments underwritten by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS protects the deposits of small companies, which are those which meet two of three criteria: they have fewer than 50...
Bribery Act Guidance The Government provides guidance for businesses on complying with the Bribery Act 2010 , which came into force on 1 July 2011. The Act was originally scheduled to take effect in April 2011, but its implementation was delayed to allow the final version of...
Brief Guide to the Administration of Troncs The long-running series of disputes between employers in the hospitality industry and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concerning the taxation of employees’ tips and their National Insurance (NI) status seems to have been concluded by the issue of ...
Bring Your Own Device - Data Contollers' Obligations The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) requires data controllers to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal...
Business Relief - 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 have been collectively...
Buying from an Administrator - Take Care With businesses becoming insolvent in large numbers, opportunities abound to acquire assets from their administrators. However, the low prices sought for the assets are due, at least in part, to the additional risk to the purchaser. Here are some of the...
Commercial Stamp Duty Land Tax: Beginner's Guide Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a self-assessed tax. The onus is on the taxpayer to make the necessary land transaction return, calculate the tax and pay it across. This is a fundamental change. The old Stamp Duty regime taxed documents, so it was...
Companies Act 2006 Overview and Company Information The Companies Act 2006 became fully effective from October 1st 2009. It is the principal source of law relating to the conduct of companies incorporated in England and Wales. Companies House provides useful information on the Act on its website . In...
Companies Act Model Articles - Think First Since the Companies Act 2006 came into effect, the incorporation of a company has been straightforward as the Act provides an easy to use set of model articles of incorporation. However, before you rush off and buy an ‘off the shelf’...
Company Name Rules You cannot incorporate a company using any name you like. Some names are prohibited (for example, those which suggest a connection with the Government or the Crown) and names will not be allowed if they are too similar to the names of existing companies. ...
Company Disclosure Rules - The Basics The Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008 set out the the requirements as to where and when company trading names, names of directors etc. need to be shown. The Statutory Instrument implementing the changes is both short and straightforward. In...
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...
Compensation for Loss of Light Following a recent case in which a dispute regarding a property owner’s right to light was unexpectedly dealt with by the granting of an injunction against a developer, a more recent case has offered guidance on how much compensation might be payable...
Construction Act Changes On 1 October 2011, changes to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (normally called the Construction Act) came into force. These apply to all relevant contracts entered into from that date. The changes include: The removal of the...
Construction Industry VAT Changes Ahead Businesses in the construction industry are reminded that on 1 October 2020 the new VAT domestic reverse charge will come into force. This is being introduced as an anti-fraud measure and will see a major change in accounting for VAT on some construction...
Consumer Protection Regulations Businesses that deal with the public are reminded that legislation will come into effect soon to give consumers better protection under the law than they currently have. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 received the Royal Assent on 26 March and became law on...
Consumer Rights Update Businesses that deal with members of the public are reminded that the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which received the Royal Assent on 26 March, becomes law on 1 October 2015. The Act replaces a number of laws with regard to business-to-consumer transactions,...
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...
Cookie Law The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 require consent to be obtained for the use of cookies and similar technologies for storing information, and accessing information stored, on a user’s...
Data Protection Guidance for Landlords The Information Commissioner's best practice guide for landlords - written to to assist them in complying with the Data Protection Act can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner’s website. The guide includes a checklist which is intended...
Data Protection Policies and Personal Devices A recent YouGov survey showed that 47 per cent of all UK employees now use their smartphone, tablet PC or other portable device for work purposes and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has now issued a warning that organisations are failing to...
Dealing With Breach of Patent When you discover that a business has breached your patent, what should you do? The answer to this question has two elements. The first is based on what you can do in law and the second is based on business strategy. Firstly, before picking a fight with...
Dealing With Subject Access Requests Many businesses regard the Data Protection Act 1998 as something that merely requires a lot of form filling and the payment of fees, but there is a lot more to it than that. The purpose of the Act is to protect a person's right to privacy with regard...
Dealing with Employee Absence Employee absences can be both costly and disruptive. It is advisable to have systems in place to measure and analyse these costs so that you can identify problem areas. Are there patterns of absence? Does a particular department have a below average record?...
Direct Marketing Via E-mail - Regulations UK law relating to the sending of unsolicited direct marketing material by electronic means are based on the EC Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications . A major aim of the Directive was to cut down on the amount of ‘spam’ that...
Drug Policy - Recognising the Signs and What to Do Substance abuse amongst staff can affect all areas of employment, whether it be a decrease in productivity, increased absenteeism or the increased likelihood of accidents and injuries. The failure to identify and deal with a problem is an unnecessary risk...
E-Commerce Law - Compliance Guide The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations introduced specific legislation to underpin e-commerce. If your business has an Internet presence then you need to make sure that you are not falling foul of these new rules. The Regulations do not just...
Employed or Self-Employed? Whether you are employed or self-employed makes a substantial difference to how you are taxed and the income tax liabilities of an employed person can be very different from those of a self-employed person with similar levels of gross income. The National...
Employee Fraud - Fraud Act 2006 Employee fraud continues to rise as the recession continues to bite - however, the Fraud Act 2006 provisions make it easier to obtain convictions for fraud a than was possible under the predecessor legislation. Under the Act, fraud offences are: ...
Employee Fraud: Warning Signs Employee fraud was a boom area even before the recession started. ‘Targeted’ frauds, often backed by organised criminals, are also becoming more common. In these cases, an employee (often using a stolen identity) is ‘planted’ in...
Enforcing Copyright - The Basics Copyright is a right that exists as soon as you create the copyright material. You do not have to apply for it. There are some exceptions to copyright, but unless one of these applies, anyone else using your material without your permission is infringing...
Entrepreneur's Relief - the Basics From 6 April 2008 disposals of qualifying businesses and business assets have been eligible for Entrepreneurs’ Relief. In simple terms, it allows business owners to reduce their Capital Gains Tax liability to the equivalent of 10 per cent of the...
Failing to Prevent Bribery - Are You at Risk? The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. It created a new offence which can be committed by a commercial organisation if it fails to prevent persons associated with it from committing bribery on its behalf. A business can provide a defence by...
False Claims on a CV - What to Do According to research by the Risk Advisory Group, more than half of CVs submitted by job applicants contain lies or inaccuracies. These range from gaps in employment history to false claims regarding qualifications and failure to mention fraud committed...
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....
Freedom of Information - What it Means in Practice The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 came fully into force on 1 January 2005 and it has serious implications for businesses doing business with the public sector. The reason for this is that because one of the aims of the Act is to engender greater...
GDPR General Principles The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies detailed provisions to ensure that personal data – i.e. any data relating to an identifiable person – is properly processed and kept secure, and imposes a significant compliance regime on...
GDPR Guidance If you have not yet taken steps to ensure your business complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ), the time to start is now: it came into force, on 25 May 2018, from which date the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) will start...
Get the Christmas Party Right It’s that time of year again. Love them or hate them, the invitations to office Christmas parties will be arriving soon if they haven’t already. For employers, parties pose a particular threat. Here are some tips on making sure your...
Guide to IHT and Small Business Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable on a deceased person’s estate (exclusing their principal private residence for whaih an extra allowance is available) at 40 per cent above £325,000 (2014/15) – the current nil rate band. However,...
Health and Safety - Working With Display Screen Equipment Many workers spend a large part of their day looking at a computer screen, laptop or touch screen. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 specifically deal with the health and safety issues associated with regularly working with...
How to Reclaim Foreign VAT It is commonly thought that within the EU, recovering VAT on expenditure made whilst abroad is merely a matter of calculating the VAT at the applicable rate and claiming it via your VAT return. However, the right to recover VAT on a VAT return is limited to...
ICO 'Must Do' Data Protection Guide The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published a guide to protecting personal data , ' which it describes as outlining the procedures organisations must follow to ensure data security. In the wake of a fine of £200,000...
Insolvency Changes Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Changes to the legislation on insolvency contained in the recently enacted Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 may affect directors of companies that...
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...
Landlords - Dealing With Pre-Pack Tenants Businesses in financial difficulties are increasingly seeking ways of ridding themselves of extra costs and, in many cases, premises let in more promising economic times are viewed as a substantial and avoidable liability, especially for businesses which...
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...
Limited Liability Partnerships: Procedures and Guide Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) were first introduced in April 2001 and are becoming an increasingly popular way of structuring a business, especially with professional practices. The big advantage of the LLP is that it allows the liability of...
Making Retention of Title Work Prior to the recession, Retention of Title (RoT) clauses probably received less attention than they should have from many businesses. However, RoT is now back in the spotlight. An effective RoT clause will normally allow you to recover the goods you have...
Making Training Costs Tax Deductible Most business owners and managers think that training costs aimed at improving skills or business profits automatically qualify for tax relief, but that is not necessarily the case. The complexities of the UK tax system mean that the availability of tax...
Making Waivers of Dividends Work When a company is set up, it is common to divide the shares in it in approximately equal proportions amongst the subscribers. Whether or not this proves to be the most effective way to split them in the long run depends on a variety of factors, of which the...
Mixed Premises - Legal Status Living ‘above the shop’ is quite common in the small business sector and where the premises are rented, the lease will cover both the business and residential parts of the property. However, the statutory basis for repossession is quite different...
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...
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...
Nuisance Calls and Texts Law Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Since 6 April 2015, changes to the law have given the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) enhanced powers to take action against companies making nuisance marketing...
Options and Pre-emption Rights Prospective purchasers and vendors of land frequently wish to ‘lock in’ the other party to the deal and the means by which this is done will normally involve the prospective vendor either giving the prospective purchaser an option to purchase the...
Outsourcing - Nine Steps to Success 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...
Outsourcing the Processing of Personal Information - Guidance The Information Commissioner’s Office offers guidance for smaller businesses 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...
Patents - The Basics Some people may think that once you have obtained patent protection for your product, you need do nothing further to protect your rights against infringement or to claim damages from an infringer. However, in many jurisdictions, merely being the owner of a...
Pensions Auto-Enrolment - Basics The Pensions Act 2008 introduced a requirement for employers to automatically enrol certain workers into a pension scheme, unless they are already members of a qualifying scheme. Auto-enrolment is being introduced in gradual stages, with the date...
Relaxed Change of Use Regulations Now in Force Changes to planning law that came into effect on 15 April 2015 will make it easier for several types of business to change the use of their premises as the rules that apply to the grant of planning permission for change of use between different use classes...
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...
Removing or Modifying Covenants Over Land Covenants over property are a potential nightmare for developers but fortunately there are circumstances in which a covenant can be removed. If the beneficiaries of the covenant for which removal is sought cannot be persuaded by...
Rent Arrears Protocol Where a landlord wishes to gain possession of a property occupied by a tenant under a secure tenancy, where possession is sought on the grounds of arrears of rent. specific procedures must be followed which do not apply to claims in respect of long...
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...
SIPPs and Your Business Property The Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) was introduced in order to give people far more control over how their pension pots are invested and have proven to be very popular with pension savers. One common use of the SIPP in a business context is to sell...
Settlement Agreements Following changes made by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 , compromise agreements were renamed ‘settlement agreements’ and new provisions (Section 111A) were inserted into the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) making settlement...
Small Business Data Protection Law Compliance Checklist Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE ...
Step by Step Plan for Health and Safety Compliance The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a ‘step by step plan’ for businesses for protecting the health and safety of workers and others. The key recommended actions are: 1. Register a new business with the appropriate authority...
TUPE - Post-Transfer Obligations and Collective Agreements The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Article 3 of the European Acquired Rights Directive, which is transposed into UK law by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), must be interpreted as...
Tax Avoidance Disclosure Rules UK tax law is almost unique in that it contains regulations which require professionals to advise HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of information regarding tax avoidance schemes (TAS). Failure to comply can lead to a penalty of up to £5,000 plus other...
Tax Free Perks The Government has continuously sought to limit the tax free perks that businesses can provide for their employees. However, there are some remaining. Here is an update on some of those still available. Childcare Childcare provision and childcare...
Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes - Rules If you are a landlord it is vital that you are aware of the requirement that all deposits taken by landlords and letting agents for Assured Shorthold Tenancies (AST) in England and Wales must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. There are...
Termination of Leases - Tips for Landlords When tenants seek to vacate premises, reduce the size of their premises or renegotiate their leases, problems can be created for landlords. Here are some tips for landlords to help deal with tenants when a break clause in a lease is looming: Be ready. Do...
Termination of Leases - Tips for Tenants Break clauses in commercial leases have probably received more attention from tenants in the last year or so than at any time since the early 1990s. For tenants seeking to break their leases, here are some pointers: Make sure any notice to break the lease...
The Corporate Manslaughter Act The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 established a new statutory offence of corporate manslaughter (corporate culpable homicide in Scotland). An organisation is guilty of the offence if the way in which it manages or organises its...
The Duty to Manage Asbestos - HSE Guidance According to statistics provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Every year 1,000 people who have been involved in carrying out building maintenance and repair work die as a...
The Eight Data Protection Principles Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight enforceable principles of good practice. Here is a checklist. Data must be: fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; accurate; not...
The Equality Act 2010 - A Guide for Employers The Equality Act 2010 replaced nine major pieces of discrimination legislation and other ancillary measures introduced over the last forty years. The core provisions of the Act came into force on 1 October 2010. As well as harmonising existing...
The GDPR and Your Firm's Pension Scheme The press is awash with comment about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into full effect 25 May 2018. It would be difficult for any organisation not to be aware by now of the issues and, hopefully, your business is well on the way...
The New Insolvency Regime In September 2003, the insolvency provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 came into force, bringing in a new regime for dealing with insolvencies. The main features of the new rules are: a streamlined procedure for putting a company into...
Tips for Business Borrowers With the economy seeming to be slowly improving, businesses will be thinking about financing the expected expansion of trade. Borrowing cost often dominates the thinking, but it isn’t all about the cost of the loan. In order to negotiate the right...
Understanding Options People who want to buy a property but do not currently have the means to do so, or who simply want to be guaranteed the opportunity to buy it during a specified period or at some future date, will often undertake an option agreement with the owner. Under...
VAT - Place of Supply of Services With different rates of value-added tax (VAT) applying throughout Europe, the place that a supply is made (and hence the VAT rate which is applicable) can be a very important matter. The basic 'place of supply' rule is that in normal circumstances...
VAT and Electronic Goods - Take Care In order to combat ‘missing trader’ fraud, which is estimated to have cost the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have introduced measures which can, in some circumstances, make a supplier (or customer)...
VAT on Business Assets With Private Use It is very commom for a smaller business to have assets which have been acquired which are used for both business and private use. Traditionally, this could be dealt with either by claiming only the percentage of the input VAT which corresponded to the...
VAT on Electronic Services: New Rules If you supply electronic products (telecommunications, broadcasting and e-services) to non-business customers through online sales, you should start thinking about how you will comply with the new VAT 'place of supply' rules that came into...
What to do When Your IT Doesn't Work These days it is increasingly the case that when your IT doesn't work, neither does your business. Clearly, the best way to deal with IT problems is prevention, which means doing regular backups, proper systems maintenance, keeping anti-virus protection...
When Green is Brown (and Vice Versa) Development in rural areas presents a number of challenges for planning teams and developers alike. Whilst planning policy is clear that previously developed (i.e. 'brown') land is to be used for new housing in preference to undeveloped...
When is an Environmental Impact Assessment Necessary? The The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 apply to any development likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of its size, nature or location. If a Local Authority fails...
Who Pays the Rates? When a company that is the tenant of a property goes into liquidation, it is normal for the liquidator to disclaim the lease on the premises. Business rates must be paid by the 'person entitled to possession of the property' (Local Government...
Workplace Stress - An Employer's Duties The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has published the findings of its fifteenth absence management survey, carried out in partnership with Simplyhealth. This provides useful benchmarking data for organisations on absence levels and...
Written Statement of Employment Particulars A contract of employment may be verbal but all employees, whether part-time or full-time, are entitled by law to be given a written statement setting out the main particulars of their employment, provided their employment lasts for one month or more....
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...