Franchisors will welcome a High Court decision that applied established employment law principles on restrictive covenants to a business to business relationship. The court enforced an ambiguously drafted restrictive covenant against an ex-franchisee and also dismissed an argument that a…
A ‘worker’ who acts as a ‘whistleblower’ – disclosing breaches of the law – receives statutory protection under the law if he or she suffers detrimental treatment as a result of having made the disclosure to the appropriate authorities. Recently,…
Although it has been widely reported that recent changes to the law make squatting in residential premises a criminal offence for the first time, this is not strictly true. Refusing to leave a property when requested by a ‘displaced residential…
In a ruling which illustrates the pitfalls of inaccurate land sale particulars, members of a family who sold their vegetable patch to a developer for more than £150,000 have been ordered to repay the money by a judge who found…
The operators of a metal waste disposal and reclamation yard have triumphed in their High Court fight to overturn an Environment Agency notice suspending its activities on noise pollution grounds. Numerous complaints about ‘unpredictable loud bangs and crashes’ coming from…
Readers are reminded that on 1 October 2012, changes to the Money Laundering Regulations came into force that will affect many businesses, particularly those that engage in high-value transactions or that offer services involving the exchange of money. Broadly, the…
A man who was made bankrupt has failed in an attempt to persuade the court that, following his discharge from bankruptcy, he should be relieved of the duty to make payments due to his ex-wife. He had been ordered to…
The treasurer of a Christian charity has been jailed after he stole more than £500,000 from two charities. Accountant Steven Methuen was responsible for the finances of Amblecote Christian Centre in Stourbridge, West Midlands. A joint investigation by HM Revenue…
The Supreme Court has confirmed the approach that a business should take when making a payment in lieu of notice (PILON) to an employee. Employers need to ensure that when they make a PILON they notify the employee that a…
Company directors should be made aware of a High Court decision which highlights the potential penal consequences of a failure to comply with an injunction. The court held that two corporate defendants (and a director of both companies) were in…
