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Figures released by London Trading Standards (LTS) show that 46% of letting agents in the capital are failing to comply with new regulations. They were fined a total of £1.2m for not displaying their fees or for not being members of a redress scheme. Figures are not available for the rest of the country, but
New rules that mean large companies could lose lucrative government business if they don’t pay their suppliers on time have now come into force. The rules, effective from 1 September, mean companies must pay 95% of their invoices within 60 days or run the risk of losing out on major government contracts. This will be
An office worker who was subjected to racial and gender harassment by her employer has been awarded £81,834 compensation. Ms S Khan had worked as an account administrator for property agency SN Estates Property Services. Khan, who described herself as coming from a Pakistani background, was first racially harassed just one month into her employment.
A print firm has won its claim that it was deceived into buying a business because the seller had fraudulently misrepresented key issues and withheld damaging information. Glossop Cartons and Print Ltd had bought Contact (Print and Packaging) Ltd after lengthy negotiations. The deal meant that Glossop took on Contact’s entire business including its employees,
A director has been banned from running a company for six years after approving payments that were detrimental to creditors. James Wilson McAllister, aged 51, currently living in Marbella but formerly of Kilmarnock, was the sole director of Greetings (International) Ltd – now known as Acquisition 395215436 Limited – based in Irvine, Scotland. The company
A tenant has been granted an extension to an injunction preventing him from being evicted, although the judge made it clear that this did not prevent his landlord from issuing possession proceedings. The tenant had obtained the injunction after the landlord attempted to remove his possessions from the property and lock him out. There was
A company has been fined a record £7.8m by HMRC after breaching money laundering regulations. An investigation by HMRC officials found that West London money transmitter Touma Foreign Exchange Ltd had failed in several ways to carry out its duties under the Money Laundering Regulations. These failures included: risk assessments and associated record-keeping policies, controls
A digital printing company that used the name FREE PRINTS has moved to prevent a competitor using the same phrase in its advertising. Planet Art used the trading name FREE PRINTS as part of its online branding. Another printing company called Photobox began using the phrase FREE PRINTS in its app. The two companies offered
The proposed changes to probate fees have been scrapped following criticism from the Law Society, the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners and Solicitors For the Elderly. Currently there is a flat fee of £215, or £155 if a solicitor is involved. The government had planned to introduce a banded system that caps the fee
The value of the government’s Help to Buy scheme has been called into question by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee. They say much of the money invested could have been better spent elsewhere. The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme was introduced in April 2013 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government