Legal action launched against ‘rip-off’ secret commissions on UK firms’ energy bills – The Guardian

Posted February 1st, 2024 in class actions, energy, fees, news, small businesses, third parties by sally

‘Businesses across the UK have been forced to pay an extra 10% on average for their gas and electricity because suppliers routinely add third-party broker commissions to their bills, according to a leading litigation law firm.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 31st January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Speech by Lord Justice Birss at the UCL and Intellectual Property Awareness Network event – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted March 10th, 2022 in intellectual property, judiciary, small businesses, small claims, speeches by tracey

‘Lord Justice Colin Birss, Deputy Head of Civil Justice, gave the keynote speech at the University of College London and Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) event. In his speech, entitled “Can the IP system serve small businesses better?”, he said: “In its broadest sense intellectual property is doing its job most acutely when it is in a David and Goliath situation.”‘

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 9th March 2022

Source: www.judiciary.uk

Small firms thrown lifeline in insurance test case ruling – BBC News

Posted September 16th, 2020 in coronavirus, insurance, news, small businesses by michael

‘Judges ruled that the disease clauses in some business interruption policies should have meant they were covered.’

Full Story

BBC News, 15th September 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

GDPR: Small business owners still ‘clueless’ about Data Protection Rules, study claims – The Independent

Posted December 12th, 2018 in data protection, EC law, news, small businesses by sally

‘Small business owners polled for a new survey have admitted they are still “clueless” about GDPR – leaving the personal data of millions of employees and customers at risk.’

Full Story

The Independent, 12th December 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

City firms launch review into dispute resolution for companies wronged by banks after RBS scandal – Daily Telegraph

‘City firms have launched a review into dispute resolution for companies wronged by banks, in the wake of the scandal over RBS’s mistreatment of small businesses. UK Finance, the lobby group for 300 British finance companies, has commissioned an independent study to analyse how complaints and disputes can be resolved in a more time and cost effective manner.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 29th April 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Three out of four small and medium-sized businesses not ready for new data laws face huge fines – The Independent

Posted December 12th, 2017 in data protection, fines, news, small businesses by sally

‘Three-quarters of Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses are unprepared for the introduction of strict new EU data laws designed to protect people’s private information following a number of high profile data breaches, a merchant bank has warned.’

Full Story

The Independent, 11th December 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Judge rejects bid to move case out of IPEC because of claimant’s need for costs protection – Litigation Futures

Posted June 29th, 2017 in costs, courts, intellectual property, news, small businesses, trials by sally

‘A defendant’s bid to transfer a case from the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) to the High Court has been dismissed because of the costs risk the SME claimant would then face.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 28th June 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Specialised court encourages boom in IP cases – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Small and medium-sized enterprises are continuing to use the UK’s specialised intellectual property court despite having more options available for flexible trials, figures have shown.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd May 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Crackdown on ‘disguised self-employment’ behind increased HMRC payroll tax take, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

‘HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collected an additional £705 million in tax from investigations into companies’ payroll taxes last year, almost half of which was collected from small or medium-sized businesses (SMEs), according to new figures.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 4th April 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Cyber security for SMEs – taking it seriously – Technology Law Update

Posted October 28th, 2016 in computer crime, electronic commerce, news, small businesses by sally

‘Getting cyber security right is not easy. Even the largest organisations can find themselves in difficulties – as the recent high-profile problems encountered by Yahoo and TalkTalk show. But it is especially challenging for smaller organisations without the headcount or budget to cover every angle in detail. What should you do to give your organisation the best chance of success?’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 27th October 2016

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

Home Office imposes illegal working fines of £14 million on small businesses in 3 month period – Free Movement

Posted September 6th, 2016 in employment, fines, immigration, news, small businesses by sally

‘The Home Office has imposed fines on small businesses for employing illegal workers of over £14 million in just a three month period. The period covered is January to March 2016. The list of businesses targeted by officials appears to include mainly small ethnic minority shops and takeaways. It is unknown how many of those businesses were forced to close as a result.’

Full story

Free Movement, 6th September 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Emergency Powers Compensation – Local Government Law

‘In Hastings Borough Council v Manolete Partners Plc [2016] UKSC 50 the Council exercised its emergency powers under Section 78 of the Building Act 1984 to restrict public access to Hastings Pier.’

Full story

Local Government Law. 27th July 2016

Source: www.11kbw.com/blogs/local-government-law

HELP! ONE CAN’T BREATHE FOR THE NON-COMPETE CLAUSE… – Littleton Chambers

Posted June 2nd, 2016 in competition, contract of employment, news, small businesses by sally

‘Carol Davis comments on the BIS plans to call for evidence on potentially stifling employment rules and considers a world without non-compete clauses.’

Full story

Littleton Chambers, 23rd March 2016

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Why a new toilet law could flush cafes and takeaways down the pan – The Guardian

Posted May 19th, 2016 in health & safety, news, small businesses by sally

‘A legal ruling that coffee shops and fast food outlets with fewer than 10 seats must now provide loos for their customers could threaten thousands of small businesses.’

Full story

The Guardian, 18th May 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK courts to define ‘grossly unfair’ payment terms, says government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 28th, 2015 in consultations, contracts, EC law, news, small businesses by sally

‘Difficult questions around whether supply chain payment terms and practices are “grossly unfair” should ultimately be settled by the courts or the new Small Business Commissioner, the UK government has said.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th October 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Court fee rise will give wealthy the upper hand, says Bar Council – The Bar Council

Posted September 18th, 2015 in civil justice, courts, fees, press releases, small businesses by tracey

‘SMEs will be disadvantaged in chasing late payments from big business customers.
Wealthy individuals and big business will have the upper hand in court proceedings if further increases in court fees get the go ahead under plans announced by the Ministry of Justice, the Bar Council has warned.’

Full press release

The Bar Council, 14th September

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Tobacco display ban extended to all shops – BBC News

Posted April 7th, 2015 in advertising, consumer protection, news, small businesses, smoking by sally

‘A ban on showing tobacco products at the point of sale in small shops across the UK has come into force.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th April 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 – legislation.gov.uk

Posted April 1st, 2015 in employment, legislation, small businesses by sally

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 published

Full text of Act

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

UK restructuring laws already geared towards business rescue, says government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 11th, 2015 in company law, debts, EC law, insolvency, news, small businesses by sally

‘UK procedures allowing businesses to restructure in order to avoid insolvency already meet EU plans for a more ‘rescue-orientated’ approach to business failure and insolvency, according to a discussion document published by the Insolvency Service.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

The £8.8m typo: how one mistake killed a family business – The Guardian

Posted January 29th, 2015 in compensation, government departments, insolvency, mistake, news, small businesses by sally

‘The Welsh engineering firm of Taylor & Sons has won a major claim against the government agency after they mixed it up with another firm of a similar name.’

Full story

The Guardian, 28th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk