05/11/21
Following the uncertainty of the pandemic as well as other factors such as Brexit, congested transport routes, rises in shipping costs, labour shortages and even climate change, UK builders have been exposed to a world-wide surge in demand for essential materials. Construction companies have revived…
05/11/21
In Blu-Sky Solutions Ltd v Be Caring Ltd [2021] EWHC 2619 a mobile phone supplier was not entitled to enforce a cancellation clause in its standard terms, since it was an overly onerous term which had not been fairly and reasonably drawn to the purchaser's attention before it had signed an order…
18/10/21
Rightly or wrongly, we're all coming to terms with the normality of goods shortages, and more recently due to lack of HGV drivers arising out of Covid and compounded by Brexit. We've heard of a number of businesses which have either had to close due to these shortages or default on supply and…
28/09/21
In the recent matter of Tattersalls Limited v McMahon, the High Court examined the application of both agency law and the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) with regard to the potential liability of a company director. Background Douglas McMahon (the Defendant) was a co-founder of Bluecrest…
27/09/21
On a construction or engineering project, a collateral warranty is a contract between a person with an interest in the project (other than the client or employer) and a person who is involved in the project's design, management or construction. In the previous case of Parkwood Leisure Ltd v…
15/09/21
On Monday 5 July 2021, information relating to the Building Safety Bill was published including various supporting and explanatory documents and some draft regulations. The Bill, once passed, will introduce new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety in England and Wales and for construction…
13/09/21
It has been announced that UK firms will have an additional year to apply new post-Brexit product safety marking rules. While many firms have been using the new UK conformity assessed (UKCA) markings since 1 January 2021, companies had previously faced a 1 January 2022 deadline to switch from…
24/08/21
The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) have, in Eco World - Ballymore Embassy Gardens Co Ltd v Dobler UK Ltd, recently held that a liquidated damages clause was neither void nor unenforceable as a result of a contract permitting the partial take over by the employer without a mechanism for reducing…
10/08/21
Over the past fortnight, the transfer sagas of two footballers from their respective clubs to Manchester City have outlined the importance of a written contract. On the one hand, we have the completed £100 million transfer of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa to City; on the other the frustrated…
05/08/21
Drop-shipping is a form of supply chain management, whereby a secondary retailer (the "drop-shipper"), typically taking the form of an online e-commerce platform, accepts a customer's order and, rather than holding the necessary stock to fulfil such order, it relies upon the primary…
17/06/21
Firstly, what are these provisions? A 'pay-when-paid' clause is a payment condition that establishes a reasonable time for the contractor to comply with its duty to make payment to a subcontractor or supplier upon the contractor's receipt of payment from the owner. Essentially this…
07/05/21
HMRC has recently extended the 'off-payroll working rules' - commonly referred to as the 'IR35 rules' - to the private sector, in order to tackle scenarios in which some contractors took advantage of the tax efficiencies of providing their services through a limited company or another…
09/03/21
Not so long ago, companies had to deal with mountains of paperwork, meetings always held in person, and communication both internally and externally was not so easy. These days, technology has helped businesses come a long way by simplifying and streamlining how we communicate and eliminating many of…
10/02/21
National Apprenticeship Week began on 8 February. This year's theme is 'Build The Future.' With 20 years of experience in progressing employees through apprenticeships, Forbes Solicitors has helped build futures and this year has been no different and has been as successful, despite the…
27/01/21
Following going into its second administration in April 2020 and subsequently into liquidation shortly before the festive period, Debenhams is one of the latest victims of the impact of the pandemic and the accelerated shift to online retailing. Nevertheless, Boohoo, leading online fashion retailer…
26/01/21
Following a 12-month postponement due to the impacts of Covid-19, the Finance Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 22 July 2020, meaning that the forthcoming reforms to the IR35 tax legislation for the private sector are now just a matter of months away. IR35 was first introduced in 2000 with the aim…
26/01/21
It is widely considered that the Brexit deal is preferable to what would have arisen in a no-deal Brexit, and the deal has been cautiously welcomed by many in the construction industry for providing some much sought-after clarity. Whilst the impacts of Covid are ongoing and are likely to be lasting, the…
19/01/21
Many high streets and city centres were struggling under the weight of customers' shift towards online shopping even before the pandemic hit. However, by virtue of forced closures, social distancing restrictions, potential customers working from home rather than in offices near physical stores and a…
14/01/21
Since the key case of R on the application of Mercury Tax Group and another v HMRC [2008] EWHC 2721 was heard over a decade ago, there have been significant developments in respect of the understanding of electronic signatures of legal documents, when they can be used, and their enforceability.…
07/01/21
The leading case JD Sports Fashion plc v Competition and Markets Authority [2020] highlights the importance of regulators taking proactive steps to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on competition. Background · Following the merger of JD Sports and Footasylum in a £90 million-…
04/01/21
Amid a busy festive period with the imposition of stricter lockdown measures and the approval of the latest Covid-19 vaccine was the news that a Brexit deal had been agreed. The deal, which was agreed on Christmas Eve, marked some form of conclusion to the Brexit process which has been ongoing since the…
