Nearly a third of family business owners fear their company will die out and not be passed on to the next generation once they retire. One in five believe it’s unlikely that family businesses will even exist in the future. These are some of the findings of a survey carried out by insurance company Direct
An accountant who was the minority shareholder in a business has won his claim for a financial settlement after being excluded from company affairs. The accountant had a 49% shareholding in the company; the majority shareholders were a designer and his wife who held the remaining 51%. The company made model military figures for a
A contractor has won a dispute over a £277,000 payment even though the adjudicator deciding the case may have made a mistake. The issue arose after the contractor had been hired by a developer constructing a block of flats. The agreement between them was based on an amended JCT 2011 Intermediate Building Contract with Contractor’s
Two laundry firms have been fined a total of £1.71m after they agreed not to compete against each other in certain areas. Micronclean Limited and Berendsen Cleanroom Services Ltd provide specialist laundry services including the cleaning of garments worn by people working in ‘cleanrooms’. These are highly sanitised environments used by businesses such as pharmaceutical
Businesses are facing an increasing threat from staff stealing valuable data to help them set up a rival firm or to take to a new job with a competitor, according to recent research. A survey by the security software company Symantec found that 56% of employees don’t think it’s a crime to use competitive data
A firm or architects have won their dispute over the payment of a final invoice after a developer unexpectedly dispensed with their services. The issue arose after the developer had accepted the architects’ fee proposal in relation to a housing project. After a few months, the developer emailed the architects, indicating that it intended to
Persistence is an admirable quality but unfortunately it can sometimes work against directors who take personal risks when trying to save a failing business. Sometimes the heart can rule the head. Directors often have an emotional attachment to a firm they have set up themselves and feel a tremendous loyalty to their staff. This can
A “director” includes any person occupying the position of director no matter what they are called. This definition appears in both the Companies Act 2006 and Insolvency Act 1986. It is clear then that the reality of any given situation is crucial in determining whether an individual is a director and that you cannot escape
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to become enforceable from the 25 of May 2018. The GDPR creates a wider definition of personal data than the Data Protection Act. It covers all organisations in the public, private and non-profit sector and applies throughout the EU and beyond, even if the business itself
Unlike say for a consumer, the buyer of shares or assets be warned; the law provides no statutory or common law protection as to the nature and extent of the assets or liabilities you are acquiring. It is therefore usual for the buyer to negotiate certain forms of contractual protection into the purchase agreement for