AI for Small Businesses: Risk and Reward
Sam Altman’s rejection of a $97.4bn bid for Open AI (maker of ChatGPT) from a consortium of investors led by Elon Musk is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk and Open AI’s chief executive. Musk and Altman co-founded the start-up in 2015 as a non-profit company, but the relationship soured since Musk[...]
Impact of Employment Rights Bill
On 10 October 2024, the UK Government published its Employment Rights Bill, which includes many of the measures previously set out in the Labour Party’s “Plan to Make Work Pay” which was mentioned in the King’s Speech. It proposes some wide-ranging changes in employment practices and law which will affect virtually all employers including small[...]
Switching On The Right To Switch Off
The incoming UK Labour Government has announced several plans which should be music to the ears of SMEs. Proposals such as acting on late payments, making it easier for small and medium sized enterprises to access capital, as well as reforming procurement rules to give small business greater access to government contracts, would all be[...]
Pros and Cons of Global Remote Working and Relocation
Has business fallen out of love with remote working? Amazon has told its office workers that they may no longer work from home except in extenuating circumstances while PwC now insists that its UK staff work in the office for at least three days per week (a surprising volte face given PwC’s previously liberal attitude[...]
Bespoke Contracts Beat DIY/Cookie Cutter Options
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face just as many legal challenges as larger firms, from intellectual property protection to regulatory compliance. SMEs (and certainly all start-ups) may consider themselves too small to justify the cost of a full-time (or even part-time) in-house legal advisor, but most realise that they are probably big enough to require[...]
Brexit Benefit for UK AI?
At the moment it seems that a start-up firm only has to hint at involvement in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for its chances of getting investors on board to dramatically improve. Europe has imposed a lot of laws and regulations on AI, and some suggest that there could be a Brexit benefit in the UK being[...]
SEIS/EIS Investment Schemes
The UK government established the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) to provide tax incentives for investors in start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs as well as higher-risk companies seeking to raise equity finance. So far, these schemes seem to have worked well during the critical early years, raising over £23 billion[...]
Disclosure is Key in Due Diligence
For most start-ups and small businesses, due diligence is something to be endured when a potential investor undertakes an audit process before committing to investing in your company. The intensity of that audit often depends on the amount of investment involved. That much should be obvious to any viewer of the business reality TV shows[...]
Flexible Working in 2024
Amongst the new employment laws expected to come into effect in 2024 is the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which received Royal Assent and passed into law on 20 July 2023. Although a formal introduction date is yet to be announced, the new law is expected to come into force in April 2024, at which[...]
GDPR Compliance is Essential for Tech Start-Ups
Several business surveys suggest that the most problematic issues facing any small business or SME include cash flow management, hiring and retaining talent, and regulatory compliance. This last issue is especially relevant to tech start-ups in particular and one of the regulations with the greatest potential for causing problems through non-compliance is the UK/EU GDPR[...]
SME Gender Pay Gap Reporting
Although under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 only employers with 250 or more employees are required to report their gender pay gaps, many smaller businesses are deciding to do it anyway. It is certainly true that trying to reduce a gender pay gap becomes more difficult as a business’s size[...]
Why Every Start-Up Needs a Board of Directors
Most people would associate a board of directors with bigger companies where the influence and guidance of an independent board is crucial to good corporate governance and the success of the business. However, although a start-up or small business can also reap substantial benefits from them, many owner/founders still question why they need (and shy[...]
AI and Intellectual Property
Do You Really Own Your App? Depending on who you listen to, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is either a boon for mankind or, according to Elon Musk, the greatest existential threat we face as a species. It’s the “dangers” of AI that have fulled most regulation currently being discussed, with news reports focusing mainly on the[...]
How Hiring a Start-up Lawyer in London Can Help Build a Solid Foundation for Your New Business
A start-up lawyer can provide legal assistance and guidance that can help build a solid foundation for your new company and help avoid problems that can arise. Starting a new business can be an exciting and rewarding journey, but it can also be quite challenging. Many entrepreneurs who start a new business overlook the importance[...]
Doing Business in the USA
In a previous Insights article we examined the issues faced by American companies wishing to set up business in the United Kingdom. The practicalities of doing that are complicated for US firms, and equally UK companies looking to expand into the USA face a similarly complex (but ultimately potentially very rewarding) journey. Establishing a US[...]
Equality, Discrimination, and Your Liability
Recent press reports suggest that a potential legal battle between the Scottish and UK Parliament is looming because the UK government is blocking a piece of devolved legislation aimed at making it easier for transgender people to change their legally recognised sex. The reason given for this move by Westminster is that the proposed change[...]
Recruitment and Retention Strategies for SMEs
How do you best recruit and then retain valuable employees? That is a vital question for all businesses as well as the private and public sector. One of the common themes of the current wave of strikes in the UK is not just rates of pay, but the impact on employees of inadequate recruitment, poor[...]
The Impact of Brexit on SMEs Becomes Clearer
Even with factors such as the pandemic lockdowns, the September “mini-budget” and the measures announced in the Autumn Statement on 17 November, the impact of Brexit, especially on SMEs, is becoming clearer. Most recently, Michael Saunders, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, who left that position this month, felt free[...]
Doing Business in the UK
For many US companies looking for international growth, the United Kingdom is an attractive first foothold in overseas markets. A government keen to attract inward investment, a shared business and civil culture and the English language as well as geographic (if not political) proximity to mainland Europe all make the UK a logical choice for[...]
Carry on Carrying over Holiday Entitlement?
What should be your approach to carrying over holiday entitlement now, as we seem to be emerging from the worst of the pandemic? How should employers handle leave ‘carry over’ requests from their workers when what was a public health emergency is being replaced by the prospect of much tougher financial circumstances. A trading environment[...]
Co-Founders: What Happens When It Goes Wrong
Every co-founder situation is different, but one common problem, especially in start-ups, is how to handle co-founder disputes which can damage progress or even lead to company failure. The problem isn’t unique, even though it may feel that way to the individuals involved in conflict. Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman writes in his book[...]
Digitalisation: The Right (to Work and Rent) Solution?
UK employers have a legal obligation to comply with the prevention of illegal working legislation as set out set out in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, section 24B of the Immigration Act 1971 and Schedule 6 of the Immigration Act 2016. This legislation requires checks to verify that anyone you employ in the UK has[...]
The False Economy of Part-Time Employees and Contractors
If you own or manage a business, getting the right people and building the right team is vital to your success, especially when the Coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on ways of working. Thousands of workers have transitioned from onsite employees to full-time remote workers and it’s clear that this shift in expectations[...]
Hybrid and Remote Working in a Post-Covid World
Most commentators seem to agree that remote working in some form or other introduced as a result of the pandemic is here to stay. A wide range of research confirms that most workers want to continue to work from home, some all the time but most it seems would prefer a balance where they are[...]
Getting Down to Business After Covid
The lifting of Covid restrictions from 19 July removes more or less every domestic legal restriction in England in one fell swoop. All businesses will be able to open, without Covid-related capacity limits, and measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing will be left to people’s personal responsibility. Most Covid rules in Wales will be[...]
What is Corporate Law?
Corporate Law is the body of law pertaining to the practices, structure, rules, and regulations, conduct of persons within corporations. Working in corporate law is highly sought after due to its dynamic, fast paced, and exciting nature. What do Corporate Lawyers do? Working in corporate law, no two days are ever the same. The general[...]
What is a Start-Up Business?
The true definition of start-up is disputed by many with some claiming it’s a state of mind, and others believe to qualify as a start-up, you must offer something unique and meet the needs of the people. In layman’s terms, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a start-up as ‘the act or an instance of setting in[...]
IR35 - Will It Affect You?
Keep hearing the term “IR35”, but still puzzled as to what it is and, most importantly, how it affects your business? In a nutshell, IR35 is tax legislation designed to combat tax avoidance by workers, and the firms hiring them, by ensuring contractors pay broadly the same tax and NICs as employees if they are[...]
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