The High Court has ruled that a telephone conversation between the managing directors of two companies amounted to a binding agreement and had to honoured. The case involved Mansion Place Ltd v Fox Industrial Services Ltd. Mansion had engaged Fox to refurbish and extend student accommodation. There were delays in the performance of the works.
A rise in the number of creditors taking court action to recover debts has led to fears of a surge in insolvencies in the New Year. There were 21,764 County Court Judgments lodged against companies in the three months to the end of September – a rise of 51% on the previous quarter. Between July
An employee at a biscuit factory who threatened a colleague while in a diabetic rage has won his claim of unfair dismissal. Mr Dytkowski began working for Brand FB’s biscuit factory in 2009. He was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes in March 2018, which he described as a “difficult diagnosis to accept and manage”. Occupational Health
The government is introducing new laws and a Code of Practice to resolve commercial rent debts accrued because of the pandemic. Commercial tenants are protected from eviction until 25 March 2022. It’s hoped this will provide time for landlords and tenants to negotiate how to share the cost of rent debts. These negotiations will be
A director who breached his legal duties while running a company has been ordered to pay more than £600,000 compensation. The claimant in the case had set up a company called GBR in late 2010 to take over a recycling business. He had been disqualified from acting as a director and entrusted GBR’s growth and
A firm of engineers have been told they cannot use an ‘overarching contract’ defence to limit their liability for deficient work in a dispute with a homeowner. The issue arose after the homeowner, Mr Elton, hired Buxton Associates (Consulting Engineers) Ltd to carry out engineering consultancy work. He was dissatisfied with the work and his
More than 1,400 firms ceased trading in September as insolvency figures reached their highest level since March 2020. Finance experts fear there is worse to come as the furlough scheme and other government support for businesses come to an end. Some of the smaller energy suppliers were among the 1,446 companies to go bust in
Vulnerable tenants struggling to pay their rent are to get government help in a move that will help protect the income of thousands of private landlords. The government is making £65 million available to councils in England to support low-income earners in rent arrears. It will be for councils to determine the best way to
A construction firm has won its claim for the payment of three outstanding invoices despite the customer arguing that the three payments could not be treated as one single case. The issue arose after Creagh Concrete Products Ltd entered into an oral construction contract with Quadro Services Ltd. During the contract period, Quadro made various
A mother who was dismissed during her maternity leave while the ownership of her company changed hands has won her discrimination claim. Mrs Rodin worked for HR company DMS1 and went on maternity leave in June 2017. During her absence, the company underwent a change in ownership, with Dhillons Management Services taking over, although this