A Changing World and Changing Contractual Terms
The pace of change seems to be accelerating at the moment.
Technology wise we have the opportunities and threats posed by Artificial Intelligence, a new Government keen to make changes and deeply volatile international political and economic landscapes.
In the UK we saw some economic growth in the run in to the year end, whilst January has shown a small decline.
We have changes in National Insurance, some areas of taxation and employment law coming into play very soon.
Business planning against this backdrop can be deeply challenging and a more agile approach is needed.
The changes mentioned above have implications for a range of commercial and employment policies, procedures and practices.
We have seen many organisations review a raft of content ranging from employment contracts, supplier agreements, and terms and conditions of business to name just a few.
It is very easy for this kind of corporate and governance housekeeping to fall behind the needs of a changing economic, political and technological commercial environment. This is a particular challenge for owner-managed businesses who have limited time and resources.
Making changes to central commercial and employment policies and practices can be put on the backburner as a result of operational demands however, a failure to act can threaten the profitability of a business or store up a basis for a later, often costly, dispute.
From an employment contract and wider HR perspective some re-drafting will likely be required given the proposed, and recently amended, Employment Rights Bill.
Some businesses are changing direction in order to respond to new market opportunities and challenges. This is unfortunately resulting in some restructuring which again is a process that needs to be carefully considered from a legal perspective.
Pictons has a reputation for providing pragmatic support for business, in particular owner managed business, when it comes to general commercial and employment law.
If your business needs help when responding to these commercial and employment law changes please contact one of our specialists.