The government has commissioned an independent review to find ways to encourage more people to set up successful businesses. It will be led by Michelle Mone, who founded the lingerie business Ultimo and turned it into a multi-million pound company. Nearly 70,000 new businesses have already been created through the New Enterprise Allowance scheme, which
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that if employees don’t have a fixed place of work then the time they spend travelling from home to their first job of the day should be classed as work time. The same principle applies to the time spent travelling back home after the last job of
New regulations designed to improve standards in business could lead to more directors being disqualified. The measures, which came into force on 1 October, state that the Secretary of State can seek to have a director of a limited company disqualified if they: • breach laws or regulations • have been convicted of a company
Temporary workers have the right to be informed of vacancies at the company employing them but that doesn’t automatically entitle them to be interviewed for any particular post. Employers are also justified in giving preference to permanent employees who are facing the threat of redundancy. Those were the findings of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in
Machins Solicitors LLP are pleased to announce that they have been recommended in The Legal 500 2015 United Kingdon in the following eight practice areas: South East Corporate and commercial – Corporate and commercial – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution – Commercial litigation – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution
A woman who said she earned less than male colleagues at a boarding school and was verbally abused by pupils has won her claim of sex discrimination. Hannah Miller worked as a science technician at Tonbridge School in Kent. She claimed that a man doing the same job as her was paid more yet she
A firm that entered into a contract before the final details were agreed has ended up losing all its assets. The case involved a firm that wanted to buy a property but could not raise the purchase price. It entered into an agreement with a company that would lend it both the deposit and purchase
A company that sacked an employee who made abusive comments on Facebook and claimed he’d been drinking on duty had not acted unfairly. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Scottish Canals and one of its employees. The issue arose after the employee posted comments that he had been
The government is planning to appoint a Small Business Commissioner to help firms tackle late payment problems and unfair practices carried out by larger companies. The move comes after research by Bacs showed that small and medium-sized businesses are owed a total of £26.8 billion in overdue payments and that £10.8 billion is spent per
A businessman has failed in his attempt to overturn an injunction preventing him from competing with his former company and trying to poach its customers. The court heard that the businessman had been both a director and a shareholder of the company until 2013 when his employment was terminated. He sold back his shares and