‘Know your customer’ is a mantra we oft repeat. A recent report by Dun & Bradstreet provides further evidence that knowing your customer is a crucial part of avoiding the late payment trap into which many businesses, particularly SMEs, fall.

It is natural now for businesses to be wary about bringing a claim against someone who has done them wrong. The ugly combination of cost and risk has ensured more are just chalking problems up to experience rather than fighting their corner.

Identifying the correct opponent at the outset and assessing their ability to pay is vital, and we here set out some considerations that need to be looked at very early on when a dispute develops.

The claim by Mr and Mrs Brake (Brake v Swift), heard in the High Court in May, to have a cottage and adjacent land revested in them under Section 283A of the Insolvency Act 1986, was set against a background of convoluted litigation extending over a number of years, described by Matthews HHJ as ‘complex’.

The government’s promised ‘right to repair’ regulations finally entered the statute books in July 2021. The right to repair is about a consumer’s right to repair goods they purchase – either themselves or by using a third party.

This month's employment update includes the 2023/24 rates for the NMW and NLW, plus statutory benefit payments and compensation limits; the Spring Budget and key points for employers; the four-day week; and the importance of not confusing hybrid working with flexible working.

This week has seen some sharp debate around the release of migration statistics, including barbed criticism of the Government for perceived failure to deliver on a Brexit promise. Stacey Lambert, Associate in Wright Hassall’s Business Immigration team, takes a closer look.

It can be a huge relief when financial remedy proceedings come to an end, whether by consent order or through contested court proceedings. Everyone now knows where they stand financially and can start to make plans for and look to the future. This should be the end of matters, but unfortunately that is not always the case.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (the “Act”) introduces a new regime overseen by a new Building Safety Regulator.

Both proprietary and promissory estoppel are legal doctrines designed to stop a party from reneging on a promise that they have made to another party which has relied on that promise to their detriment. Proprietary estoppel is primarily concerned with land and property, whereas promissory estoppel claims concern other assets and are usually associated with an adjustment of a pre-existing contractual relationship between parties.