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Setting up a business involves complying with a range of legal requirements. Find out which ones apply to you and your new enterprise.

What particular regulations do specific types of business (such as a hotel, or a printer, or a taxi firm) need to follow? We explain some of the key legal issues to consider for 200 types of business.

While poor governance can bring serious legal consequences, the law can also protect business owners and managers and help to prevent conflict.

Whether you want to raise finance, join forces with someone else, buy or sell a business, it pays to be aware of the legal implications.

From pay, hours and time off to discipline, grievance and hiring and firing employees, find out about your legal responsibilities as an employer.

Marketing matters. Marketing drives sales for businesses of all sizes by ensuring that customers think of their brand when they want to buy.

Commercial disputes can prove time-consuming, stressful and expensive, but having robust legal agreements can help to prevent them from occurring.

Whether your business owns or rents premises, your legal liabilities can be substantial. Commercial property law is complex, but you can avoid common pitfalls.

With information and sound advice, living up to your legal responsibilities to safeguard your employees, customers and visitors need not be difficult or costly.

As information technology continues to evolve, legislation must also change. It affects everything from data protection and online selling to internet policies for employees.

Intellectual property (IP) isn't solely relevant to larger businesses or those involved in developing innovative new products: all products have IP.

Knowing how and when you plan to sell or relinquish control of your business can help you to make better decisions and achieve the best possible outcome.

From bereavement, wills, inheritance, separation and divorce to selling a house, personal injury and traffic offences, learn more about your personal legal rights.

Small firms struggle as bank branches close

25 March 2024

A new study has investigated the impact of bank branch closures on the UK's small business community.

The majority of UK small businesses (88%) are worried about the loss of local bank branches, according to a survey of 1,000 business leaders and senior decision-makers at UK SMEs conducted by BusinessComparison.

The business banking poll asked SME leaders about how often they use their local bank and what worries them the most about bank closures. Three-quarters (74%) agree that there are fewer bank branches near their business than there were ten years ago.

Key findings include:

  • 88% of business leaders are worried about bank closures in their area;
  • 50% are concerned the impact on businesses that take cash payments;
  • 34% are worried about the impact on customers.

The most common reasons to visit a bank are to deposit takings in cash and to collect change. A quarter (24%) of business leaders said they take cash payments "often" and 23% said they take cash "sometimes". While 47% of businesses said they never run out of change to give to customers, 13% say they do several times a week.

As a result, a key issue is the time it takes to visit a local bank branch:

  • 51% of business leaders say it takes them or a staff member 11 to 30 minutes to visit the local bank;
  • For 21%, it takes 31 to 45 minutes;
  • Only 15% of those polled can get to a bank branch in less than ten minutes.

"It was heartening to see how much of a sense of business community emerged from the survey results. For 88% of business leaders, the main concern when it came to bank closures was the impact on the local area, including other businesses." Philip Brennan, founder and md, BusinessComparison.

Online business banking

The research reveals that 44% of business leaders "always" use digital banking services to complete routine tasks, and 34% bank online "often". However, the findings suggest that many businesses are still using cash.

London is the region where business owners are most likely to say they often take cash payments; at 40%, this is much higher than the national average of 24%. This region is also the most likely to have a member of staff visit the bank every day, at 62%. Businesses in the South East are most likely to only take card payments, at 35% (compared to the national average of 21%).

Written by Rachel Miller.

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