General - Henriques Griffiths LLP

General

GDPR Documenting Processing Activities Article 30 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains explicit provisions that require organisations to maintain internal records of their data processing activities. This obligation reflects the increased importance of accountability...
Investing in Small Businesses and Start-Ups -The EIS and SEIS SChemes Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table...
Assured Shorthold Tenancy Rules 2015 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Landlords with tenants who occupy their premises under assured shorthold tenancies will be affected by changes introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 , which received the Royal...
Bank Deposit Protection Rules for Businesses : Guide The levels of protection available for different investments underwritten by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS protects the deposits of small companies, which are those which meet two of three criteria: they have fewer than 50...
Bribery Act Guidance The Government provides guidance for businesses on complying with the Bribery Act 2010 , which came into force on 1 July 2011. The Act was originally scheduled to take effect in April 2011, but its implementation was delayed to allow the final version of...
Business Relief - Traps for the Unwary Most business people know that for family businesses there are generous Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs, which generally operate to make assets used in the business exempt or partially exempt from IHT. The reliefs take various forms but have been collectively...
Buying from an Administrator - Take Care With businesses becoming insolvent in large numbers, opportunities abound to acquire assets from their administrators. However, the low prices sought for the assets are due, at least in part, to the additional risk to the purchaser. Here are some of the...
Companies Act 2006 Overview and Company Information The Companies Act 2006 became fully effective from October 1st 2009. It is the principal source of law relating to the conduct of companies incorporated in England and Wales. Companies House provides useful information on the Act on its website . In...
Companies Act Model Articles - Think First Since the Companies Act 2006 came into effect, the incorporation of a company has been straightforward as the Act provides an easy to use set of model articles of incorporation. However, before you rush off and buy an ‘off the shelf’...
Company Name Rules You cannot incorporate a company using any name you like. Some names are prohibited (for example, those which suggest a connection with the Government or the Crown) and names will not be allowed if they are too similar to the names of existing companies. ...
Company Disclosure Rules - The Basics The Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008 set out the the requirements as to where and when company trading names, names of directors etc. need to be shown. The Statutory Instrument implementing the changes is both short and straightforward. In...
Company Formation Checklist You may have come across advertisements which make forming a company sound very easy, but before you go ahead there are some serious issues to think through. If you have decided that a company is the best vehicle for your new venture then here is a...
Consumer Protection Regulations Businesses that deal with the public are reminded that legislation will come into effect soon to give consumers better protection under the law than they currently have. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 received the Royal Assent on 26 March and became law on...
Consumer Rights Update Businesses that deal with members of the public are reminded that the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which received the Royal Assent on 26 March, becomes law on 1 October 2015. The Act replaces a number of laws with regard to business-to-consumer transactions,...
Contractors Are Your Responsibility A handbook produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outlines the responsibilities of both the contractor and the client in situations in which work is carried out by contractors rather then employees. It does not apply to circumstances in...
Employee Fraud - Fraud Act 2006 Employee fraud continues to rise as the recession continues to bite - however, the Fraud Act 2006 provisions make it easier to obtain convictions for fraud a than was possible under the predecessor legislation. Under the Act, fraud offences are: ...
Employee Fraud: Warning Signs Employee fraud was a boom area even before the recession started. ‘Targeted’ frauds, often backed by organised criminals, are also becoming more common. In these cases, an employee (often using a stolen identity) is ‘planted’ in...
Financial Fraud - What Not to Do! With recent surveys showing that instances of employee fraud are still on the increase, and HMRC showing regrettable lack of ability to safeguard personal data, eliminating poor security practices which make fraud easier is becoming even more important....
GDPR General Principles The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies detailed provisions to ensure that personal data – i.e. any data relating to an identifiable person – is properly processed and kept secure, and imposes a significant compliance regime on...
GDPR Guidance If you have not yet taken steps to ensure your business complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ), the time to start is now: it came into force, on 25 May 2018, from which date the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) will start...
Insolvency Changes Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Changes to the legislation on insolvency contained in the recently enacted Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 may affect directors of companies that...
It Wasn't in the Contract A common problem in contract disputes is that matters that create disagreement are sometimes not referred to specifically in the contract. However, as well as the express terms of a contract, there are also terms that are implied that is, they apply without...
Letters of Intent - Getting Them Right What Is a Letter of Intent? Letters of intent, commonly referred to as 'heads of agreement', are used to indicate the terms under which two or more people intend to enter into a contractual relationship when doing business together. The term...
Limited Liability Partnerships: Procedures and Guide Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) were first introduced in April 2001 and are becoming an increasingly popular way of structuring a business, especially with professional practices. The big advantage of the LLP is that it allows the liability of...
Making Retention of Title Work Prior to the recession, Retention of Title (RoT) clauses probably received less attention than they should have from many businesses. However, RoT is now back in the spotlight. An effective RoT clause will normally allow you to recover the goods you have...
Money Laundering Regulations Money laundering is the process by which criminals turn their 'dirty' income – which is usually earned in cash – into 'clean' money, by undertaking transactions which hide the original source of the cash and/or turn the cash into...
New Contract, New Danger Every business needs customers, but every customer, especially a new one, represents a risk to your business. It is a very serious issue but there are many things you can do to make sure that you increase your chances of getting paid. Clearly, the...
Nuisance Calls and Texts Law Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Since 6 April 2015, changes to the law have given the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) enhanced powers to take action against companies making nuisance marketing...
Outsourcing - Nine Steps to Success These days more and more processes are being outsourced (run by external contractors under a service agreement) by more and more businesses. It is particularly common to outsource IT functions and telephone call management. Outsourcing can offer many...
Outsourcing the Processing of Personal Information - Guidance The Information Commissioner’s Office offers guidance for smaller businesses on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when you outsource the processing of personal information, such as your payroll function or customer mailing...
Remedies for Breach of Contract Having the right contract is always a good idea, but no matter how much protection it offers, no contract can prevent a breach of contract by the other party. If you enter into a contract and it is breached, there are several possible remedies available to...
Retirement Planning and Your Business It is arguable that the whole point of any business should be to enable the owners to retire when they want and with the lifestyle they want on retirement. Of course, enjoying it as you go along is a good idea too, but retirement comes to most of us...
Step by Step Plan for Health and Safety Compliance The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a ‘step by step plan’ for businesses for protecting the health and safety of workers and others. The key recommended actions are: 1. Register a new business with the appropriate authority...
The GDPR and Your Firm's Pension Scheme The press is awash with comment about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into full effect 25 May 2018. It would be difficult for any organisation not to be aware by now of the issues and, hopefully, your business is well on the way...
Tips for Business Borrowers With the economy seeming to be slowly improving, businesses will be thinking about financing the expected expansion of trade. Borrowing cost often dominates the thinking, but it isn’t all about the cost of the loan. In order to negotiate the right...
Your Home Office - The Legalities If you run your own business, working from home, there are legal ramifications which need to be considered. There are few regulations that apply to 'normal' businesses that do not apply to 'home' businesses: you are not exempt just because...