As we reach the end of the financial year, you’ll have a good idea of your business goals to March 2022. Are you ready to achieve them, or do some areas still need a bit of a spring clean?

Read our top legal tips to ensure you step into spring, ready to focus on business success.

Renewing your commercial lease

If you are leasing your business premises, or are a landlord with commercial tenants, at some point your lease agreement will need to be renewed. Business leases receive statutory protection, generally giving the tenant the legal right to continue the lease at the end of the term and renew the lease on similar terms at the market rent. Typically, you should seek to begin your renewal process at least six months before the renewal date. If a tenant or landlord wishes to renegotiate new lease terms such as rent, length of term and liability of repair, it is recommended to seek legal advice. Usually negotiations will be agreed mutually, but on some occasions the landlord or the tenant will not approve the lease terms and we will help to guide you through the process. (commercial tenants read more) (commercial landlords read more)

Update your business contracts

When did you last review your business contracts? You’ll have contracts with employees, suppliers and customers. Are they all drafted properly and are they still fully relevant to your business today? Just a simple check across all your contracts will help to reduce risks and potential legal disputes with your business.

You may have expanded into new business areas, began trading online, or opened new premises. Are all the intellectual property rights held by your business documented correctly? Do your terms and conditions for sales still stack up with your current business model and cover all products or services you are providing? Terms and conditions for customers must also be easy to find. If you have a website, are they featured there? Is your website cookie policy and privacy policy up to date? 

Get your employment contracts in order

When it comes to your employees, are the terms and conditions of your employment contracts up to date? Are they still relevant to your business today? What about your staff handbooks and employment policies? Do you need to get them reviewed to ensure they are supporting your business today? You may have changed employees working hours or you may need to make redundancies. Our employment law experts will guide you every step of the way.

Protect your data

More of us worked from home during 2020 than ever before. If your data security is still primarily focused on what happens in the office, the threat of a breach dramatically increases. The fine for a GDPR breach can be as much as four per cent of a company’s annual global turnover. Is your legal process for monitoring and staying of top of data security effective? Contact us if you need legal advice.

Get the right legal help

If you need to focus upon the day-to-day demands of the business, your solicitor should be one that you trust to take care of your legal issues for you. Does your solicitor understand your business and are they taking the time needed to provide personal advice to meet your specific needs? Finally, are you confident that they are doing so in the most efficient way to keep your business legally healthy? Having the right legal representation for you is a massive benefit and advantage to business.

Find out more about our commercial property legal services here.

To make an appointment with one of our company and commercial solicitors’ email info@hrjforemanlaws.co.uk or call Hitchin 01462 458711, Welwyn Garden City 01707 887 700.

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