All Creatures Great and Small........

The Hitchin Christmas tree festival took place on the weekend of 10th & 11th December...

Notaries

A notary is a qualified lawyer and a member of the oldest branch of the legal profession.

Jail for bogus gas fitter

At Burnley Crown Court on 20 October 2011 a 35-year-old Accrington man was sent to prison for two years...

Wrongful Trading .....    

In tough trading conditions, the risk of being found guilty of wrongful trading can seem to loom overhead. Wrongful trading occurs when directors continue to trade when they know or ought to have known that their company was insolvent and should be put into liquidation.

Shareholders Agreements

When a new company is formed, it's a busy time and practicalities can often take priority over legal matters but it is always worth considering whether you would benefit from a Shareholders Agreement.

Race For Life 2011

Long Term Supply Agreements and Price Reviews
 
Many businesses have felt the impact of the rising cost of fuel, energy and raw materials directly.

Cookies...                                                          

The law on the use of cookies changed on the 26th May 2011

Resolving Disputes by Mediation

It is an unfortunate fact of life that most businesses become involved in a dispute at some stage no matter how they try to avoid them.

Setting Up A Website...

Commissioning a new website is often a major expense (particularly for small businesses) and a website is a vital business tool so the terms of your web development agreement are important

Directors Guarantees 

Often, forming a limited liability company is not the end of the story when it comes to the limitation of personal liability.

Breaking your lease can be hard to do

Often leases contain ‘break clauses’, giving the tenant the opportunity to bring the lease to an end early.

Property Fraud and Title Insurance

There have been reports in the press relating to fraud and title insurance over recent months...

Five Facts About...negotiating commercial leases

We often become involved in the negotiation of commercial leases after all of the major terms have been agreed and set down in outline form in Heads of Terms by the Landlord's agent.

Sexual harassment – a level playing field

The recent sacking of former Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray and the resignation of his ex-colleague, Richard Keys, for making sexist comments about a female assistant referee have served as a useful reminder to employers and employees alike of the possible pitfalls of making sexist comments in the workplace.

Snow and Ice - Employment Rights

Early onset of winter snow has again caused many employers significant operational difficulties.  It has also given rise to important questions as to their legal obligations towards employees in times of adverse weather disruption, the main one being whether employers are obliged to pay employees who cannot make it into work.

Five Facts About: Copyright Law

The importance of works protected by copyright ('Works') in business can't be overstated, particularly following the expansion of available media through the internet.

“Don’t leave it to chance” Register your Will...

National Savings had 2,664 replies to a recent survey which revealed that
           

• 75% did not know where their parents kept their Wills, nor where their parents’ house deeds were
• 25% said they were hoping to inherit something from their parents

First conviction for the new offence of corporate manslaughter

Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, an organisation is guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care to the person who died.  A substantial part of the breach must have been in the way activities were organised by senior management.

Five Facts about...Data Protection

Notification is the term used by the Data Protection Act 1998 to describe registration with the Information Commissioner. All data processors are required to notify unless they fall within one of the exemptions (e.g. many residential management companies will be exempt).

The Companies Act 2006.

The Companies Act 2006 has been fully in force for a little over a year now. In this article we set out some of the potential benefits of the new Act.

Family Friendly working

The Government has recently announced changes to flexible working rights and confirmed new rights to additional paternity leave, both of which will take effect from April 2011 in the hope and expectation that it will be easier for people to balance work and family life.

Will Questionnaire

This link will take you to our Will questionnaire. Please fill in the questionnaire and return it to us using our freepost address. We will prepare draft Wills for your approval or you may come in to the office to discuss your requirements further. Details of our costs can be found on the questionnaire.

Protecting your business in the economic downturn

What measures can I put in place to help protect my business during the economic downturn?...

Employer concerns at plans to scrap Retirement age

At the end of July 2010, the government published proposals to scrap the default retirement age (“DRA”) of 65...

What is a Fit note?....

Can you explain to me what a fit note is? I run a small manufacturing business and am wondering how it might affect me?.....

Restrictive Covenants..

Every business, whatever the size, has information that it considers both integral and invaluable to its success.