Health & safety is the biggest challenge facing SMEs as they emerge from lockdown
May 14th 2020Earlier this week, we shared a UK200 Group poll, to better understand the biggest challenges facing SMEs as they return to work from lockdown. If you participated in the poll, thank you. The poll has highlighted that health and safety ranked as the top concern for businesses emerging from lockdown. Cashflow comes second and client confidence third. This indicates that it is the uncertainty of reopening a business, with all…
Business Interruption Insurance: Are you covered?
May 13th 2020Mark Aspin Director and Head of Dispute Resolution provides useful information on business interruption insurance. As some areas of commerce – at least tentatively – look to restarting operations over the coming weeks, those businesses which have been totally closed over the past weeks will be looking forward to seeing an income stream restarting. Whilst income has been reduced (or stopped) and places of work closed, many businesses have been…
Cumbrian firm lobbies government for more support for SMEs as survey reveals more than 30% face permanent closure
April 29th 2020A LEADING Cumbria legal firm is backing calls for the government to do more to help small and medium sized businesses with more than 30 per cent at risk of going out of business if the COVID-19 lockdown continues. New research conducted by the UK200Group an organisation which represents the country’s leading law and accountancy firms, shows that more than 500,000 people in the North West are at risk of…
Shops and SMEs to be protected against aggressive rent collection
April 29th 2020Stephanie Johnson Associate Solicitor provides an update. Shops and small businesses will be protected from aggressive rent collection during the Covid-19 emergency. Instead, Business Secretary Alok Sharma says they will be asked to pay what they can over the next two months. Mr Sharma says most landlords and tenants are working well together to reach agreements on debt obligations, but some landlords have been putting tenants under undue pressure by…
Landlord and Tenant repossessions and trespassers during COVID-19
April 27th 2020Mark Aspin Director and Head of Dispute Resolution provides an update As we have previously reported, as a result of the Coronavirus Act and changes to the court rules, tenants in both commercial and residential properties have been given extra protection to avoid eviction during government restrictions and the coronavirus pandemic. The courts have now, however, modified the general stay on possession proceedings that was granted recently and added the…
Lake District Radio Business Show with Joanne Stronach
April 20th 2020Today saw the launch of the UK HMRC Furlough scheme. Lake District Radio had a Q&A session live on the radio with Joanne Stronach who joined by telephone. The show was broadcast on Lake District Radio on the 20th April 2020 and is available below.
Latest Employment Law Update on Furloughing
April 16th 2020Latest update from Claire Davies Director and Employment & HR Solicitor. New changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme New guidance published yesterday has confirmed that the eligibility date has been extended to 19 March 2020 – the day before the scheme was announced. Employers can now claim for furloughed employees that were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means that the employee…
The Impact of COVID19 on Property Transactions
April 15th 2020Jonathan Carroll, Director and Head of Property & Agriculture helpfully explains the potential effects of #COVID19 on property transactions. For those buying or selling property, or who are already committed to a move, the COVID19 pandemic has brought some challenges. Fortunately, with good legal advice and a bit of common sense from the parties most of those challenges can be managed. “It’s important to stress that you need to follow…
Tenant evictions banned during Coronavirus outbreak – obtaining possession of a Residential Property let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (“AST”)
April 6th 2020Under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, to recover possession of a property after the expiry of the contractual term in the AST, landlords are required to give tenants two months written notice stating that they require possession of the property for a so-called “no-fault” eviction. “Section 8” Notices provide different notice periods for seeking possession where a tenant, typically, is in breach of the tenancy. The Coronavirus Act…
Contingent Workers working in Public Sector given extra support
April 3rd 2020As Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors are members of the UK200Group we are able to share with you the following update on Contingent Workers working in Public Sector from James Abbott, Managing Director of Abbott Moore We hope you will find this beneficial and we will continue to keep you informed of any useful advice during this difficult time. The Cabinet Office has issued guidance notes on how contingent workers in the…