A reduction of capital occurs where a company reduces the amount of its share capital. A company may reduce its share capital in a variety of ways, for example, it can extinguish or reduce the liability on any of its…

This checklist sets out the duties your business owes to members of the public when you provide them with goods, services or facilities. Since 1 October 2010, these rules are set out in the Equality Act 2010. Who is a…

A franchise must have the following elements: The franchisor allows the franchisee to use a name which is associated with the franchisor. The franchisor exercises continuing control over the franchisee. The franchisor provides assistance to the franchisee. The franchisee periodically…

The term joint venture has no specific meaning in English law. It describes a commercial arrangement between two or more economically independent entities which can effectively be slotted into one of four basic legal pigeonholes. In practice, the legal form…

Checklist: data protection This checklist highlights the key legal obligations your business should consider when dealing with personal data about: Customers. Suppliers. Employees. Any other individual who you may encounter in the course of business. Penalties for failing to deal…

Checklist: advertising This checklist highlights the main issues your business should consider when planning an advertising campaign. Always consider taking advice on your advertising copy. The Copy Advice service will help you avoid breaking the rules, which could lead to…

Use of Cookies This checklist, based on guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), sets out how your business should obtain consent from visitors to your website to store or retrieve information from users’ computers or mobile devices. New laws…

What are Director’s Duties? The Companies Act 2006 codifies certain common law and equitable duties of directors. In summary, the seven general duties under the 2006 Act are: To act within powers. To promote the success of the company. To…

A shadow director was any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company were accustomed to act, but a person was not deemed to be a shadow director by reason only that directors acted on…

What is a Non-Executive Director? Executive directors work for a company on a full or part time basis and are remunerated for their services as an employee of the company. Non-executive directors have the same duties and attract the same…