Commercial leases are unlikely to include provision for rent suspension in circumstances of a health epidemic and tenants will be left to try and negotiate a rent-free period or discounted rent with their landlord.

The payment of dividends is generally a good indicator of the financial health of a business. Dividends represent a way of returning income on an investment, but that is not all they are used for.

Restaurants are closed for everything except take away services. Supermarkets are struggling to supply staples, but the nation still needs feeding. Most workers will be eating at home rather than in and around the workplace for some time to come. The recipe for feeding the nation has changed with immediate effect, by government order.

The human and economic damage being wrought by Covid-19 is terrible and should not be understated. The depressed level of asset values and current tax reliefs do though mean that there are planning opportunities for far-sighted taxpayers.

The current turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic is creating unforeseen challenges for many businesses. However, despite the lack of short-term certainty, this could actually be the right moment for companies to re-examine their existing employee share based incentive arrangements and even an opportunity to make new cost-efficient awards.

These are challenging times for the construction sector. Some sites remain open, others have been temporarily closed. This article seeks to provide both a legal and practical guide to ways to minimise risk under the JCT DB Sub form of sub-contract in relation to the impact of the coronavirus.

The Government has now published the long-awaited Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill which contains details of the proposed arbitration scheme intended to deal with unpaid rent arrears accrued during the pandemic.

Now that the World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) a global health emergency, we consider the impact on businesses that may be affected and what companies should be looking at in order to protect their operations.

It is not easy to be legally excused from performing contractual obligations, but in some circumstances it may be possible.

Following increasingly desperate calls, the government announced a number of measures to help support charities and not-for-profits during the COVID-19 crisis on 8th April 2020. It was acknowledged by ministers that the work the Third Sector does is vital during this time, and to lose services which support those most in need would place further strain on the NHS and other vital systems.