Category

Legal advice

The small business legal advice section provides in-depth guides and features on tax, company and employment law for UK SMEs and sole traders.

Renegotiating signed contracts

As a business owner you'll be required to sign hundreds of contractual agreements with suppliers, customers and shareholders. But what happens if circumstances change and you want to get out of a contract?

Legal advice

Legal advice

Moving abroad: legal issues

From a legal perspective, the rights and obligations affecting business owners vary greatly from country-to-country, so it is essential to understand the environment you are heading into prior to departure.

Legal advice

Legal entitlement to taking breaks

What is the legal entitlement to breaks relating to hours worked?

Legal advice

Holidays for the self-employed

Holiday entitlement for sole traders and the self-employed can be a tricky business. In the intance of a self-employed decorator who has worked for the same company for nearly two years, Peter Done explains why it's such a complicated issue.

Legal advice

A guide to IP

There are four main types of intellectual property (IP) – patents, trademarks, designs and copyright.

Legal advice

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act (1998) covers personal data (including audio and video) which identifies living, individual persons. It covers information held about customers and employees on both paper-based records and on a computer.

Legal advice

Cutting staff hours

We have just bought a small shop and Post Office, the shop employs three staff members, which we have inherited. The owners previous to us were not in good health, which is why they had more staff than we actually need and more than the business can sustain. Is there any way we could cut their hours by law, or to even get rid of them altogether? None of them have a written contract and all of them are 60+ in age.

Legal advice

Maternity cover for your business

If you decide to get help to run your business while you're on maternity leave, even part time, it is important to have a short-term maternity cover agreement in place and allow ample time for training and a handover.

Legal advice

Cutting staff hours

We have just bought a small shop and Post Office, the shop employs three staff members, which we have inherited. The owners previous to us were not in good health, which is why they had more staff than we actually need and more than the business can sustain. Is there any way we could cut their hours by law, or to even get rid of them altogether? None of them have a written contract and all of them are 60+ in age.

Legal advice

Maternity cover for your business

If you decide to get help to run your business while you're on maternity leave, even part time, it is important to have a short-term maternity cover agreement in place and allow ample time for training and a handover.

Legal advice

Understanding health and safety: the laws explained

This factsheet explains the main steps you must take to ensure your business complies with health and safety regulations.

Legal advice

Top 10 Legal Tips

Running a business will present you with many unexpected legal considerations; smallbusiness.co.uk's Top Ten Legal Tips help to guide you through the potential legislative minefield.

Legal advice

Business Partnership with friends? You’ll need a shareholders agreement

If you are looking to set up a business in partnership with friends, then it's imperative to get professional advice and draw up a shareholders agreement, says Nigel Lander, specialist finance adviser at Business Link for London.

Legal advice

A guide to writing your terms of business

Terms of business (also known as terms and conditions) are vital, as they establish levels of responsibility for companies and their customers.

Business Technology

Future-proof your business communications set-up

Landlines as we know them will be scrapped in 2027 – along with a raft of upcoming business changes. Here's how to ensure your communications set-up is fit for whatever the future brings

Business Loans

A guide to getting a small business loan

Everything you need to know on what small business loans are and what types of loan are available for your business.

Business Technology

Friendly guide – top tips for small businesses switching to VoIP

With the landline shutdown coming fast, there’s never been a better time to switch to VoIP. Don’t let your small business be left behind!

Export & Import

Avoid delays with exports and imports

Many factors can affect products’ journeys from A to B. Here are some tips for best practice for successful shipping in the modern world