Letters of intent are widely used in the building trade, because it is normal for both developer and contractor to wish to make progress on a building project without having to wait until the formal contractual arrangements have been fully…
Family members who run businesses together should take careful note of a High Court case in which a husband and wife’s commingling of personal and company funds and failure to keep proper records landed them in legal hot water. The…
When purchasing a company’s assets, professional advice and careful drafting are needed to avoid subsequent dispute about what exactly has been bought. In one case, a High Court resolution was required after two companies both claimed to have acquired another’s…
The first resort of anyone involved in a contract dispute will be to look carefully at the wording of the document itself. However, one High Court case involving a delayed construction project underlined that words said and promises made after…
In many organisations, employees have to be trusted to handle money or the business would simply grind to a halt. However, one case in which a company director made unauthorised transfers totalling about £1.8 million illustrates the importance of having…
It is legitimate to bring some pressure to bear on trade debtors to encourage them to pay up - but one case vividly revealed why such matters really are best left to the professionals. The Court of Appeal imposed jail…
Breakdowns in commercial relationships are an unfortunate fact of business life and a good lawyer can help to broker a sensible compromise. However, in one case where that did not happen, former trading partners spent 13 costly days in the…
The tax authorities do not always get it right and good legal advice can often result in rebates. In one landmark case, golf clubs all over the country won the right to VAT refunds running into millions of pounds after…
Every business owner should know that lax bookkeeping can land you in deep water with the tax authorities. However, in one case, a chip shop proprietor argued that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) got its sums wrong and succeeded in…
Members of the business community are often understandably focused on day-to-day management and leave bookkeeping to others. However, one case in which an entrepreneur was ripped off for hundreds of thousands of pounds by a man who claimed to be…