A director has been ordered to pay compensation to his former company after breaching his legal duties. The director, who had been chairman of a credit union business, breached his fiduciary duty when using a loan from the company to purchase a property. The problem arose because he had a separate business interest with a
The Government has begun a public consultation on its plans to clamp down on “binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour”. It’s seeking the views of all interested parties including licensees and retailers. The Home Office action plan includes: a ban on multi-buy promotions a review of the mandatory licensing conditions a minimum unit price of
Complying with data protection regulations remains a problem for many companies and organisations. In a recent case, Stoke-on-Trent Council was fined £120,000 after one of its employees emailed sensitive information about a child protection case to the wrong person. An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that the employee breached the council’s guidance
The Government has announced a new blitz on bureaucracy that should see red tape slashed at twice the present rate. Business Minister Michael Fallon said that from January 2013, every new regulation that imposes a financial burden on a company will be offset by reductions in red tape that will save double those costs. Currently
The Government is now finalising its plans to introduce a new employment status next April in which some workers will be able to become ‘employee owners’. The scheme was announced by Chancellor George Osborne on 8th October. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is now conducting a consultation on the plans which are
A total of 300,000 new businesses have been set up in the UK, according to the latest figures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The number rose from 4.5million at the beginning of 2011 to a record 4.8million at the start of 2012.Those 4.8 million businesses employ an estimated 23.9 million people and
The Government says it will reduce health and safety regulations to promote economic growth and protect businesses from ‘compensation culture’ claims. There are more than 6,500 regulations that the Government inherited through the Red Tape Challenge Process. They intend to scrap more than 3,000. One of the key changes involves health and safety inspections. Businesses
A company has been awarded £50,000 compensation from a former director after he breached a restrictive covenant preventing him setting up a rival business within a set period. The case was brought by a security company against its former business development director. The director’s contract had contained a restrictive covenant stating that if he left,
A firm has been fined £10,000 after making a slight change to its name without telling HM Revenue & Customs. The firm, which doesn’t want to be identified, was originally a partnership but then decided to restructure as a limited company. It added Ltd to its name but didn’t realise that it was suppose to
A managing director has been held personally liable for his company’s infringement of a rival’s trademark. The case involved two companies with similar names that both specialised in soil testing services. Geolabs Ltd had a series of trademarks including the name, ‘Geolabs’. It complained that another company, Geo Laboratories, had infringed that trademark by trading