Clarke and Son News

All businesses will need to understand what the introduction of the Provision of Services Regulatons 2009 will mean to their businesses. The Regulations came into force on 28th December 2009 and  apply to the majority of private sector businesses providing services in the UK, unless they provide an excluded service. They require businesses to make information available to customers, and to deal with customer complaints promptly.  The Regulations also prohibit discrimination against individual customers in the provision of services on the basis of their place of residence.

 Please see the attached checklist - provision-of-services-regulations-2009-checklist.pdf  -  to help you get up to speed with your obligations under the Regulations.

 For more information on business services, contact Peter Turner on Tel: 01256 320 555.

Just in time for the Christmas and New Year Celebrations, Clarke & Son’s prize at a recent Meet the Chamber Event was a bottle of Champagne. The delighted winner was Claire Freer of FCM, who said of the event:

 ”I thought the Chamber of Commerce Event offered a really good mix of businesses - all of whom I was able to speak to.  I also liked the format where members and non-members could speak briefly about their company at the beginning.  Winning the bottle of Champagne from Clarke & Son topped off a very successful evening!”

Clarke & Son were promoting their Commercial Services at the event, offering free business healthchecks to attendees and advice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures and Commercial Property Issues.

Charles Marchant-White, Partner and Chairman of the North Hampshire Chamber of Commerce felt that the event went very well.

“This was an ideal opportunity for SMEs and fledging businesses to come and find out more about all services on offer in Basingstoke. I felt the event was very well attended and look forward to similar opportunities in the future.”

For further information on Clarke & Son’s Commercial Services, contact Charles Marchant-White on Tel: 01256 320 555.

Commenting on the choices facing the MPC at its December 2008 meeting next Thursday, David Kern, Chief Economist at theBritish Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Following the disappointing reaction to the PBR it is critical for the MPC to persevere with aggressive interest rate cuts. To alleviate the worse consequences of the recession, we urge the MPC to cut rates by a full one per cent on Thursday, to two per cent. Additional cuts will be needed in the early months of the New Year, probably to one per cent.”

Paul Cowdery, Conveyancing Partner, comments:

“Although interest rate reductions are unlikely to produce any immediate recovery in the housing market, the hope is that more competitive and realistic mortgage products will come on line sooner to fuel the property market.  This process may well be assisted by the “nationalisation” of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).”

97 per cent of work premises inspected in the two weeks after 1 July were smoke-free following the no-smoking laws which came into effect last month, according to data by the Department of Health.

Enforcement officers visiting offices, restaurants, hotels and licensed premises found 97% were following regulations to prohibit smoking in enclosed premises with 79% displaying the correct signage.

Compliance in company cars was also high with levels at 98% and 84% respectively. Dawn Primarolo, minister for public health: 

“When we introduced the smoke-free law last month, we predicted that it would be largely self-enforcing based on experience elsewhere and the fact that three-quarters of the public supported the move,”

“These figures confirm that, just as happened previously in Ireland then Scotland. England saw very high levels of compliance in the first few days. All the signs are that businesses and the public have taken the new law in their stride.”

UK Businesses are facing more lawsuits than ever before and expect levels of litigation to remain constant or increase in the coming year, a global study by international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski has highlighted.

Four out of five UK businesses (78%) said they faced court action over the past 12 months. This figure is up from 66% on last year, and the percentage of UK respondents who faced more than 50 court actions in the past year has trebled, from just 5% in 2005 to 15% in 2006.

One in six UK businesses (17%) expects to see an increase in legal disputes over the next year.

Regulatory issues were cited by UK companies as a primary litigation concern, with almost 60% of UK respondents stating they had faced a regulatory proceeding over the past 12 months.

Labour and employment disputes also featured prominently, cited by 48% (up from 26% last year). More companies are facing class or group actions, which they see as an increasing risk.

Ref. Personnel Today

Clarke & Son Business Services.

If you run a business, or are thinking of forming a business with people you know, or people who are quite new to you, some of the key documents you need in place relate to protecting yours (and your companies) interests.

This report from Personnel Today seems to suggest that they are documents that any company should have.

Almost one third of UK directors have stolen confidential information from their employer, research has revealed with about 29% of the 1,385 employees surveyed admitted to taking confidential company material when they left for a new job.

If you need advice or would like to contact us, visit out Commercial Services Section.