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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.

Government gets tough on late payers

19 January 2021

Companies will have to pay smaller suppliers within 30 days under the new terms of the Prompt Payment Code as the government seeks to crack down on late payment.

The government has announced reforms to the Prompt Payment Code, cutting by half the required payment period for companies paying smaller suppliers. Under the new rules, signatories will have to pay 95% of invoices from small businesses (those with less than 50 employees) within 30 days from 1 July 2021. The target for larger businesses will remain 95% of invoices within 60 days.

Despite the fact that almost 3,000 companies have already signed the code, the government says that poor payment practices are still rife. It means that £23.4 billion worth of late invoices are currently owed to firms across Britain. According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), around 50,000 businesses close every year because of late payments.

Under the reformed code, business leaders will be required to take personal responsibility for paying suppliers on time. Breaches will continue to be publicised by the government in order to encourage compliance. The government is also seeking to strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner, with legally binding payment orders, investigations and fines.

Small business minister Paul Scully said: "Today, we are relieving some of the pressure on small business owners by introducing significant reforms to the UK payments regime - pushing big businesses to pay their suppliers on time. By signing up to the Prompt Payment Code and sticking to its rules, large firms can help Britain to build back better, protecting the jobs, innovation and growth which small businesses drive right across the UK."

The changes coming into effect immediately are:

  • A company's ceo or finance director, or the business owner, must personally sign the Prompt Payment Code;
  • A new PPC logo must be used in external communications to show a company's commitment to the code, making it more damaging to a company's reputation to breach it;
  • Firms must acknowledge as a condition of signing the code that suppliers can charge interest on late invoices.

"Late payment causes real hardship to small businesses, and the issue is more prevalent than ever due to the continued impact of the pandemic," said interim small business commissioner Philip King. "I encourage businesses of all sizes to implement ethical business practices and sign up to become a code signatory and join us on our journey to aid business recovery post COVID-19."

Mike Cherry, FSB national chair, said: "A late payment crisis was massively stifling the UK economy before COVID hit. The pandemic has deepened it … Ending our pernicious poor payment culture for good over the coming months will be fundamental to turning our hopes of economic recovery into reality."

The Prompt Payment Code currently has over 2,800 signatories. When a company is struck off the code for poor practice, this is publicly announced by the Small Business Commissioner's Office.

Written by Rachel Miller.

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