The ramifications of Coronavirus on UK businesses will be wide ranging and the next few months will be turbulent. Almost all businesses, big or small, will feel the impact however those that rely heavily on footfall traffic, cross-border supply chains and face-to-face customer interaction could face serious financial disruption. Whilst there is a lot of […]

I recently took part in the Wharefedale Ton, the 100 mile Charity Bike Ride. Whilst the entry fee goes to supporting Marie Curie, riders can also choose to raise money for a charity of their choice. I decided to raise money for Blacks’ Charity of the Year, Leeds Mind, which helps raise awareness of mental […]

GDPR and the Data Protection Act came into force in May 2018.  There was some sense of foreboding as we built up to the introduction, there was no transition period just a new and extensive set of rules and regulations to replace and update the Data Protection Act 1998.  The legislation is not a one […]

A recent case (Thirunavukkrasu v Brar and another [2018] EWHC 2461 (Ch)) has confirmed what property litigators have long suspected – that is, if a commercial landlord exercises the “CRAR” procedure (see below for further detail), and then attempts to forfeit the lease for the same arrears, the forfeiture will be unlawful, the lease will […]

The Marriott Hotel chain announced on Friday 30 November 2018 that information contained in its Starwood brands guest reservation database was compromised. Unauthorised access occurred in connection with reservations at Starwood properties on or before 10 September 2018, potentially dating back to 2014. Marriott received an alert from a security tool on 8 September 2018 […]

Another day, another article on Brexit. But this one is a little bit different. It concerns a dispute between the Canary Wharf Group, a property development, investment and management company, and its tenant, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”). The EMA is, in simple terms, attempting to get out of the remaining term of its 25 […]

The 2018 Budget has been received positively by business groups. Carolyn Fairburn, CBI Director-General said it was “a rock solid Budget, bringing more treats than tricks for business whilst the Federation of Small Businesses hailed it as “the most small-business-friendly budget that this Chancellor has delivered.” So what could the Budget mean for your business? […]

Labour peer and long-standing human rights campaigner Lord Hain blasted through five Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) when he named retail tycoon Sir Philip Green as the latest leading businessman at the centre of allegations of workplace abuse, including sexual and racial harassment, on 26 October. Lord Hain’s actions are all the more dramatic as just two […]

It’s fair to say that the bigger the brand, the more valuable it is; so it is no surprise that businesses will try their best to protect their brand even when, in hindsight, it may not have been the most commercially sound decision. A perfect example of this is the recently reported case involving rap […]

Last weekend news broke of a data breach at the Conservative Party conference via an app, prompting predictions of an embarrassing GDPR fine for the party currently in power. The limelight for this data breach was wholly stolen by Facebook who revealed news of the largest ever data breach in the history of its company […]

Whilst the most common way to register a trade mark is using a word or logo “mark”, there are other options available if your business uses something that is sufficiently distinctive enough, for example a colour, a smell or a shape. The common hurdles for registering a trade mark that must be overcome include: the […]

The UK government are set to announce a consultation on ‘no-fault divorce’ as Justice Secretary David Gauke described the current system as creating “unnecessary antagonism” following the case of Owens v Owens. It was reported that David Gauke now plans to call for the existing fault-based system to be overhauled. We reported on the case […]