Commercial law

Wherever you are in your business lifecycle, or whatever industry you are in, keeping your business up-to-date and compliant with the latest commercial legislation is vital to its health and success.

Our specialist commercial solicitors work hand in hand with numerous businesses and invest time in getting to know your business and your ambitions, meaning we provide highly tailored, strategic and cost-effective legal advice that enables you to concentrate on growing your business and/or selling it on.

Corporate and compliance matters

Commercial contracts

All businesses need a robust set of contracts tailored to their unique operation. Typical contracts that we would advise on include terms and conditions of business, agency and distributorship agreements, website terms, bank guarantees, confidentiality agreements and franchise agreements.

Company and business purchases and sales and new shareholder investment

Having built up your business, one day it’s likely you will wish to realise the return on investment and sell it on, either through the sale of shares or assets. It is important to plan for this well in advance, to fine-tune your business and get it into top shape in order to maximise its value.

If you are seeking a new shareholder investor to your company it is important to consider entering into a shareholder agreement which would govern how the company would be run and what the rights of each shareholder would be. The memorandum and articles of association of the company do not typically contain sufficient detail in relation to how the company would be run on a day to day basis or how much of the company’s profits would be retained for re-investment and how much would be paid in dividends. Such decisions are individual to each company and should be given careful consideration in advance of an investment.

As soon as you start thinking about selling even a part of your business, it is vital you speak to us so we can help you make the process as smooth, successful and stress-free as possible.

If you are planning to expand and hope to purchase another business or enter a joint venture, then we can advise you on this too – negotiating the contracts and carrying out due diligence research into the business you wish to acquire.

Business related employment law advice

Compliance

Employment law is a fast moving and highly regulated area of law and requires regular attention and review by business owners to ensure ongoing compliance. We can advise on matters such as:

Preparation and website publication of policies required for legal compliance such as:

• Modern Slavery Act
• Bribery Act
• Right to work in UK
• Working Time Regulations (including calculation of holiday pay)
• Data Protection and Privacy (GDPR)

Contractual matters

We can assist businesses and individual clients with the following matters:

• Senior Management contracts
• Advice on post-termination restrictions
• Share option schemes
• Termination of employment
• Managing TUPE transfers
• Redundancy arrangements