Andrew Koffman
The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 left 72 people dead, many injured and hundreds homeless and shone a spotlight on the construction of high-rise apartments. It was quickly concluded that the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), that was used to clad the building, was the reason why the fire spread so rapidly and extensively.
Continue ReadingAndrew Koffman
In February 2017 we shared this article and in July 2017 we shared this article, which explained the current rules on recovery of costs by the winner of a court action from the loser. It had been proposed to introduce a “fixed recoverable costs” regime for business and other civil disputes, similar to the one for minor personal injury claims.
Two years on, what if anything has changed?
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Our lives are moving more online and sadly this has resulted in a rise in financial scams. A recent poll of over 2000 individuals by YouGov and Lloyds Bank found 10% of them had been the victim of a financial scam. Property transactions are particularly vulnerable, with high values involved and often time is of the essence. There are numerous cases where solicitors and sellers have been duped into sending the sales proceeds to fraudsters, or buyers have paid the purchase money to someone who was not the real owner.
If you are a business owner, in business with one or more partners, have you taken time to consider what might happen to the business if you, or one of them, were suddenly not around or capable of taking part?
Continue ReadingLocal high streets, town centres and out of town retail parks are all sporting empty units as retailers continue to find market conditions tough. In the last 12 months we have seen some big names disappear such as House of Fraser, HMV and Better Bathrooms and we have seen other retailers reduce their portfolio by closing stores such as Marks and Spencer and John Lewis.
Commercial landlords will normally have an early warning when businesses are struggling as they will often default on rental payments. Depending on the terms of the lease, landlords may have the right to forfeit the lease for non-payment, bringing the lease to an end and giving the landlord an opportunity to re-let the property. But in these tough times is that the landlord’s best option?
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The rush hour commute into Manchester City Centre ground to a halt one morning last month as a disgruntled subcontractor chose to block one of the key routes with plant hire vehicles. The protest was against of non-payment by Dawnus Construction, the main contractor appointed by Manchester City Council to carry of a £15 million road improvement scheme in Manchester and Salford.
The subcontractor, Total Plant Hire (TPL), had supplied plant and machinery to Dawnus for the scheme. When Dawnus failed to pay under the terms of the contract and TPL couldn’t get through to anyone at Dawnus or the Council it took drastic action. Sadly the action was in vain as Dawnus entered Administration that same week. TPL was said to be owed £300,000 by Dawnus. So what can TPL do to recover its money?
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Escalate, the ground-breaking dispute resolution process for SMEs, has won its third national award, completing a unique grand slam of major honours.
Escalate was awarded ‘Excellence in Business Development’ at the Law Society Excellence Awards on Wednesday 17th October.
Continue ReadingAll shareholders in UK companies have certain rights in relation to their shares and in relation to the company. Whilst the precise rights that a shareholder enjoys will vary depending on the size of their shareholding (the larger the shareholding, the greater the number of rights enjoyed by the shareholder), certain basic rights and protections apply regardless of the number of shares held.
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Last July we wrote this article about three recent cases of identity fraud in property sales. In each case a fraudster impersonated the vendor and then absconded with the proceeds paid by the would-be purchasers, leaving the latter to try and sue either their solicitors or the ones acting for the fraudster.
Continue ReadingIf you are a director of a limited company in the UK, then you owe a wide range of duties to that company. Breaches of duty can give rise to personal liability and, in some cases, criminal sanctions so a proper understanding of your duties and responsibilities is essential.
Often, a director will be ignorant of his or her responsibilities (or some of them). Sometimes, a director will also be a shareholder and/or employee of the company and this can lead to confusion as to how the director is to exercise his or her powers. Both of these situations can lead to serious problems if they result in breaches of the director’s duties, whether those breaches are deliberate or not.
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