Blog posts by - Sue Mann

From 30 June 2016, companies are now required to deliver a confirmation statement. This replaces the previous obligation to file an annual return. The confirmation statement covers broadly similar information, but there are changes.All companies must file a confirmation statement every 12 months whether or not a company is trading – so even if dormant.It must be delivered to Companies House ...

In May 2018, the current data protection legislation based on the Data Protection Act 1998 will be replaced.  The new law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will apply directly to all EU member states.  This contrasts with the current position where each member state has its own data protection law based on an EU directive which allows some room for national variations. As w...

If the result of the referendum due to take place on 23rd June is that the British people vote to leave the EU, what might be the consequences for your business contracts? This article is not intended to be an argument in favour of either staying in or leaving the EU, but rather a look at the possible effect on your business contracts if the result were to be in favour of leaving. The leaving proc...

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) recently published its corporate plan for 2016-2019 which stated the ICO’s goal as being: all organisations which collect and use personal information do so responsibly, securely and fairly. all public authorities are open and transparent, providing people with access to official information as a matter of course. people are aware of their inform...

One of the aims of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 is to give businesses a role in preventing slavery from occurring. A key provision is the publication of an annual slavery and human trafficking statement. The first organisations to be affected are those with a financial year ending 31st March 2016. Who has to publish a statement? The organisations directly affected are those carrying out business in...

Companies are required by law to keep certain registers – often referred to as statutory books – in addition to keeping minutes and accounts. During the course of 2016, two changes are scheduled to affect statutory books. The changes will be made as a result of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 which introduces amendments to the Companies Act 2006. 1. Use of centra...

The legal position concerning the collection and use of data has been steadily tightening and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is now showing increasing willingness to enforce it. It was only in my last blog that I talked about two cases about the action taken by the ICO for unsolicited marketing which resulted in the businesses concerned receiving substantial fines [see: Unsolici...

Unsolicited calls, texts and emails offering anything from loft insulation and solar panels to accident and PPI claims seem to be on the increase and consumers are becoming more pro-active in complaining about them. A business involved in such unsolicited marketing can be subject to unwelcome sanctions. In a recent case, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) received 7506 complaints fr...

As of Monday 5th October 2015 new rules apply in England to single-use plastic bags. The aim is to reduce plastic waste - 7.6 billion were issued last year. That’s an average of 140 per person and amounts to 61,000 tonnes in total. England is the last part of the UK to introduce a charge. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland already charge for plastic bags and have recorded significant drops...

No, I’m not talking about getting rot in your business premises! In this case RoT stands for retention of title.So what is retention of title? If you sell goods, ‘title’ or ownership will usually pass to the buyer when you deliver the goods. By including a retention of title provision in your contract for the sale of the goods you can retain ownership of the goods even after you ...

As a business owner by who already has a multitude of things to think about to keep your business running, you may well have asked yourself the question as to whether contracts is an item you really need on your never-ending to do list. My answer to question would be an unequivocal yes. However as I am a business contracts lawyer you would probably expect me to say that, so I will explain why. Whe...

Here are pointers to some key issues to check before you commit your business to any contract. Details of the parties Firstly make sure the details of your business are correct – company name, registered office address and company number. If you are a sole trader, your name and address should be shown or if you are in partnership the names and addresses of the business partners should be sho...

It hardly has the snappiest title and this piece of legislation was one of the last to become law before Parliament was dissolved in the run up to the general election. With so much media attention on the election, this new law has probably gone largely unnoticed by many people. Having said that, it’s not insubstantial at 287 pages on the official legislation.gov website – even the exp...

In my previous blog, I discussed some new regulations on company names which came into force on 31st January 2015* [see What’s in a company name?]. I also mentioned some further regulations which had been published in draft, but had not at that time been approved by parliament. Those further regulations were approved and also came into force on 31st January 2015**. Those further regulations ...

Have you ever deliberated over a name for your company, only to find out that the name wasn’t available or that you needed some special consent to use it? If so, that was probably because the name was already in use or that it contained a restricted word, but the situation is about to change under new rules about company and business names. Some of the main rules in relation to the name of a...

When you agree a deal you usually know what you are expecting to receive or to pay for the products or service in question. But are there any other costs or expenses included in the agreement which might not be obvious at first glance? They might not even come to your attention until perhaps the other party notifies you that it is claiming for something you weren’t expecting. So what sort of...

At a time when many prices seem to be rising, I am pleased to be able to tell you about a reduction. In fact, the cost will be removed altogether. In a press release last month, BIS announced that any public information on the register at Companies House that is delivered through digital channels will be available free of charge as of the second quarter next year, so some time April to June in 201...

What is Cyber Essentials? Cyber Essentials is a set of basic technical controls for organisations to use. The scheme, which is government-backed and supported by industry, is to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks. The Cyber Essentials scheme is a key objective of the government’s National Cyber Security Strategy and is being delivered as part of the government...

We frequently hear that one of the key things we need to do to succeed in business today is to provide excellent service. There are many aspects to providing excellent service, but one that I think is vital is having a clear and comprehensive contract with your customers. Why do I think that having such a contract is important? The contract with your customer is at the heart of the whole relations...

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 come into force on 13th June 2014 (Friday 13th!). As the unexciting and somewhat cumbersome title suggests, the regulations cover a range of issues, at least some of which are likely to have an impact on your business if it deals with consumers rather than business customers. The regulations apply to contrac...

By being unable to perform, I don’t just mean an actor or musician being unable to appear in a play or concert. I am referring of course to the performance of any legal obligations in a business contract. What brought this into focus for me was a scheduled procedure which meant I was unable to walk easily or drive. The fact it was scheduled did however mean that I could plan how to carry on ...

As a business contracts lawyer, naturally I have many conversations with business owners about the contracts they use in their business. Not infrequently people will tell me that they do not use contracts in their business. What they actually mean by this is that they do not use formal written agreements. Some seem to think that if they do not use a written document, whether prepared by a lawyer o...

It’s perhaps easier to say when you don’t need to put a shareholders’ agreement in place – and that is if you are the sole shareholder of your company. In any other case - so once there is more than one person involved - it is preferable to have an agreement. The next aspect of the question is when is the appropriate time to put a shareholders’ agreement in place. The...

How can your customers phone you might sound an odd question. What I’m getting at is what number(s) they can use to call your business and, more specifically, what it will cost them to do so. Phone tariffs and the range of call plans available can vary widely. This can make it difficult for a caller to understand what a call to your business may cost them. As you may be aware, new regulation...

If your business deals with consumers you will need to take account of some new rules. They are contained in regulations made on 13th December 2013 and will apply to relevant contracts with consumers from 13 June 2014.The regulations apply to businesses supplying goods, services or digital content to consumers. Some of the main issues covered by the regulations include: 1.  Information to be ...

Planning to sell your business or looking for an investor? That is likely to apply to many businesses at some stage. But even if that is not in your immediate plans, don’t wait until you are in negotiations with a buyer or investor - there is plenty you can usefully do now to ease the process when the time comes. An initial part of the sale or investment process, which is time-consuming and ...

In my last blog I wrote about support from the European Commission for cloud computing in Europe (see EU support for cloud computing ). Following on from that, I can now tell you of another initiative in the EU’s cloud computing strategy - this time in relation to the contracts for cloud services. The Commission has identified that some of the reluctance to use cloud services can be because ...

Cloud computing has support at European level. This was shown by a memo issued recently by the European Commission. In it the Commission stated its view that more widespread adoption of cloud computing is essential for Europe’s economy, but it is being hampered by concerns such as surveillance and security (e.g. the revelation about PRISM). It sees cloud services as a way of putting the best...

The Bribery Act came into force in July 2011 with quite a bit of publicity as to what businesses should do to prepare themselves. It has perhaps subsequently not been at the forefront for many businesses as they grappled with other more immediate economic concerns. The first charges have been brought in recent months, so it might now be appropriate to revisit the systems and procedures in your bus...

Company information disclosure requirements – do you know what you should be telling the outside world?You might be pleased to know that I am not about to tell you about any new obligations. What I want to do is to give a refresher about some basic requirements which are often overlooked, but which could have undesirable consequences for you or your company if not properly met. I’m tal...

If your company receives unwanted marketing, there are some steps you can take to reduce it. That’s the message from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the latest guidance they have issued. The rules on marketing to companies differ from those relating to marketing to individuals. The scope for corporates to cut down on unwanted marketing is less than for individuals - which incl...

Most people have heard of the data protection legislation and some individuals use their rights to obtain details of information held about them. If your business receives such a request you can turn to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for help in dealing with it. The Data Protection Act gives individuals a right to know what information organisations hold about...

Business people are usually very busy people with too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it in. One of the things that can suffer is the paperwork and, in particular, checking contracts that the business is entering into. A business is generally bound by the contracts it signs, so it is important to be sure that you are satisfied with what it says before you sign on the proverbial do...

You might wonder why social media and data protection are mentioned in the same sentence. The reason is that, although it might be tempting to think that data protection may have little relevance to social media, in fact data protection rules apply to processing of personal data in social media just as to processing in any other way. Data protection is a good example of existing law being applied ...

Many businesses experience a quieter time during the summer and choose that time to take a well-earned break. But before you head for foreign climes or a break closer to home, you can take advantage of the seasonal lull to prepare for the return to busier times when you get back. Here are some things to consider with regard to your business contracts: 1. Have you got suitable business contract doc...

It’s not at all unusual to hear people who have set up in business together refer to themselves as ‘partners’ when in fact their business is set up as a limited company. What they usually want to indicate by calling themselves partners is that they view themselves as equal in the business which is a great basis for working together. What they may not realise is that a limited com...

Cyber security is no longer the fantasy stuff of James Bond and sci-fi: it’s a real issue for your business. So much so, the government recently published guidance on cyber-security for small businesses. This follows on from guidance published in September 2012 by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) aimed at larger companies. It comes at a time when the European Commis...

If your business takes a deposit when a customer enters into a business contract for goods or services, but the customer later cancels the contract, can the deposit be kept? Regular readers of my blog will know that the answer to a legal question is often not clear-cut, so won’t be surprised if I say that the answer is ‘yes’, your business can keep a deposit, but don’t stop...

When is a penalty an own goal? The short answer is - if the clause you included in your business contract intended to provide compensation for your business if the other party fails to perform as agreed turns out not to be enforceable. Parties to a business contract often refer to such clauses as penalties, but that is the last thing you would really want it to be if your business is the one wanti...

Earlier this year I told you about the new regulations on payment surcharges which came into force on 6th April 2013. At the time we were waiting for guidance to be issued by BIS (the Department for Business Innovation and Skills). That guidance has now been published and is available from BIS. To summarise, the regulations prevent businesses from charging excessive surcharges for processing payme...

I was intrigued when I saw a recent headline announcing that the government was launching a ‘Good Law’ initiative. The cynic in me wondered why we don’t always have good law (as opposed to bad law!), but hopeful of some positive news to counter the overwhelming pessimism we encounter in many quarters these days, I read on. The initiative is from the Cabinet Office and the Office ...

Is your business involved in creating charges or other security? If so, you need to be aware of changes which affect the registration at Companies House of charges created on or after 6th April 2013. As a result of amendments to the Companies Act 2006, almost all charges are now registrable with only limited exceptions. This changes the previous position where categories of registrable charges wer...

You might think that planning for the unexpected sounds a contradiction in terms, but let me explain what I’m getting at. We’ve experienced many events over the last few years which at the time were described as ‘unexpected’. I’ll give you some examples. 2012 was one of the wettest on record with damaging floods yet we started that year with a drought. Just a year ago...

If you’re currently looking at a cloud solution for your IT needs, the chances are that cost will be high on your list of priorities. There is a wide variety of offerings out there and the range is constantly increasing, as are the number of cloud providers and packages available. When it comes to comparing the financial factors, you’ll find that cloud offerings are generally priced in...

Whenever you go to open a new account at a bank or building society, or want advice from a lawyer or accountant, you’ll have been asked to provide evidence of who you are. This is something we all face, but have you ever wondered what this is really about? Why can’t the bank just set up the account for you, or why doesn’t your lawyer just advise you on the problem concerning you?...

Who will you be celebrating Valentine’s Day with? If it’s your business partner, there’s a gift you could give each other that will last longer than a dozen roses. As a (some might say unromantic) business lawyer I suggest you should forget a meal in a fancy restaurant, a few days away from it all or expensive jewellery and instead get a shareholders’ agreement. Why am I pr...

Are you thinking of moving to the cloud for part, if not all, of your business needs? If so, you are not alone. Although cloud services have been around for a while, both the range of offerings and the uptake by business customers are on the increase. The cloud service will play a key part in the operation and success of your business. You will no doubt be looking at various factors in weighing up...

Cloud computing has been around for some time, but it is now becoming more widely used. Many businesses not already using cloud services are considering doing so for at least part of their IT needs. The selection of a cloud service to use will depend on a range of factors – cost, risk, technical, commercial, practical and legal issues. Businesses vary in their response to cloud computing dep...

Recent months have seen disastrous flooding and severe disruption across the country caused by rain, snow and ice. In fact it’s hard to remember that 2012, which ended up as the wettest on record, started with a drought and water restrictions. The media has been reporting such events as extreme weather, but the predictions for global warming indicate that extreme weather could become much mo...

The EU is the source or the instigator of many laws and regulations which affect us in the UK, so it’s interesting that they have recently recognised some guidance might also be helpful. The area they have chosen to try and help with is online rights in their ‘Code of EU online rights’. The Code - issued as part of the EU’s Digital Agenda for Europe - is aimed at consumers ...

Whilst most people were preparing for Christmas, on 18th December 2012 new rules on payment surcharges were issued in the form of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012. The Regulations prohibit a business from imposing payment surcharges on consumers where the surcharge exceeds the cost to the business of using the particular payment method. A payment surcharge is a charge made...

It’s that time of year when many people take the opportunity of what for many businesses is the seasonal lull to review and plan for the year ahead, so I’ve put together some points which I think it would be useful for you to consider concerning your business contracts and contracting procedures. 1. Are your business contracts up to date? Were your business contract documents drawn up ...

Many businesses believe that notifying under the Data Protection Act is all one needs to do to comply with it. This is way off the mark. Are You Compliant?The Data Protection Commission has highlighted a change in emphasis by the authorities away from notification (which is still important) towards compliance. So, what is “compliance”? This article can only scratch the surfac...

Here are seven things to think about when you are dealing with a business contract before you commit your business to it. 1. Who are you doing business with? – is the person or company you’ve been negotiating with the one named in the agreement? Does it include anyone else such as a business partner or other companies in a group? Such additional people or companies could have a signifi...

I’ve long commented that businesses have too much existing legislation to cope with, let alone all the new laws that hit the statue book each year, so I got quite excited when I saw a recent press release from BIS - the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – claiming that a new initiative would cut the burden on business. Under the new initiative every new regulation that imp...

When you consult a lawyer to advise on your business contract, what sort of help might you reasonably expect to receive? There are likely to be two main scenarios that might lead you to seek advice. One is that, having negotiated a deal in principle, the other party has presented you with a written agreement. You will be wondering whether it accurately reflects the deal you discussed and if there ...

You’ve talked things through with your customer or supplier and agreed the deal in principle. Now they’ve presented you with a written agreement that they are asking you to sign. Before you commit your business to a legally binding contract, how do you know if the document in front of you accurately reflects the points you negotiated? The key is to check that all the points you agreed ...

You’ve negotiated the deal. Now how do you make sure your business can rely on the contract? There are a few cases where a special form of document or wording is required to make the agreement enforceable such as transfers of property and other instances where the contract has to be made as a deed, but those are matters where you are likely to be using a lawyer to advise you. In other cases ...

What would be your reply to the following questions? • Does your business use business contract documents and procedures that were specifically drawn up for you? • Does your business have professionally drawn up business contracts? • Have your business contracts been reviewed recently? • If you are planning to sell your business, or if you are looking for outside investment, ar...

Does it sometimes seem to you as if the commercial contract that’s landed on your desk is written in a foreign language? Or you find that you can recognise many of the words, but they don’t seem to make much sense? That might well be because the law, just like many other industries and professions, has its own way of expressing things and there’s no shortage of legal jargon which...

You’ve finished your new business idea, got the name and a great logo, designed a new way to do something; maybe even the domain name which is just right and now you want to stop others using it. Copyright may help you (see Copyright – getting it, protecting it and keeping it). But there are other methods available depending what it is that you want to protect. Here are just three...

Copyright - what is it?Copyright is often misunderstood. It is the right to prevent others from copying some types of work such as “literary” or “artistic” works. “Literary” includes computer programmes, data spreadsheets, and instruction manuals even though, really, these are normally just factual. Perhaps obviously it covers books, novels etc. It covers t...

Most industries and professions have their own jargon. The law is no exception. In fact legal jargon is a renowned bone of contention. We do our best to avoid using jargon wherever possible, but you are still likely to come across plenty of examples in the course of your business dealings. To help you I have put together an explanation of some of the common words and phrases you might meet. Back...

A commercial contract, often called a business agreement, is all about buying and selling products and services. The commercial terms of the deal and the corresponding legal detail will vary enormously from contract to contract, but there are a number of clauses which are likely to appear in some form or other. These are some of the common provisions: Date Commercial agreements are commonly dated ...

During the course of your business career, you are likely to enter into a variety of commercial contracts to buy products and services that your business needs to operate and to supply whatever your business makes or does. The form of contract you enter into for each of these will be just as varied. There are nevertheless some common features which I’d like to outline which might help when y...

Examples of businesses who start up because they have a fantastic new idea but lose their way because they fail to protect the idea and cash in on its true commercial value are all too common. This article explores why this happens and the actions you need to take to avoid losing out. The scenario You’ve come up with a great new idea for improving efficiencies in a market you know really wel...

Most businesses plan and review their activities on a regular basis, but not all include a check on their contracts they use in their business. Pricing is perhaps the main exception from that rather broad generalisation, but even that is often prompted by an external event such as a rise in the cost of raw materials. Do your business contracts allow you to raise your prices in such circumstances? ...

An article I saw recently made me think about the way in which legal documents are written and whether it might be possible to do this differently. The author was advocating simple documents written in plain English and using legal documents such as terms and conditions as an opportunity to create a good impression of your business. I think most people would agree with his idea. Business matters c...

How often have you heard someone say that they wish they’d checked through a contract before they agreed it? Because if they had checked it first they certainly wouldn’t have signed it! The sad fact is that if a business signs up to a contract they will generally be bound by its terms whether they have read it or not. Trying to argue or negotiate your way out of an unfavourable deal is...

If you’ve just won an important new customer or client for your business – congratulations! You’ll be pleased at this boost to your business’s future prospects. Similarly if you’ve just secured a new supplier for materials, parts or services which will improve your business’s offering to your customer base or provide an opportunity for expansion. When the initia...

Having worked hard both to win a software development contract and to complete the development, as an IT developer you will be particularly keen to make sure that you are properly and promptly rewarded for your efforts. Making sure you have a clear fee structure and payment procedure in your software development agreement will go a long way towards achieving that aim. For developments where there ...

There is still a lot of confusion about when a business can email people and when they can’t. Let’s start simply: if someone agrees you can email them, you can. Please remember that all the way through and if you don’t want to bother to learn all the detail, then just put a policy in place that you always get consent to send. There are various sets of rules that apply mainly the ...

As a software developer, you will test the software you are developing as part of the development process, but you might wonder why I would be concerned about dealing with testing in relation to the software development agreement. Having completed a software development, you as the developer want to be sure that your client accepts it, so that you can move on to your next project and, most importa...

Software development projects are well known, if not infamous, for running over time and over budget. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Often a number of factors combine to cause a software development to go off course. If this situation is not carefully managed, you and your client can end up aggrieved. That will not make for the good working relationship needed to complete the developmen...

Software development is a complex business and no IT project should proceed without a proper software development agreement in place to protect the developer. An important part of that agreement will be the project plan, or implementation plan, setting out the various stages of the development with a timetable for achievement of the key stages. The project plan will set out how the software develo...

Have you ever been attracted by the idea of outsourcing part of your business or a specific function abroad? To somewhere labour costs are lower and the quality of staff very much higher? It’s public knowledge that many large financial institutions have seen these opportunities. Examples of banks outsourcing their call handling to India and insurance companies outsourcing data processing abr...

Perhaps you know the feeling: you’ve at last found the IT system or the piece of software you’ve been looking for to make your business run more smoothly. The company you’ve found are organised and professional to deal with. The system appears to do what you need it to. Customer references are good. So, all you need to do is sign on the dotted line to agree their ‘standard ...

The primary aim of any contract - and software development agreements are certainly no exception - is basically to set out what each party expects from the arrangement. Where too many IT projects have run into difficulties is not putting in place a software development agreement which adequately deals with all the relevant issues before works starts. This is understandable given the time and budge...

IT projects are well known as being prone to disputes developing. Why? Because they are technically complex and give rise to many legal issues. But often the root cause is that there is no proper software development agreement in place. By the time a prospective client approves your software development proposal, you as a software developer will already have put considerable time and effort into t...

Winning a tender, or being selected, to develop a new piece of software for a client is a great boost for any software developer. You’ll no doubt have a standard method of project planning for sizable software development projects, from scoping, risk identification, change management to timeline development and final testing. In planning the project however there is one step that is sometime...

Software development is a complex technical project which also gives rise to many legal issues. We have all heard of examples of software development projects where things have gone wrong and the resulting dispute has ended up in court. IT projects have figured in a considerable number of cases in recent years– some involving large companies and public sector organisations. When a project ha...

In this article, we are looking at limiting liability when dealing with consumers. Other Cousins Business Law Fact sheets illustrate that to limit liability in a contract, you need to time exactly when the terms doing so get into the contract i.e. before it is made. All we’ll say here on that subject is just a reminder that, if you don’t get the terms properly in front of the consumer,...

Guarantees by email? You might be wondering if I’m about to talk about another use of modern technology, a new app maybe? You may think that a guarantee has to be a formal document, signed and witnessed by all concerned - not necessarily with a big red wax seal to make it valid, but something along those lines. Well, welcome to the twenty-first century way of giving a guarantee. A recent cas...

We hear plenty about celebrity pre-nuptial agreements in the media. Whilst I’m not about to discuss the merits or otherwise of those, I do think there is plenty of merit in what could be called a business ‘pre-nup’. What I’m referring to is a shareholders’ agreement. A shareholders’ agreement is an agreement between all or some of the members of a limited compan...

Working out time periods in legal documents can be tricky. We have seen this highlighted very publicly in the case of Abu Qatada where there is currently some doubt as to whether the Home Secretary acted a day too soon to avoid a legitimate appeal being lodged. It may be some time before a ruling is given, but the consequence if Theresa May got it wrong by just one day is a potential delay of seve...

I saw an article recently which made interesting reading. It compared the length of the terms and conditions on a number of well-known websites with works of Shakespeare. PayPal came out top of the survey beating Hamlet with 36,275 words compared to 30,066. That was well ahead of the next contender, Apple iTunes with 19,972 words as against Macbeth with 18,110. That’s quite a bit of reading ...

As with most business relationships, when using contractors to fulfil a business need it is always preferable for the details of the relationship to be worked through fully and agreed in writing. This article highlights some of the specific factors which need to be considered when entering into an agreement with a contractor.  What is a contractor?  In this article the term contractor is...

 Before jumping into bed with a website host, it’s worth thinking through what you expect of them – and making sure you agree these requirements in writing. Any agreement should, at the very least cover: Amount of storage space, bandwidth, reponse times and provision for scaling up. The availability of the system (24/7?) and downtime for maintenance scheduled outside peak...

When starting a new business the legal aspects are often the ones that get forgotten, or at best sorted out with reluctance. As your business grows and becomes more successful the risks involved can become greater. Still, worrying about the legal side of things may not take number one priority.  I’ve put together these tips for small business owners, they cover the essentials you should...

Pick up a newspaper any day of the week and you’ll see stories about companies and organisations who’ve failed to follow a few simple rules of business, when it comes to making and keeping contracts. Do you remember the Football League’s battle with Carlton over an agreement they (the football league) thought had been made, when in fact the element they were referring to had not ...

New research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - The $4.2 Trillion Opportunity: The Internet Economy in the G-20 - highlights the importance of web based businesses to the UK economy and contains some surprising details.  Their latest study showed that in 2010, the internet economy in the U.K. accounted for the highest percentage of national GDP of all the G20 economies.  The internet c...

If you use consultants in your business, by which I mean self-employed contractors, there are a number of points which you should consider in relation to the agreement between your business and those consultants. They include: 1. Consultant's status You will want to do what you can to ensure that the consultant will not be treated as an employee of the business, not only for tax and national insur...

In the current economic climate it’s become increasingly attractive to many businesses to use self-employed contractors rather than take on more employees. There are a number of reasons a business may do this. These reasons can include a desire to offer a wider range of services than they are able with their existing in-house expertise, or as a way of testing out a new service without too mu...

Many businesses have ignored this issue at their peril! It will become an increasingly important aspect of legal advice, compliance and web design requirements-indeed, if you are presently discussing your website, do get in the contract a requirement that the designer incorporates “all relevant requirements under any disability laws”. The website is viewable all over the world and ther...

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in October 2004. Many people have assumed that it deals only with how disabled people access buildings and services. But it does in fact also apply to the accessibility of websites. Web owners and designers should be aware that they are highly likely to be targeted for scrutiny early on because: Many disabled people will often naturally use ...

The Data Protection Act affects all companies and organisations that hold information about individuals – so that means you, if you keep information about your customers or prospects whether in paper or electronic format.  Many business owners are ignorant of their responsibilities, but they shouldn’t be as the censure can be quite severe. The Information Commissioner’s webs...

With only about three months to go before the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) start enforcing the cookies regulations which came in last year, website owners might be looking to the larger organisations to give a lead on how to comply. But it would not be helpful to follow Google and Internet Explorer at present. Reports in IT industry media this week indicate that the ICO are &ldquo...

Many SME businesses like to offer a range of services to their clients, with the aim of remaining the preferred go-to provider. At the same time they usually want to avoid taking on a large staff in order to provide all those services. That would simply not be feasible for many business owners, especially at a time when costs need to be tightly controlled. I’m finding that a business model w...

If your website uses cookies or similar technology you need to comply with the new cookies rules introduced last year by 26th May 2012. This means that you need to tell users what cookies your site uses, explain what those cookies do and, unless certain very narrow exceptions apply (read Can you rely on exceptions to the cookie regs? ), obtain consent for any that are stored on the users&rsqu...