Business “common sense” should be applied when interpreting and applying commercial contracts, the Supreme Court has ruled. Delivering the ruling, Lord Clarke said: “If there are two possible constructions, the court is entitled to prefer the construction which is consistent with business common sense and to reject the other.” The issue arose in the case
All businesses and individuals now need to be aware of new bribery legislation which came into force on 1st July this year. The Bribery Act describes actions which involve “a financial or other advantage” being offered or received in exchange for “a business function or decision to be carried out improperly” as being potentially criminal.
When drawing up deeds it is vital to meet all the legal requirements – otherwise the document could prove invalid and cost you thousands of pounds, as one firm found recently. The case involved a financial services company that entered into an invoice discounting facility with two directors of a client firm. A deed was
The number of data security breaches by private companies has risen by 58% over the last year, according to figures released by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This is in spite of the fact that three quarters of businesses surveyed understand that the Data Protection Act (DPA) obliges them to keep personal information secure –
The Government has put forward proposals to allow more small firms to avoid the need to submit audited accounts – saving businesses in the UK an estimated £206m a year. EU regulations list three criteria by which firms can be regarded as small for accounting purposes. These are: no more than 50 employees balance sheet
The Licensing Act is the latest set of regulations to come under the scrutiny of the Government’s “red tape challenge”. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has begun a public consultation seeking views on whether Section One of the Act should be reformed. This is the section that covers regulated entertainment. It has often
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that a director breached his fiduciary duty when he made personal use of some equipment that had been loaned to his company. Fiduciary commitments simply mean that a director must act in the company’s best interest and avoid any conflict between his personal interests and his duty
When buying a business it’s important to ensure that the seller doesn’t try to entice away clients or customers once the sale goes through. For this reason, most firms will insist on a covenant preventing the seller from setting up a rival business or soliciting his former customers for a specified period. The value of
Companies entering into contracts with businesses abroad need to take care over the small print if they want any future disputes to be settled under UK law. Failure to do so could prove costly, as one UK company recently discovered. The company entered into an agreement with an Indian supplier to provide it with condoms
The number of businesses operating from people’s homes has increased dramatically over the last year. Research by Lloyds TSB Business Insurance revealed there are currently 5.9m home-based businesses in the UK. More than a quarter of them were set up in the last year. The new businesses cover a wide spectrum from IT and computer