A director has been ordered to repay more than £1m he took from his company at a time when it was insolvent. The case involved a director who ran an insulation business. His wife ran a similar enterprise. Both companies relied on a government scheme to survive. The government changed the rules of the scheme
A recent case before the High Court highlights the perils of investing large sums of money in a business venture without a written agreement. It involved two couples who decided to work together developing holiday cottages. The defendant couple owned a farm, which included a farmhouse, café, restaurant, farming land and holiday cottages. The couple
A director of a used car business has been disqualified for seven years for breaching consumer protection laws. Imran Khadam, was a director of Revolution Motors Limited in Oldham. The company went into liquidation in 2013. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found that the company had conducted its business in a manner that was
From 30th June 2016, further provisions of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 will come into force which will abolish the requirement for companies to file an annual return with Companies House. Instead, a company will need to file a “confirmation statement”. Below is a summary of this change and other changes, which
A builder has been ordered to pay £483,000 for breach of contract after failing to carry out repair work to the specified standard. He was also ordered to return £200,000 after fraudulently inducing a customer to enter into a share purchase agreement. The case involved a wealthy individual customer who engaged the builder to carry
The High Court has resolved a dispute between former partners over the sale of a block of flats worth between £3m and £4m. The case involved three partners whose relationship broke down in 2014. The partnership’s main asset was a large apartment block comprising of just over 100 leasehold flats. An independent valuation indicated a
A company has been fined a total of £826,000 after admitting that it tried to stop retailers from discounting online prices. Ultra Finishing Ltd supplies bathroom products to a number of online stores. Following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), it admitted that in the years 2012 to 2014, it engaged in
A director has been disqualified for five years for transferring money from his insolvent company to himself and his associates. James Elliott Pemble ran a marquee hire business called All Marquees Ltd at Tonbridge in Kent. He also had at least three other companies in the leisure and entertainment industry. An investigation by the Insolvency
The government has announced a range of proposals to encourage innovation and to help businesses grow, but the changes could also see firms facing more competition from former employees. One of the proposals aims to prevent red tape from stifling entrepreneurship. This would involve removing or reducing the effectiveness of non-compete clauses in employment contracts.
Entrepreneurs can be very confident about how to build up a business but then become surprisingly unsure about how to hand it over to the next generation. This can lead to problems because there are several issues to consider. For example, will family members be able to take over…will you need to hand over to