About This Webinar
Tuesday 14 September 2021, 9:30 - 10:00 BST
With life getting back to ‘normal’, students are set to return back to universities in September and with COVID-19 still around, the education sector may be a breeding ground for coronavirus outbreaks. It is important that universities have the relevant health and safety measures in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of its students and staff.
In this webinar, our partner Rav Johal looked into how higher education institutions can prevent any claims against them.
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The law/regulations that apply to Covid-19 claims
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How could they prevent a claim and what to do if a claim arises?
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Mental health issues associated with Covid-19
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How to defend a claim
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What are the risks to a university?
Our Speaker
Passionate about delivering better education
In the rapidly-changing world of higher and further education, we know how important it is to have access to experts who fully understand the challenges you are facing and who can support your goals both practically and ideologically
As well as providing specialist education advice, our clients have access to lawyers who understand the world of higher and further education, whilst advising on employment law, litigation, regeneration, commercial deals and capital projects.
Our Thoughts
All the latest thoughts and insights from our team
23 Apr
Firm News
Shakespeare Martineau Sets Sights On Southampton Expansion
Leaders at full-service national law firm Shakespeare Martineau have set their sights on Southampton […]
22 Apr
Shakespeare Martineau
Shakespeare Martineau Announces Nine Promotions – April 2024 Edition
SHMA® On Demand
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24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
With Jon Heuvel, Partner – Employment
Sadly, few businesses will have escaped the impact of coronavirus on their bottom line, and the consequential need to look at ways to cut costs and overheads going forward. With the wind-down of furlough expected this October, many businesses will be faced with the prospect of reducing headcount and making redundancies.
In this webinar, we will focus on some of the common issues that arise in the context of planning and executing redundancies, how to apply best practice and dispel some of the surrounding myths.
This is a live event and there will be an opportunity for questions and answers on the day. If you wish to put your questions forward in advance, please email these to events@shma.co.uk
Who should attend
HR directors and professionals, business owners and senior managers with responsibility for people management
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
11 Mar
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
How Can Potential Employers Navigate Unsubstantiated Claims When Hiring For Positions Of Trust?
8 Mar
Employment
Guide For Employers – How To Support Your Muslim Employees During Ramadan
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
With Michael Hibbs, Partner – Employment
30 October 2020, 9:30AM - 10:15AM
For many businesses, its people are its most precious asset.
But as many companies face serious cash flow issues following Covid disruption, how do you ensure you keep your business afloat in the short to medium term without losing the skills and staff you need for long-term recovery?
When redundancy isn’t an option, what else can be done to save on overheads?
In this webinar, we focus on some of the alternatives to redundancies, including:
This was a live event with the opportunity for questions and answers on the day. If you wish to put your questions forward in advance, please email these to events@shma.co.uk
Who should attend
HR directors and professionals, business owners and senior managers with responsibility for people management
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
11 Mar
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
How Can Potential Employers Navigate Unsubstantiated Claims When Hiring For Positions Of Trust?
8 Mar
Employment
Guide For Employers – How To Support Your Muslim Employees During Ramadan
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
What happens after Furlough? – Live Q & A
What happens after Furlough? – Live Q & A
Whilst Rishi Sunak’s announcement that employers can bring furloughed employees back to work for any amount of time and any shift pattern as of 1 July 2020, and still claim for the hours not worked, the scheme comes to an end on 31 October. Where do businesses go from there?
We are seeing more cases of redundancies and employment tribunal claims (challenging those redundancies!) appearing, and with the backlog of tribunal hearings still to be heard, this option is likely to be a long and costly one. Ensuring best practice and adhering to the rules is essential to be in a good position should any claims arise.
In this webinar, we look at the following and also answer some of the questions that are still arising:
- Furlough update – what options do businesses have post 31 October
- Furlough reporting – a look at some of the anti-fraud measures HMRC will be adopting
- Redundancies – a reminder of the key rules for a fair process
- Payments due on termination – can CJRS monies be used?
You can also catch up with our other past furlough update.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
11 Mar
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
How Can Potential Employers Navigate Unsubstantiated Claims When Hiring For Positions Of Trust?
8 Mar
Employment
Guide For Employers – How To Support Your Muslim Employees During Ramadan
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
SHMA Talks
SHMA Talks: 100 Days of lockdown
SHMA Talks: 100 Days of lockdown
Our CEO Sarah Walker-Smith, was in conversation with Professor Baback Yazdani - Dean of Nottingham Business School, and Professor Abhinay Muthoo - Dean of Warwick in London, discussing how COVID-19 has affected businesses and what the future may hold for the UK economy.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Getting your construction site back on track
Getting your construction site back on track
As development sites begin to re-open, significant challenges are rising to the surface causing further disruption to house builders - including major delays on sourcing materials, the spike in prices as the demand increases, and the practical issues with workforces social distancing on site.
In this webinar, we discuss the position with contracts and supply chains, employment contracts and workforces, and a practical look at how you can get your site back up and running with the minimum delay.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Employment & HR: Changing terms and conditions of employment
Employment & HR: Changing terms and conditions of employment
It’s inevitable that the current business climate will bring new ways of working. Many employees will work from home, perhaps shorter hours or days, their duties may have changed, and there may also be a change to their benefits and perks.
It is important therefore to review employment contracts to ensure that they are still fit for purpose.
In this webinar, we discuss the process of changing terms and conditions of employment, and the rights of the employer and the employee.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Option Agreements
Option Agreements
As the effects of the current pandemic continue to be felt in all aspects of our lives and business, the real estate market will take a long time to recover. As the UK starts to move from survive mode to thrive, we take a look at the options available to you as a landowner, a developer or as an occupier to ensure that your real estate strategy is working for you.
In this webinar, we look at:
- Option Period and Option Fees
- Land assembly, valuation and minimum price
- Price and exercise notice
- Ransom strips and retained land
- Vacant possession
- Option Agreements Post COVID-19
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:40
1:19
1:38
2:23
2:55
3:45
3:55
4:33
5:10
5:34
6:15
6:48
7:40
7:58
8:39
8:55
9:50
10:10
10:20
10:32
11:30
11:39
12:41
12:55
13:58
14:37
14:53
15:41
16:01
16:30
17:13
17:59
18:53
19:19
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Redundancy: consulting in a remote world
Redundancy: consulting in a remote world
Redundancies are sadly are a fact of life, brought more to the surface with the current pandemic and likely to affect many businesses.
It may well be a money saving exercise for the future survival of a business, but it’s a delicate situation which has been made more difficult as it now has to be dealt with remotely. It needs to be handled with some empathy, but also needs to entirely compliant with the rules and the law.
In this webinar, we will discuss the practicalities of dealing with the process remotely, criteria and timelines for redundancies for one to 19 employees.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:08
0:41
1:06
2:05
2:20
2:26
2:41
2:57
3:38
3:49
4:02
4:20
4:31
4:44
5:18
5:45
6:32
6:44
7:38
7:45
8:19
8:30
8:41
8:49
9:29
9:42
9:56
10:10
10:23
10:36
11:02
11:18
11:32
12:07
12:30
13:15
13:25
13:34
14:02
14:12
14:20
14:25
14:51
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Contractual issues for charities
Contractual issues for charities
What happens to your contractual obligation if you are faced with an event outside your control, like Covid-19?
In the webinar designed especially for the charities sector, we look at the practicalities for managing contractual relationships, avoiding disputes, and looking to the future and what can be done to protect your relationships?
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Intellectual Property update
Intellectual Property update
In this webinar, we will provide an update on the current state of affairs in the UK and EU intellectual property offices and the UK courts and what we might expect to see as the lockdown continues to ease.
We will also select a handful of recent decisions to give a flavour of current intellectual property issues and how they may be relevant to your business.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Redundancy: when and how to collectively consult - Live
Redundancy: when and how to collectively consult - Live
Despite the government’s extension of furlough to October, the longer term considerations businesses are taking to remain afloat are more serious than ever. Where collective redundancies (for 20 or more employees) is the only option left, the correct process needs to be followed to avoid appeals and claims in the future.
In this webinar, we discuss the criteria, process and timelines for collective redundancies. There will also be an opportunity for questions which you can forward to us in advance at events@shma.co.uk, or ask live on the day.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Covid-19 vs. IP
Covid-19 vs. IP
What is the impact of Covid-19 on intellectual property practices? The long term effects are largely unknown, but there has been a significant impact in the wake of the outbreak of this unprecedented pandemic.
In this webinar, we look at a number of subjects, including how to deal with remote IP transactions, the impact on litigation and the future role of IP in a changed landscape.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:40
0:56
1:06
1:28
1:33
1:49
2:39
2:44
3:24
3:44
3:48
4:09
4:32
4:52
5:13
5:38
5:49
6:40
6:53
7:17
8:10
8:17
8:52
9:10
9:22
9:44
10:16
10:37
10:58
11:26
11:58
12:12
12:42
13:08
13:29
13:37
13:49
14:30
14:51
15:04
15:27
15:48
16:07
16:32
16:48
17:01
17:16
17:42
17:54
18:18
18:52
18:54
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Furlough: latest position and forthcoming changes - Live Q & A
Furlough: latest position and forthcoming changes - Live catch up Q & A
With an extension of the Furlough scheme to the end of October 2020 now having been confirmed, what changes can we expect with the next announcement from Rishi Sunak, expected later this month?
It is likely that this will result in increased flexibility being introduced to the scheme with effect from August onwards, where employers will be able to have staff returning to work on a part-time basis, while still being able to claim some contribution towards the wage costs for staff through the Job Retention Scheme.
In this live catch up webinar, we discuss the practicalities of the scheme in further detail, and host a live Q&A session.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
How charities can manage their legacy income during the coronavirus crisis
How charities can manage their legacy income during the coronavirus crisis
Charities is one of the sectors that has been hit hard with the coronavirus crisis. So how can it remain sustainable?
In this webinar, we look at how to get cash through the door, how to progress property sales during the pandemic and the outlook for legacies and disputes following the pandemic.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from us.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Cash flow is king – recovering debts
Cash flow is king – recovering debts
Collecting overdue debts and reviewing aged debts should always be a priority for any business. However, as we navigate our way through this current crisis, and the UK begins to take tentative steps towards an increase in economic activity, now is the time to look at adopting alternative cash collection strategies when faced with customers with financial difficulties.
This webinar will highlight the tools that are available to support businesses with recovering debts owed to them, as well as address current burning questions such as how to prioritise which customers to chase for payment and what steps can be taken to try an avoid bad debt in the first instance.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from Shakespeare Martineau
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Related services
Banking & Financial Services
Coronavirus Resource Hub
Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency
Our thoughts
All the latest views and insights.
24 Jan
Rent Disputes - Tenants
Top tips for commercial tenants in dealing with landlord claims for COVID-related rent arrears
Now that the government’s moratorium on action against commercial tenants with rent arrears from […]
16 Jul
Coronavirus
Home workspace loans
Fixed-Fee Service Home workspace loans | Future of flexible working Get in touch Home workspace loans for […]
SHMA® ON DEMAND
All the latest on-demand content.
24 Apr
Ewan Carr, Legal Director | Helen Dyke, Legal Director
Making sure you’re compliant
Employment law is constantly on the move and HR professionals and in-house employment lawyers […]
15 May
Gareth Hegarty, Partner
London Curry Club
Our networking lunch will take place on Wednesday, 15 May 2024 at Spice Trader […]
Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
Planning for the future | ask the experts
Planning for the future | ask the experts
We understand that now, more than ever, business leaders are worried about what the economy will look like after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. With experts predicting a recession worse than 2008, the business landscape will look very different to how it looks today.
Catch up on our live Q&A session, which gave access to a range of experts in employment law, property leases, commercial contracts, litigation and corporate matters. They were on hand to answer those critical questions you may have on how best to safeguard your business, plan for the future and what you need to start doing now.
We encourage you to put forward your future questions at comms@shma.co.uk.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:07
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Webinar
Liquidity, financial resilience and the FCA
Liquidity, financial resilience and the FCA
Funders are experiencing enormous pressure in a time of consumer forbearance. What will be the effect on the profit, and loss and balance sheets of funders as a result of “off ramping” and what is the longer-term impact if this is extended beyond three months?
This webinar will discuss regulatory requirements, the liquidity obligations of funders and the importance of building a financial buffer. We’ll also highlight the view from the Financial Conduct Authority on financial resilience and planning, Senior Managers Regime, worse case scenarios and the practical tools available to help.
You can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND or read the latest news and views from Shakespeare Martineau
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
How can we help?
Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
COVID 19 | Is coronavirus affecting your banking arrangements?
COVID 19 | Is coronavirus affecting your banking arrangements?
Does your businesses need to consider its current banking arrangements? Working capital, cash flow and additional stock, overdraft facilities and covenants are all subjects that need careful management – even more so with the current coronavirus having such an impact on businesses.
We’ll take a look at what you should do, how you should plan and what steps you can take to protect your business in these challenging and changing times.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:32
Good afternoon. My name is Christopher von Strandmann, and I'm a banking partner here at Shakespeare meatineau and welcome to today's webinar on coronavirus and the impact that it will have on your banking facilities.
0:45
The implications of covid-19 are fast evolving and we have seen a number of Institutions becoming increasingly concerned about the impact that it will have on their business in the UK. And the rest of the world. There are health concerns disruptions to work as abilities to come into the office supply chains in terms of both products and goods being delivered on time as well as services. So for example, valuations been done or Auditors been able to sign off and accounts. We also have the General market conditions in relation to the ftse that we've seen.
1:15
And earlier this week the bank of England further reduced interest rates and the government announced the raft of new measures to help businesses going forward more information on which we hope to have as quickly as possible each of these issues when taken together as a whole will have an impact on company's existing banking arrangements as well as their ability for them to put in place new ones as they look to either refinance or make Acquisitions.
1:41
The purpose of this webinar today is to discuss on a very high level some of the the issues and themes that borrowers may need to consider over the next few weeks and months noting. Of course that each loan agreement is specific and will have been negotiated with specific contractual wording. So as the government moves to quite understandably try to prevent further contagion where possible we saw the chancellor and prime minister statements yesterday and business of all shapes and sizes will already be feeling the economic pressures pressures of the crisis business as usual has been the overriding message.
2:15
But with recent school closures and pubs and clubs being shut down the government has been trying to provide certainty and assistance to companies.
2:25
In order for business as usual to become a true reality though contingency plans needs to be put in place rather than trying to be too exact about finer details at the moment a thorough plan should be considered by a number of for a number of possible scenarios along with company impact analyses, which can Flex depending on the changing economic and social landscape.
2:48
all organizations even those with the generous generous cash reserves would be wise to open up lines of communication with their Banks sooner rather than later as funding is going to be critical for the coming months particularly when it comes to cash flow the requirement for unexpected investment in extra stock to prevent supply shortages should come as no surprise in this situation is essential to speak to lenders about overdraft facilities and potentially opening new light revolving lines of credit, especially if Supply As up the chain also behind on payments due to cash flow pressures the nature and the spread of the covid-19 means that an increasing number of workers are going to be self isolating if they became if they begin to demonstrate symptoms. And even now we see people are being told to work from home in an attempt to spread attempt to stem the spread of the virus. However for businesses the impacts could be severe if a large proportion of the workforce Workforce are unable to work new regulations.
3:48
Nations which came into Force last week state that employees who show covid-19 symptoms and self isolate in accordance with published guidance and now entitled to claim statutory sick pay from day one despite promises that the government will refund these payments the time frame remains unclear and the lag for reimbursement could put even more pressure on cash flow. Especially if temporary workers needs to be recruited to provide cover and this is why we are recommending businesses to pick up the phone and arrange new revolver.
4:18
In credit lines an overdraft facilities as quickly as possible. Should they feel the need to employee base is moving to work from home aside from throwing up operational challenges could require businesses to unexpectedly Source Capital to provide suitable it equipment such as laptops and mobile phones. All of this will be necessary to keep businesses wheels turning but this investment has to come from somewhere and if cash reserves don't look like they will stretch far enough talking to Banks.
4:48
Banks about potential short-term funding options would be a wise move now cash flow for expenditure aside and many businesses will have several funding agreements in place with different banking institutions attached to these could be different covenants, which could be breached depending on the evolving consequences of the covid-19 crisis. For example, some agreements will often contain clean down conditions which require businesses to keep accounts and credit for a set number of days each month.
5:18
Other covenants which could cause issues may be around leverage and debt servicing ability. If a business is a we're ahead of time that a breach is likely then a proactive stance could be taken to mitigate against mitigate against this however any business owner who is unsure should ask the advice of their banking advisor and relationship manager sooner rather than later.
5:43
The UK banks will be doing their bit for the business Community. The sector recently came out with a list of emergency measures including suspending loan payments and fee-free Emergency Loans to help businesses already facing challenges, its early days still and support amongst the banking Community is only likely to increase this alongside the government's apparent willingness to try and help businesses in the short-term should come as a positive. However, no matter how great the support on offer is Banks hate.
6:13
Says they won't know what they don't get told so for our Bora Bora clients with saying open a dialogue at an early stage and lay your cards on the table at this is far more likely to result in a workable support support support. Then the bearing your heads in the sand. Also, it's important for businesses to realize they're not alone when asking for assistance. This will become a common theme across the whole of the UK in the next few months.
6:42
Commercial ad on certain times like this is having a place in plan which can Flex as circumstances change around the country Business Leaders who feel like the pressure of decision-making rests solely on their shoulders should aim to involve other employees and employee groups extraordinary times call for Extraordinary approaches and faced with uncertainty. That's no bad idea. No one is under the illusion that in the coming weeks and months. It will be easy for UK businesses and their communities. However, financial support will be out there.
7:12
And it's essential that lines of communication between organizations and their funders are kept open to ensure that wherever possible UK business weathers the storm and comes back fighting.
7:23
So going into a bit more detail on facility Arrangements more. Generally. I'm going to look at a few Provisions actually seen come out recently as well as responding to a few questions over the last 24 hours. Number one interest rates the bank of England cut interest rates last week and then further cut them to not point one percent yesterday. So this means that borrowers are floating rates who are paid to base rates should see a reduction in their monthly and quarterly outgoings.
7:53
Committed funding certain funds transaction transactions are either required for regulatory reasons usually due to take take over laws or because the vendor of particular asset wants to bank back certainty on new purchases ability to close the transaction and thus will not allow a financing condition in its sell and purchase agreement in a certain funds transaction in the m&a market.
8:15
There are generally very limited conditions which will allow financing parties to withdraw their commitment committed funding from the transaction and say, Covid-19 should not have an impact on existing committed funding arrangements and so a bill its purchases ability to draw down and close should not be negatively impacted. However, whilst existing Arrangements should not be of an issue.
8:38
The requirements provider committed funding line met in the short term but some funders off looking at New Deals as they look at market conditions and the possibility of a recession as well as the ability to Syndicate while the Coronavirus so action develops material adverse change is also a point which borrows needs to look at. There are generally three limbs to a material adverse change clause in the business of the borrower payment ability and a more General market one. It's relatively rare to include Mac Clauses in an acquisition financing as a doorstop, but they can be included under circumstances.
9:18
Looking at the three limbs of a material adverse change provision will have got business first. So most facilities will have a business Mac it typically relates to an adverse effect on some of some or all of the business condition operations performance assets or prospects of the borrower given where the UK is on the curve of the outbreak is difficult to say what the impact will actually be and how or when it will affect any particular business.
9:45
However, to extend that the existing circumstances subsist for a significant period of time particularly as businesses report on q1 2020 was Financial results. We expect then the lenders to monitor these Provisions more closely. You have the payment material adverse change which relates to the borrower's ability to pay to make its payment obligations under a finance document payment obligations are fairly straightforward to determine and traditionally focus on a 1 to 6 month time frame accordingly to trigger this.
10:15
The relevant lenders would need to probably establish that the issue that the borrower will be unable to make its payment obligations over the such a time frame. This can be difficult for lenders to prove.
10:28
We then go on to the market Mac, which is much wider and a more General provision, which looks at the Mark General market and could relate to currency fluctuations share price and other such matters as we have all seen The Wider stock market has generally reacted negatively to covid-19. And so may this may give lenders the ability to call the default in these circumstances that being said even back in 2008 to 2010. This provision was very rarely used and lenders will often.
10:58
To avoid using this provision as a means of enforcement, but that may nevertheless also have market conditions may have an impact on be able to Syndicate or bringing in New Deals.
11:10
You then obviously have the financial covenants and most loan facilities will have a certain level of these. So for example property-based deals will have an LTV Covenant.
11:20
And they will they will usually be a provision in there which will allow A lender to attain a valuation which when it believes or reasonably believes that an event of default would occur.
11:31
It's going forward borrowers need to be aware of this as banking Banks and lenders may be going to request such valuations ebitda or more corporate based covenants will be based on the annual or quarterly accounts for business and will be certified through the usual compliance certificate read this breach is that we believe will become more likely over the coming months as the end of q1 accounts for 2020 become too we then move on to litigation and creditor processes as businesses start to feel the strain it's likely that litigation or creditors process Provisions will be looked at by lenders especially when other debtors feel that there is a need to take action there is often a provision which allows for discharging such actions within a certain period of time but in the event that a borrower experiences such issues it's vital and it takes sound legal advice and speak to Banks as soon as possible There are also the ongoing reporting requirements. So you have quarterly or monthly reporting which is a general undertaking underfinanced documents and this typically requires audited annual and unaudited quarterly or monthly accounts to be delivered to A lender or agent within a certain specified period of time businesses interrupted by coronavirus May face certain reporting issues such as an inability to obtain accounting information due to facility closures.
12:56
There is generally no provision within a facility document for additional time for filing such information due to external issues. And so again, we would suggest that borrowers pick up the phone to their lenders if they do experience such issues.
13:13
Please do get in contact with anybody at Shakespeare Martineau going forward if you have any queries or questions, and thank you very much for listening. We have had a few questions come in today earlier on today, and I will try to answer those as quickly as possible. Please do keep looking at our LinkedIn page and our website for any further updates. Thank you very much. Bye. Bye.
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Minimising financial risk to business
COVID-19 | Minimising financial risk to business
The coronavirus outbreak has increased pressures on businesses already struggling with uncertainties over Brexit, global trade and growth concerns. Companies in all sectors are likely to suffer negative financial effects on first-quarter revenues with airlines, as well as businesses in the travel and leisure sphere particularly affected. Business owners and directors should be aware of the variation to their duties at times of financial distress, specifically taking account of creditors’ interests and should take early advice from insolvency and restructuring specialists. We will look at the key steps businesses can take to reduce financial risk.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
1:30
Welcome to today's webinar the latest in our series on the impacts of the coronavirus on your business this afternoon. I look at minimizing Financial Risk to business. I'm Sean Moran a partner in the restructuring and insolvency team here at Shakespeare Martineau.
1:49
You will see on your screen that you're able to ask questions. So, please do raise these along the way and I can answer as many as I can at the end. The coronavirus pandemic is having a devastating effect on individuals and businesses across the globe for companies in this country.
2:05
The outbreak comes against a background of concerns across all sectors caused by uncertainty surrounding brexit and the risk of a no deal at the end of this year as well as a General downturn in markets across the world The immediate effect of the outbreak has been A disruption to supply chains with a lack of availability or delays to supplies where supplies are sourced from the Far East and just-in-time deliveries are critical for some sectors such as retail or Automotive. The consequences are already having a major impact on trading projections for the first two quarters of 2020 and Beyond.
2:49
Many businesses have found themselves unprepared for this situation without appropriate contingency plans to deal with major disruption events.
3:00
It is important to realize that this does not just affect companies who do business with China the spread of the pandemic around the world has led to restrictions on the movement of people which presents challenges to all businesses these restrictions of cause further problems for struggling operators in specific sectors already facing trading difficulties in particular the travel and Leisure sector.
3:25
The recent demise of Airline flybe shows how quickly an adverse situation can develop with widespread disruption leading to a cessation of trading and the appointment of Administrators to the company.
3:42
Restrictions on public Gatherings by many European governments with the UK shorter follow shortly or mean that restaurants hotels and other businesses in the Leisure sector will continue to struggle with the less robust being forced to fold even buoyant businesses with strong order book and secure Supply chains. May face challenges as a result of the virus.
4:09
Companies do have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees and many are now being forced to adapt working patterns, which may lead to a loss or reduction of production causing further strains on the balance sheet.
4:25
Against this background directors must be increasingly aware of their duties and responsibilities with a heightened risk of insolvency for many businesses. So what are the immediate steps directors should take to minimize risk to their business? Well first it's important to note that directors have a duty under the companies act to promote the success of a company for the benefit of its shareholders.
4:51
But when a company is faced with challenges to its operations placing it in an insolvent position those duties change and the interests of the companies creditors become Paramount.
5:04
Perhaps the most fundamental fundamental thing to bear in mind is that directors must have the availability of relevant financial information directors should ensure that they have access to management accounts for the company on a regular basis.
5:24
This will enable them to make key decisions on a properly informed basis for the benefit of the company and its creditors directors should also ensure that the company does not continue trading when there is no realistic Prospect of avoiding a formal insolvency process.
5:44
The particular risk here in terms of ongoing trading would be claims against the directors by a liquidator for wrongful Trading.
5:54
Now a claim for wrongful trading if successfully proved could result in the directors having to make significant compensation payments to the company acting by its Liquidator.
6:09
where a company is in financial distress directors should take particular care to avoid entering into transactions which involves specific dispositions of a company's assets any transfer of an asset at less than its full value or any payment made exclusively to a specific creditor where other creditors are excluded from payments may be subject to a challenge by Liquidator or an administrator if the company Subsequently goes into a formal insolvency procedure. This could lead to a transaction being set aside and potentially action being taken against the director or directors personally to compensate the company.
6:55
It is important that the board of directors meets on a regular basis. So the important judgment calls can be made and that the directors ensure that all decisions made at these meetings are carefully minuted to create a paper trail.
7:13
Where appropriate the board should take professional advice.
7:17
Specifically before entering into any significant transactions, which may later be set aside.
7:24
Or in connection with continuing the company's operations bearing in mind the risk of a later claim for wrongful Trading.
7:34
So what steps are there that you can take to protect your business? But it's important that directors engage early with key stakeholders in particular the company's Bankers who may have the right to appoint administrators if they hold a debenture and there is a breach of the terms of that debenture.
7:57
Or it may be specific creditors of the company who provide key supplies.
8:03
And place the company at risk by present presenting a winding up petition in the event of non-payment.
8:12
It's important that constructive discussions take place to reassure lenders and creditors and where appropriate to renegotiate terms for payment or any terms for Lending.
8:25
Again, however, it's important to provide lenders in particular with up-to-date financial information to give appropriate reassurance maintaining an ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders is vital many banks will have their own business contingency plans and we'll expect their customers to make early contact. It's always better to be proactive in this regard.
8:53
Early discussion should take place regarding any need for additional Finance if required. However, once again, the directors will have an important judgment call to make here. They have to be sure that any lending does not overstretch the company's position and place it at greater risk of insolvency.
9:18
directors should take all appropriate steps to maintain insurance cover for the business obviously to protect both its existing assets, but also To protect the directors themselves against potential claims. If there is a relevant directors and officers insurance policy something that's often forgotten in the midst of financial difficulties and a difficult trading environment for a company.
9:51
Difficult decisions will have to be made in the course of any restructuring and reorganization of a business affected by a financial downturn reduction in staff numbers and other significant overheads is an important part of any restructuring exercise. John Heuvel has given advice on employment issues in an earlier webinar in this series.
10:14
Discussions with key creditors as I've mentioned will be required and if it's necessary payments rescheduled so that necessary arrangements can be made regarding the company's debts, but importantly taking care of all times that arrangements are not subject to a later challenge potentially as a preference.
10:39
Once the decision is made that a company cannot continue trading. The directors will have to take professional advice in relation to the appropriate formal insolvency procedure.
10:53
At all times it's important to minute all decisions made and where appropriate to take professional advice on the necessary route for the company to follow whether that be liquidation which will involve a complete cessation of trade.
11:12
Administration which may involve some ongoing trading under the management of an administrator or a company voluntary Arrangement where the directors of the company retain management control over the business, but subject to an agreed set of proposals over a period of time to pay creditors.
11:36
An agreed sum under the supervision of an insolvency practitioner.
11:43
Depending on the process to be adopted the timing of any cessation of trading will have to be decided by the board.
11:51
if that's appropriate and close liaison will be made with any insolvency practitioner who is to be appointed so that critical payments during any Hiatus period can be identified and made and in particular how you deal with key overheads specifically staff and any leased property staff for a key component to any business but also an expensive overhead It is important for directors to remember that although they will lose management Powers. Once a company goes into liquidation or Administration. They remain subject to statutory obligations as directors as long as they're registered at companies house.
12:41
A recent decision in the high court confirmed that a directors fiduciary duties can continue after the company has entered into an insolvency procedure as a result directors should take particular care when acquiring assets under a pre-practice transaction from an administrator.
13:03
So that they ensure full disclosure of that transaction is made and a proper value is paid for those assets.
13:11
To guard against any potential challenge by Liquidator the might be appointed at a later date.
13:21
Now most recently. The chancellor has announced some important insolvency related changes in last week's budget.
13:32
As ever with this government, it's a carrot and stick approach. First of all the carrot.
13:39
The government is launching a 30 billion pound fiscal stimulus package to help businesses and individuals through the core over coronavirus outbreak.
13:49
Although it would appear only 12 billion pounds of that is Coronavirus specific the headline elements of that package our support for businesses, including a scaled-up time to pay scheme a new coronavirus business in Corruption loan scheme, which will see loans of up to 1.2 million pounds supported by an 80% government guarantee and also a business rates holiday period for businesses and business rates as many of you will be aware.
14:26
It's a particular sensitive issue for a number of retail businesses.
14:39
the stick approach Is that hmrc will have the power from the 6th of April 20 22 make directors and others personally liable for corporate tax debts in certain situations and those situations are where hmrc suspect the director of abusing the insolvency framework in order to avoid paying taxes hmrc a looking at Phoenix situations here.
15:12
We're directors acquire their existing businesses from an insolvency practitioner, perhaps under a pre-pack or similar transaction. And where those directors are linked to a company and have a track record of insolvency. Now, there are a number of issues that need to be looked at there. We don't have time for that today.
15:35
But this is certainly something that directors need to be aware of and need to take particular care when managing companies who are struggling financially.
15:52
Well, thank you for listening to today's webinar on minimizing Financial Risk to business.
15:58
We've had a few questions come in. So I'll answer a couple now and then send a follow-up of the others along with the recording of the webinar.
16:08
The first question concerns wrongful trading. How do you reduce the risk of a claim for wrongful Trading?
16:18
We'll just to remind you the wrongful trading will occur.
16:22
When the directors know or should know that the company is likely to become insolvent and they continue to trade nonetheless and the effect of that continuing to trade is that it increases the deficit to creditors and in appropriate circumstances. If there is a finding of wrongful trading a court can order that the directors have to pay compensation.
16:50
Relating to that deficit to the company acting by its liquidator.
16:58
Now how you determine whether you should continue to trade?
17:02
In financial when the company is in financial difficulty will be a matter of fact in every case. It's an important judgment call and one that should be taken with reference to specific up-to-date financial information and professional advice.
17:19
It may be appropriate in certain circumstances to continue trading where the benefit Of doing so it's for for the good of the creditors of the company as a whole.
17:33
But professional advice must be taken at all times.
17:39
The second question if a company is in financial distress, are there any circumstances when you can pay certain creditors ahead of others?
17:49
Well, that's an interesting point. And again here you'll remember that. I covered the issue of preference payments in my presentation now in certain circumstances, it is permissible for a company authorized by its directors to make payments to certain creditors and not others without those payments being subject to a claim by way of a preference.
18:18
No circumstances will be where the particular creditor in question is a key supplier or a landlord and where the payment is necessary to enable the company to continue trading for the benefit of its creditors as a whole each situation will depend on its own facts. And again any decision made by the directors in this regard will have to be supported by both up-to-date financial information and appropriate.
18:48
Will advise properly minuted. Well, thank you for all the great questions, which I'll follow up after the session and share these with you.
18:58
The next webinar in our series is tomorrow on business and Banking and that will be given by my colleague Christopher Von stranden.
19:07
for further advice and guidance on the coronavirus outbreak, please contact our dedicated resource Hub at shma.co.uk-- Thank you very much.
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Webinar
COVID 19 | Business leases
COVID 19 | Business leases
Landlord and tenants are paying close attention to how the continuing spread of coronavirus over the coming months may affect their leased premises. Landlords and tenants should be aware of the parameters of their leases to see if they can minimise the impact of necessary restrictions on their businesses.
The impact and the risks will differ if you’re a landlord or tenant so we’ll look at issues relating to both such as service charge, security, insurance, force majeure, frustration, breach of quiet enjoyment etc, and how some of the lease provisions could help/hinder these.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
Related services
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Real Estate & Planning
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
1:30
Hello and welcome. I'm Justine ball a legal director here at Shakespeare Martineau and welcome to today's webinar on the impact of coronavirus on business leases. You will see on your screen that you are able to ask questions. So, please do get in touch along the way and I can answer as many as I can at the end.
1:50
Many landlords and tenants will be paying close attention to how the continuing spread of coronavirus over the coming months may affect their business and in particular their leased premises in the wake of the 2020 budget and the World Health Organization now declaring the coronavirus as a pandemic we can expect the government to introduce recommendations and restrictions to now delay the spread of the virus.
2:14
Knowing the parameters of your lease and good planning may help minimize the impact of any restrictions or recommendations imposed by the government. So today we will explore some of the concerns you may have as landlords and tenants.
2:30
So starting with tenants all businesses are likely to feel the effects of the virus travel and Leisure are being hard hit as a result of countries seeking to contain the outbreak with flight cancellations travel bans and tourist hotspots being closed businesses with office premises will also be affected as employees may need to work remotely which may put pressure on production levels.
2:56
As businesses start to feel the downward effects of the virus. You will be considering how you can support the payment of rent and other sums under your lease. So tenants will be considering whether there is any entitlement to a rent holiday are in suspension or rent reduction as a result of the sudden effects of the virus.
3:15
Unfortunately, this is very unlikely to be the case tenants will be unable to unilaterally withhold rent. However, you could seek to reach a negotiated position with your landlord tenant could seek to liaise with their landlords to explain and evidence the effects of the virus on their business to explore whether the landlords would be willing to agree a rent reduction rent holiday or even a payment plan. So rent can be broken down into more manageable payments.
3:43
However this It would be entirely at the landlord's discretion.
3:48
Another way of trying to get rent covered is through insurance. If you have insurance, you should review your policies to consider whether the effects of the virus could be covered the type of insurance you need to look for is business Interruption insurance. If you have a policy which includes business Interruption, you will also need to look at whether such insurance covers property damage only whether it also includes non property damage.
4:14
The latter is more unusual, but policies should nevertheless be checked as tenants may be able to claim rent. It is unable to pay as well as other losses if it has business Interruption Insurance, there may be a way for tenants to pay a reduced rent, but this will only be the case if tenants pay a turnover rent.
4:34
So if you pay a rent in accordance with a turnover Clause, then you may expect a reduction in the amount of turnover rent you pay if you see a decline in your taking Tenants will be contractually obliged to pay the base rent in accordance with the turnover rent Provisions, but tenants could see a reduction in the amount of additional turnover rent paid to the landlord at the end of the rental period as this is usually calculated on the basis of a business's turnover.
5:03
Whilst this won't result in an immediate rent reduction. There may be some relief for tenants at the end of the rental period which may be welcome. If businesses have been struggling up to that point whether or not a turnover Clause will apply will depend on the terms of the provision in your lease and whether there are any other lease requirements on the tenant to keep open and maintain active trading throughout the period this is usually a condition of some turnover rent provisions.
5:30
But also need to consider whether any forced cessation of trading would be affected on a slightly separate note. If it is the case that you consider that you're unable to trade at all from the premises check your lease for a tenant break laws whilst this will not result in you being able to immediately cease paying rent. Once you have served the break notice and any break conditions have been met and the number of months notice have expired you would then escaped the liability to pay.
6:00
Rent for the remainder of the term. But of course you would still have any dilapidation liabilities to consider.
6:07
So moving on you, maybe the tenant of the Morty let building or a shopping center If a landlord closes the center then arguably the landlord has breached its lease obligations to you to not derogate from Grant and to allow you to quietly. Enjoy the premises.
6:24
The strength of this argument will depend on the circumstances around the closure if the landlord has unilaterally decided to close the building and no such guidance has been issued by health and safety executive Public Health England or the government then your claim is likely to be stronger.
6:43
However, if the landlord is following guidance from regulatory bodies all the government, then it may be more difficult to make that claim.
6:51
In any event tenants should take steps now to preserve evidence in order to raise any claim for damages against landlords as necessary at a later date.
7:01
For example, you should track and retain full records of the takings of your business loss of profits footfall and any other direct costs, which you have incurred over the affected period tenants can then seek to use this information to try and negotiate a rent suspension of rent reduction or rent holiday as well as other songs you pay The nice if the landlord isn't willing to agree a reasonable soon as I set off you can then assess your position with the available evidence. You have collected and consider at that point whether it is necessary to threaten a breach of quiet enjoyment claim. So thirdly if it becomes necessary for tenants to close their business premises, they will need to consider whether this will be a breach of Covenant in their lease to keep trading and to keep the premises open.
7:52
This is likely to be a major cause of dispute between landlords and tenants particularly since a keep open Clause can be linked turnover rents and breach of that covenant could result in forfeiture of the lease a damages claim being brought against you or a claim to force a tenant to reopen its business.
8:12
However, it is extremely difficult for a landlord to succeed in forcing a tenant to reopen its business. Should it choose to close the same this would be even more difficult to achieve if tenants have closed businesses because of government and Regulatory bodies guidance.
8:29
If you are looking to close the business temporarily for other reasons, these should be explained in detail to the landlord before closure. If possible. In order in order that you can then seek to reach an agreed position on the period of closure with the landlord to try and avoid any potential action from them. So now turning to landlords.
8:50
Landlords are likely to face claims by some tenants that they cannot survive as a business without full access to and use of their premises and an adequate number of Staff tenants May. Therefore try to argue that their leash should be brought to an end all together as a result of the football restrictions reductions in takings and the effects to supply chains as a result of the virus.
9:11
So on that basis tenants could seek to argue that their lease has been frustrated by the outbreak of the virus.
9:18
However, it is extremely difficult to argue that Elise has been frustrated as the case of Canary Wharf The p41 Limited versus European medicines agency highlights in 2019. In this case. The tenant European medicines agency failed to persuade the court that brexit was an event capable of frustrating the purposes of the lease. The bar has been set very high by the court and tenants are unlikely to be able to successfully argue that their leashes should be.
9:48
Brought to an end by frustration due to the virus given that it is transient and temporary in nature the frustration to be a credible argument tenants would arguably need to prove longer-term and significantly damaging effects of the virus on the premises and their businesses.
10:07
They must prove either that it is impossible for them to perform their obligations as a result of the virus or their obligations are drastically different than was first envisaged tenants could could be assisted by any guidance from the government that must be followed. However, even this may not be sufficient as arguably the outbreak of public disease is within the contemplation of the parties given previous events.
10:32
Landlords should therefore be ready to resist any challenges by their tenants on this basis.
10:39
I'll also slightly touch upon force majeure Clauses which are well known in commercial and construction contracts. However, they are rarely found in commercial leases. Although granted.
10:49
Some older leases may contain these If there is a force majeure clause in your lease whether the virus can be seated as force majeure event will depend on the wording of the Clause. However disease such as a pandemic is unlikely to be considered as a specific act or event given its evolving nature nevertheless. If there are government impose restrictions that may give rise to an event such as a quarantine and a lockdown. It may well fall within the force majeure provisions and the lease could be brought to an end.
11:22
Only if it contains such a provision. So moving on to insurance with the mounting pressure on tenants being required to pay out various sums tax rates utilities with the reduced some coming into their business. They may seek to invoke the rent suspension clause in their lease.
11:42
Standard uninsured and insured risk provisions of unlikely to cover losses as a result of the effect of the virus.
11:50
It is worth considering though, whether the possible consequences of disease such as civil commotion would be caught by insured or uninsured risks. You must check your lease.
12:00
In particular rent suspension is only likely to occur where an uninsured risk has caused damaged or has destroyed the premises the virus is unlikely to cause such physical damage, but we can query where the contamination of the premises by the virus could equate to damage particularly since premises are likely to be shut while the damage has been remedied.
12:22
It is worth checking your risk Provisions as depending on the drafting. It may well extend to premises that have been closed and not just being damaged or destroyed.
12:34
But looking at standard uninsured and insured risk Clauses that you see in modern laces. It is unlikely to include such caveats and on balance. It's unlikely that tenants will be able to rely on those Provisions for rent suspension. So looking at service charge now as the government is looking to step up its efforts to delay the spread of the virus. It is likely that we will see the government imposing requirements for building owners or landlords or even tenants to undertake extra cleaning services.
13:03
Has and deep cleaning of their premises whilst there is unlikely to be any explicit obligation in your lease to require you to provide additional services to prevent disease any in positions by the government will need to be undertaken quickly.
13:18
Supplying these additional services will come at a cost and depending on the wording of your service charge Claus. It is likely that you will be able to recover the cost of any additional cleaning from your tenants. Therefore you should give notice to your tenants of the additional cleaning and maintenance required and recharge this to them in the usual way the provisions you should look out for which would cover these costs are any relating to hygiene management and cleaning security and the general Provisions allowing.
13:48
Free of costs in line with the principles of good Estate Management, which is usually a sweep up clause.
13:54
It is also often a provision which requires costs to be incurred reasonably, but in the circumstances, it appears unlikely that tenants could argue that the provision of additional security or additional cleaning could be unreasonable in these circumstances. We've also had a number of queries as to where the landlord should improve controls of access to premises such as forcing visitors to utilize hand sanitizer.
14:17
Services included in the model commercial lease for office premises allows landlords to recover costs for the provision of facilities for visitors of the building. So this would cover eventuality and such costs could be handed down to tenants. So it is key for landlords to check the extent of their service charge Provisions to understand what is and isn't covered.
14:40
So the top action points both landlords and tenants need to undertake as the threat of the coronavirus evolves are check your lease Provisions understand your rights and obligations in order that you can formulate a tailored plan for your business.
14:57
Keep yourself up to date with guidelines from the government World Health Organization and Regulatory Agencies such as the health and safety executive and public health England. This guidance is key and will help you plan ahead for your business and understand your legal position.
15:13
Keep records book for turnover staff absences profits losses supply chain interruptions. This will help justify any action. You may need to take to minimize the impact of the virus. So the more evidence you can collate and keep the better.
15:33
Keep your tenants or landlords updated as to the current position of your business. If you feel it necessary communicate the effects of the virus on your business or the plans you wish to take to tackle the same with your landlord or tenant Paper Trails are important.
15:48
Also engaging and negotiating with landlords and tenants be willing to engage with them on the issues. You are facing you may find that your landlord or tenant understand your position which could result in a negotiated resolution that benefits both parties. So, how can we help here at Shakespeare Martineau? If you sent offshore lease we can help you understand your rights and obligations. If you are renewing your lease, we can consider what additional protections you should be seeking.
16:17
Going to contain there in.
16:20
We can also lead you in the right direction as the type of information you should be collating at this time to ensure you are keeping appropriate and necessary records. We can also help you formulate a strategy to cope with the effects of the virus on your business premises and leases.
16:35
So thanks to all of you who have joined us today. And listen to this webinar about the impact of coronavirus on business leases. I can see that I've had a few questions come through. So I will answer a couple now, so let's take one for tenants and one for landlords.
16:53
So tenants, you've asked me what you should do. If you have to cease trading temporarily due to coronavirus. So as I touched upon earlier on it depends on the circumstances, but if there are no requirements for your business, too close by the government, then you should consider why you are seeking to close the premises and whether it is absolutely necessary to do so.
17:16
As mentioned earlier if your lease has a keep open Clause you could be liable for breach of this Covenant.
17:22
However, if it is the case that you have no or minimal staff due to self-isolation or you can produce strong evidence that the coronavirus has shut your business and trading then it may be worth liaison your landlord now to confirm the position and state that it is necessary for you to close the premises temporarily you can then try and agree with your landlord a period of closure and request confirmation. The landlord will not bring a claim against you for breach of that Covenant in the circumstances.
17:50
And the second question will take from the landlord side. What a my obligations to my tenants in relation to the coronavirus. Do I need to be doing more to look after their care? So landlords will have a duty of care for the health and safety of its tenants as well as visitors contractors and employees and this Duty will include the risks posed by infectious diseases.
18:13
You should therefore carefully consider the current threat in light of the most up-to-date news on the outbreak and take into account the following advice. You should obtain health and safety recommendations from your health and safety advisors. You should put in place any further preventative measures that need to be taken in relation to the building itself such as additional cleaning security provision of hand sanitizer Etc.
18:41
You should also be Consulting and liaison with your employees about any risks and any measures that they need to take both inside and side of the premises So that concludes the session thank you for listening. And for your questions. I will follow up those. I haven't been able to answer today after the session the next webinar in our coronavirus series is tomorrow at 12:30 on minimizing Financial risks to businesses with Shaun Moran. So if you'd like to get in touch with us, please do so you'll see the details shown up in front of you.
19:19
You can call O 3 3 3 0 0 2 4 0 3 3 3 and ask to speak to me or another member of the real estate disputes team or you can visit our coronavirus hub for advice and guidance.
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Impact on workforces
COVID-19 | Impact on workforces
Employers face a difficult balancing exercise – they need to ensure that it is “business as usual” as much as possible, but at the same time, they have a duty of care to protect the health and safety of their workforce, and have to heed the advice from the medical profession and from the authorities.
We will provide advice and guidance on how best to deal with employees forced to self-isolate, consider what pay employees may be entitled to receive, explore the options for employers where there is a significant reduction in work generally, and consider some of the issues arising from home/remote working.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:00
Hello, welcome to today's webinar looking at the impact of the coronavirus on your Workforce. My name is Jon Heuvel and I'm an employment partner here at Shakespeare martineau
0:11
As we go through the webinar today, you'll see that there's an opportunity for you to ask questions on the link. Please do so as we go along and I'll try and answer as many as I can when we get to the end.
0:24
So to introduce this topic as Boris Johnson said the end of last week, this is one of the worst Health crisis that this country has seen for a generation.
0:36
Problem for businesses is obvious with staff being unwell and unable to work others facing potential restrictions. There's going to be a huge impact on everybody's businesses.
0:48
I anticipate that in the coming days or weeks there will be further social distancing measures as we've seen in other European and other countries, which will have further impact on the ability of businesses to operate normally if schools closed businesses are going to need to allow staff to take time off in order to look after their children.
1:09
They might have to work from home in order to look after those children.
1:14
If transport restrictions are applied in terms of public transport that may be difficulties with staff getting to work. If we see wholesale closures like we've done in Italy where only pharmacies and food shops are actually open for business that will have a huge impact not just on the retail businesses themselves, but also on those people in the supply chain providing those businesses with opportunities.
1:43
So there are business continuity issues which we need to think about from an employment perspective. The employer has a duty to protect the health and safety of its Workforce got to balance that against the individual workers rights.
1:58
So, how does that pan out in practice?
2:01
So let's have a look at what you should do in terms of paying staff if they are off sick.
2:07
There may be a good reason why they're off sick. They may actually have the virus or they may be self isolating. But also you might want to think about whether as a business you want them to self isolate to protect other employees again, looking at your duty to protect the health and safety of all your employees.
2:27
If you don't pay those individuals the risk is of course that they will then breach. What would otherwise be the iso self-isolation requirements in order to limit the financial impact on themselves?
2:41
That might first blush appear to be not your primary concern. But if they do then attend the office and infect others to potential consequences of that one is that you may end up with more staff off sick with actually having contracted the disease alternatively you may have employees who seek to pursue claims against you for not looking after their health and serve safety by allowing people to come into the office.
3:11
So you need to think carefully about whether or not you go beyond what is mandatory in terms of pay and offer voluntary pain certain situations?
3:22
So let's start for those who actually have the virus that's easily dealt with they would of course be entitled to sick pay the rules for obtaining statutory. Sick pay our that you have to be unable to attend work due to an incapacity and that triggers the entitlement to statutory sick pay and usually contractual sick pay if it's offered would come under the same Provisions so they would be entitled.
3:51
Contractual sick pay you offer. What if they're just isolating? Because they don't yet know if they've got the disease, but I think here we probably have to draw a distinction.
4:03
There will be some of those who are in mandatory self-isolation the health protection coronavirus regulations 2020 brought in a condition or a requirement that in certain situations people map must sort of 8mt returning from China Northern Italy and that sort of thing in that situation that is a deemed incapacity because it is by virtue of a mandated order and there is a special provision in the regulations which permits that to be treated as if it's a day of incapacity. So sick pay would be an entitlement sick pay would follow just as it does for those who actually got the disease.
4:51
No difficulties those who are in other self-isolation. Sometimes that might be voluntary. Sometimes that might be because you as the employer have asked them to self isolate to protect others and sometimes that might be particularly following what the government indicated last week where they've advised people to self isolate.
5:12
If you've got cold or flu-like symptoms for seven days now in those situations it isn't True to say that they can't work that have an incapacity to work. And nor would it under normal situation come under one of the provisions to be deemed incapacity day.
5:33
So to resolve that on Friday the government passed the statutory sick pay General coronavirus Amendment regulations to permit deemed in capacity in terms of self-isolation to specifically see what it says is that it will extend to persons isolating from other people in such a manner as to protect and prevent infection or contamination with coronavirus disease in accordance with guidelines guidance published by public health England NHS National Services, Scotland or public health Wales effective as at the 12th of March 20 20 and who by reason of that isolation are unable to work.
6:18
So if the following the government guidance, then they would be again entitled to statutory sick pay.
6:26
What's missing however at the moment is any amendment to section hundred fifty five of the Social Security contributions and benefits act 1992. That's the provision which states that you don't get sick pay secretary sick pay for the first three days three qualifying days of absence and the government made an indication that they were going to amend the rules to allow for statutory. Sick pay to be paid from the very first day as yet that legislation, hasn't he?
6:56
So we still waiting for that.
7:00
What about other reasons for not being able to attend work again thinking about indications from the government? They said that they were going to extend statutory sick pay to those who are unable to work because they have to care for somebody who has the virus again as yet. We haven't seen any regulations to amend Provisions in that regard, although imagine. We will see those shortly.
7:28
Same category. We're still waiting for amendments for reimbursement of statutory. Sick pay for the first 14 days in relation to small employers and that's businesses with less than 250 employees. That's going to hopefully come in the next few days on a practical level. One thing the government has done which is helpful is that they have made a temporary change to the rules as to the documentation you need to produce.
7:57
To claim secretary sick pay rather than requiring a fit note, which obviously would require attending that the GP surgery people can now use a formal notification that they can obtain from NHS one one one.
8:17
So what could businesses do in practice to minimize the impact of all of this? Well, as I say Obviously making sure that staff are paid and not financially disadvantaged such that they might be tempted to flout procedures is the first and foremost step. Obviously, we need to follow government guidance as a minimum at the moment.
8:44
They're not introducing more Draconian, so Distancing measures, but those May well come having said that a lot of businesses are canceling client-focused events marketing events staff events and things where a collection of people will have to gather together or have to travel somewhere. I think that's can only be sensible.
9:11
It's worth thinking about preparing for potential home working or for having to change the way in which you run your business if there are restrictions on use of public transport are key workers who need to be on site going to be able to get there. Do you have a provision to offer accommodation or special transport? But Arrangements can we be able to access those and your it systems if you are having people remotely working. Are they going to be fit for purpose thing?
9:41
About things like that.
9:44
If you are going to apply voluntary rules about for home working or special provision. It's important to make sure that your rules are consistent and fair. You shouldn't be paying some people and not others over and above what their contractually or statutorily entitled to think about the impact across everybody.
10:12
And I think it's also about being proactive and in some cases being a little bit inventive. They can be actual benefits positive PR from this both internally and externally if you approach staff generously and allow those that can to work from home even before the government has mandated that that may show Good Will that people will reflect back by being prepared to go the extra.
10:42
Do extra things the external side of things is a good example of what I've got in mind is the news last week about Starbucks who'd introduced a ban on using reusable cups. So way to try and minimize the spread of coronavirus. They got a lot of good publicity on the back of that. So there are ways in which businesses can be seen to be doing the right thing some of the big it companies Google.
11:12
Twitter and so on have been encouraging staff globally to work from home and if you are a global business it's worth thinking about how the staff in different jurisdictions are being dealt with Aussie different countries governments are applying different rules depending on the severity of the virus in their particular country, but there are plenty of jurisdictions where staff are being expected to work from home if you've got business.
11:42
Partners group companies where that is happening if that's something that can be done. It might look good to encourage those here in the UK to do similarly. Even if it's not yet compulsory. It's also an element of social responsibility or on all of us as businesses. This is a very infectious virus potentially fatal to those.
12:12
Groups disabled those with autoimmune deficiency and those with respiratory conditions. So we perhaps need to think about the wider implications of our actions in terms of encouraging people to go out and about and potentially there for spreading it that concludes the main bits. I want to talk about today.
12:37
Thank you very much for listening and I've seen some of you pose some questions. So I'm going to pick up some of those now and I can't pick up them all then I'll follow up with those afterwards. So somebody's here put what if my employees refused to attend work because they're concerned or fear fearful of the virus. Do I still have to pay them? That's a good question. And I think it's you have to be sympathetic to staff concerns here.
13:12
And it's about being pragmatic if it's possible for them to work from home that might actually solve the issue rather than having to consider it further if that isn't possible. If working from home isn't an option.
13:25
You have to look at apps behind what their concern is and why they're they're concerned about traveling is it actually a public health issue that they're being advised to self isolate or that there are social Emissions in which case that might be fine. It's also important to think about the potential discriminatory angle with this if you were to impose an obligation on all employees to attend work, it wouldn't be difficult. If somebody is in a category of one of the vulnerable groups for them to make an argument that that is a provision Criterion or practice that's having an adverse.
14:12
Packed on them and that's discriminatory particularly if they are disabled for purposes of the equality act. So we need to be careful about that potential discrimination angle.
14:25
This is no reason no valid reason for why they're not attending and the anxiety itself isn't potential disability. Then it may just be that it's an absence. You have to treat as an absence without leave.
14:41
And obviously they wouldn't be paid for unauthorized absence and potentially if you so wished you could pursue a misconduct point but I think it's these are unprecedented times. I think we have to be slightly careful about how we deal with those.
15:00
So another question here. Can I refuse to allow home working at if the employee is simply going to be doing childcare at home? Because that their Nursery has been shut.
15:15
Again, normally, I think the answer to that would be yes, of course, you could refuse home working on that basis. I'm working isn't for the purposes of childcare. You can't focus on your work. If you're trying to look after small child. However, again, I think in this particular instance, we probably have to take a slight more pragmatic approach if if it's that all schools are closing then the issue is going to be far wider.
15:44
Even if it's just a particular Nursery or particular school has closed we have to perhaps take us out a more pragmatic approach because it's likely to be a long period of time there is of course the right time off for dependents Provisions, but that's unpaid leave and obviously only for a short period of time that might work initially but it probably wouldn't work in the long term.
16:10
the the likelihood is that the employees will simply pretend that they are working but actually have to child care if you get too Draconian about it. So I think again it's taking a pragmatic approach on this.
16:28
Time for one more question. So okay. I'll take this one. What if my employee is stranded overseas? Well, that's an interesting one.
16:38
It probably slightly slightly depends on the reason why they're they're abroad obviously if they've gone on a work trip then The onus is really on you the employer because the only reason they're there and being confined or quarantined or whatever. The issue is by virtue of your requiring them to be there. So I think you would have to accept that to the extent that extra expenses are going to be incurred whilst there there need to cover those could conceivably treated a sick pay but I probably would recommend that you just pay them in.
17:17
As normal it's all outside of there that control unless there is of course in which case then it would be sick pay.
17:27
And obviously travel insurance is a good thing to check out of this point. It may be that some of the costs can be recouped through that.
17:35
Alternatively if it's that they've been on holiday and then they can't come back because they've been quarantined. That's probably something I would do with a sick pay not quite the same burden on the employer as it would be if it's work trip, but we have to be realistic. So I think I probably do that as sick pay so thank you for those questions. I think that's as many as we've really got time to cover today.
18:01
I will follow up with those of That I was able to answer after the session and share those with everybody. So just to finish off just a quick promotion for tomorrow's webinar. Same time where my colleague Matthew Sutton will be looking at the force majeure Clauses in your contracts and the ability to invoke those. Thank you for listening and good. Bye.
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Webinar
COVID 19 | Invoking force majeure
COVID 19 | Invoking force majeure
Businesses facing difficulties in meeting their contractual obligations because of disruption caused by the coronavirus should consider invoking the force majeure provisions in their contracts.
We will look at whether force majeure can be invoked and how this might help, the steps that need to be taken to benefit from the protection afforded by a force majeure provision, and whether force majeure offers an opportunity to mitigate business risk arising from the spread of coronavirus and the consequences of invoking this protection.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
1:33
Hi, I'm Matthew Sutton a partner in the commercial team at Shakespeare Martineau. Welcome to today's webinar on the coronavirus and force majeure Clauses in business contracts. You'll see on your screen that you are able to ask me questions. So please do ask questions along the way and I will answer as many as I can at the end.
1:56
Okay. So today as I say I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about force majeure Clauses in business-to-business contracts and how they may assist businesses in attempts to manage the disruption caused by the spread of the coronavirus the background to this as you know, is the continuing Global spread of the coronavirus and the measures which have been introduced by governments across the world to combat the virus.
2:24
The impact of the fire as was first built in China in January as the world's second largest economy and largest manufacturer accounting for 20% of global manufacturing output the disruption of shipments to and from China has already had significant implications for the supply chains of many businesses in the UK causing interruptions and delay the participation continues to deteriorate with governments across the world now introducing quarantine measures and travel restrictions.
2:54
And leaving the global economy facing very uncertain times businesses facing difficulties in meeting their contractual obligations because of disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak should certainly consider invoking the force majeure Provisions in their contracts. So what is a force majeure provision? Well put simply a force majeure provision is a clause in a contract which typically excuses one or both.
3:24
Of Contracting parties from performance of the contract in some way following the occurrence of events beyond the reasonable control of the party concerned.
3:36
The term force majeure has itself no recognized legal meaning so it's important to remember that whether a business can invoke a force majeure provision in a contract will therefore generally depend upon the wording of the Clause an important. First point to having mind. Therefore is how is force measured defined.
3:58
Well some force majeure Provisions May reference specifically pandemics epidemics, or Civil emergencies. However Clauses often simply reference circumstances beyond the reasonable control of a party in the absence of specific wording.
4:18
It will be important to consider the scope of the Clause carefully to determine whether it will include the corona Outbreak The coronavirus outbreak or any related government restrictions. It's important to remember in this context that a party can invoke a force majeure provision. Generally only where it is prevented from performing its contractual obligations. The fact that performance may be more difficult or more costly will typically not be sufficient.
4:46
For example It's a well-established principle under English law that a changing economic or Market circumstances affecting the proverb and profitability of a contract or the ease with which A party's obligations can be performed will not be regarded as a force majeure event in one particular case the high court found that the inability of a company to obtain Finance due to the collapse of the world's financial markets in 2008 did not trigger the force majeure clause in a contract to purchase an aircraft.
5:23
So assuming the scope of the force majeure Clause potentially covers the events taking place currently what steps do we need to take to obtain the benefit of a force majeure provision?
5:37
Well frequently force majeure Provisions can be invoked only when notice is given by the affected party within a specified time of becoming aware of the impact on contractual performance. For example, it may be a contractual requirement that notice is given by a party within 3 business days of it becoming aware of being unable to perform its obligations due to the force majeure event.
6:03
Failure to give notice within a prescribed time inmate potentially means that the benefit of the Clause could be lost where there is no specific notice provision notice should generally be given by a party as soon as it becomes aware that it is unable to perform its obligations due to the force majeure event.
6:25
Force majeure Provisions will also generally require the affected party to show that it is used reasonable Endeavors to prevent or at least mitigate the effects the effects of a force majeure event in this context.
6:39
The court of appeal has held that language in a force majeure clauncher clause which refers to events beyond the control of a party can only be relied on if that party has taken all reasonable steps to avoid the Insert the event or to mitigate its results.
6:59
Okay, so we've taken the steps necessary to invoke out force majeure provision, what are the consequences of of invoking that provision well generally the effect of invoking a force majeure provision is to suspend contractual obligations for the period during which the force majeure event prevents contractual performance once the event has come to an end the obligations of the parties recommence So effectively once a force majeure provision has been invoked the affected parties liability for failure to perform is usually removed for so long as the force measure the event continues. It's important.
7:44
However to remember that force majeure Clauses May often also include a right of termination for either or both parties if the force majeure event continues Beyond a specified period of time It's also important to have in mind that force majeure Provisions may include a right for either or both parties to terminate the contract if the force majeure event continues Beyond a specified period of time so for example a clause my typically say that if a party continues to be unable to perform its obligations for a period of say 14 or 30 days the other party May terminate the contract immediately by giving written notice.
8:27
In those circumstances the party terminated the contract will not be liable to pay any compensation to the party suffering from the event of force majeure.
8:40
So Faith with the possibility of disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak businesses should consider invoking their Force visual Provisions to do this. It's important to have in mind the following actions review your contracts do they contain force majeure Provisions? If so, it's important to understand the scope of the Clause. Does it specifically referred to a pandemic or are you relying on General word?
9:09
I think that refers to events beyond your reasonable control.
9:15
Be aware of any steps that need to be taken to trigger the protection which the Clause May afford. Do you have to give notice within a specified time period if you do you need to comply with that time period otherwise protection may be lost. If there are no specified time periods. Then you should give notice as soon as possible consider what mitigation actions can be taken remember? It is often a condition of claiming the benefit of force majeure.
9:45
That you've acted reasonably to avoid the event concerned or at least to mitigate its consequences.
9:54
Does the business have a contingency plan? Obviously that's important in the context of mitigation has that contingency plan been implemented?
10:04
Be aware of the consequences of invoking a force majeure clause in particular. Does it give rise to a right of contract termination to the other Contracting party?
10:17
In the context of coronavirus, it's important to consider invoking force majeure Clauses in business contracts. And in this context, it is particularly important to act rapidly when analyzing whether this route is potentially available to you. Okay, so thank you for listening to today's webinar on coronavirus and force majeure Clauses in business contracts. I have had a few questions come in so I will answer.
10:46
A cancer a couple now and then send a follow-up to the others along with a recording of the webinar. So the first question I have is what happens if my contract does not contain a force majeure Clause well in those circumstances it is possible that the doctrine of frustration could apply so the doctrine of frustration is an English law concept which provides that if a contract has become impossible.
11:16
Possible to perform all the parties obligations are changed radically by the occurrence of an event after the contract has been agreed. It is possible that the contracts that the Contracting parties can set aside their contractual obligations. It's important to remember though in the context of frustration. That courts are generally reluctant to find that a contract has been frustrated.
11:43
So it's quite a hard thing to To to achieve before a court again as with force majeure Clauses. It's also important to remember that an event that renders contraction performance more difficult or more costly will not have itself be sufficient to achieve the result of a contract being frustrated. So the contract must be impossible to perform or all the obligations of the parties must have changed.
12:16
radically So second question I have received is a chi rely on a force majeure Clause if there are also other reasons why I cannot perform my contract which had nothing to do with the force majeure event. So in the current situation, they may be nothing to do with the outbreak of the coronavirus all the restrictions that may have been introduced to combat the spread of the virus.
12:45
Well the short answer to that question is No, you can't rely on a force majeure clause in those circumstances. The high court has determined that in order to rely on a force majeure Clause the force majeure event must be the only effective cause of a part in failing to comply with its contractual obligations. So a Contracting party will not be relieved of its contractual liability under a force majeure Clause. So Contracting party will not be relieved of its contractual liability under a force majeure.
13:18
Your claws if it would not have been able to perform its obligations, even if the force majeure event had not occurred.
13:26
Okay, so thanks for the great questions. I'll follow up on these after the session and share them with you the next webinar in our coronavirus series is tomorrow at 12:30 on business leases with Justine all thanks very much for watching for All Our advice and guidance on coronavirus. Please contact a dedicated resource Hub at shma.co.uk or contact me at Matthew.sutton@shma.co.uk, thanks very much.
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Preparing for the recession
Preparing for the recession
The true economic impact of COVID-19 will be felt worldwide by businesses and individuals for many years to come, with the Bank of England warning that the UK economy is heading towards its sharpest recession on record.
This webinar will look at the lessons learnt from the 2008 financial crisis and what businesses should be doing now to prepare to survive the next recession.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:41
0:50
1:03
1:39
2:06
2:40
2:56
3:27
3:36
3:58
4:27
4:57
5:26
5:56
6:24
6:31
6:46
7:29
7:55
8:30
9:01
9:13
9:56
10:24
10:33
11:13
11:43
12:12
12:24
12:53
12:59
13:29
13:50
14:14
14:42
15:11
15:30
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Bounce Back Loan Scheme and other government financial support
COVID-19 | Bounce Back Loan Scheme and other government financial support
Last week, the government announced a further measure to help small businesses navigate the current climate, offering up to £50,000 of fast-access finance for those that have been affected by COVID-19.
This webinar will run through the details of the new 100% government-backed ‘Bounce Back Loan Scheme’ and how it could provide businesses with a much-needed lifeline to survive the crisis. We’ll also look at the other government support available including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS) and the loan scheme for larger businesses.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:41
Hello there. I'm Lisa Bottrill and I'm a Partner in the corporate team here at Shakespeare Martineau. Welcome to today's webinar on the government loan schemes that are currently available to businesses to help them through the period of disruption caused by the coronavirus. You'll see a Q&A icon on your screen. So please do ask questions and we'll share a summary of all questions and answers with everyone after the webinar.
1:07
There are now essentially three different loan schemes available to help businesses.
1:14
On the eligibility for each scheme depends on the size of each business.
1:19
each scheme also commits different sizes and types of loan The most recently announced scheme is the bounce back scheme, which now runs alongside the coronavirus business Interruption loan scheme, which I'll refer to as see bills because that's a bit of a mouthful and the large loan scheme.
1:39
I will run through some of the details first for the new bounce back scheme and then take a look at how things have progressed with see bills as it's been up and running for over a month now and then take a brief look at large loan scheme.
1:53
Anything firstly to the bounce back scheme borrowers can borrow on a Term Loan basis only between two thousand and fifty thousand pounds, but there is a further limit.
2:07
Which is the lesser of 50,000 and 25% of the businesses turnover.
2:14
The scheme doesn't cover any sorts of loans other than borrowing a set amount over a fixed period of time any other sort of facility would need to be borrowed undersea Bills or the large loan scheme and not the bounce-back scheme.
2:31
The real benefit of this loan is that there's no cost attached to the loan for 12 months. So that's no fees and no interest payable by the borrower for those first 12 months. Essentially. What happens is the government pays the interest and any fees to the bank on behalf of the borrower. This is called a business Interruption payment.
2:53
Now this payment counts the state aid received from the government by the business in question, but for small businesses, this is unlikely to be much of a problem because I wouldn't I wouldn't imagine that many businesses have received enough other money from a government put them in breach of state aid.
3:09
Rules what you should also note if it however is that the government won't pay the capital and that will be repayable and equal installments once the 12 month interest free period has Some over the following five years.
3:26
The money can be borrowed for up to six years and is a hundred percent guaranteed by the government. And when we say the government what we really mean is the taxpayer the interest rate is quite low at just two and a half percent per annum and that's for the whole life of the loan.
3:43
The loan can be repaid early if the borrower wants and for that there will be no repayment penalties at all. However, the borrower does remain fully liable for the debt at all times.
3:55
Ultimately, however, if the borrower will become insolvent the government would pay the balance of the loan back to the bank. So that's basically how the scheme works.
4:05
The bounce-back loan is currently only available from 11 lenders, which is pretty much just the large High Street Banks, although from what I understand. There are other lenders who in the process of applying and once they're accredited they'll also be able to provide these loans. There are over 40 lenders approved for see bills. However, so access to the bounce back scheme is through a much more limited set of lenses and see builders.
4:34
In terms of availability of the loan the government have made it so that you can apply just by going online and filling in a form.
4:42
There are no Financial viability criteria that need to be met which is very different from C bills where the lenders usual lending criteria need to be met before the loan will be made if a bounce-back loan application is turned down by one lender for any reason then a borrower can go and apply to another however, it's not quite that simple because the anecdotal evidence that I receive from clients about their applications is that a lot of banks are requiring you to have a business current account with them before they will allow A lender to apply to them.
5:19
This isn't quite in the spirit of what the government announced when they set the scheme up, but I think there are a couple of practical reasons that this has been put in place by the Banks firstly because if a borrower has a current account with It gives an account from which to take the repayments but also the banks need to go through the usual kyc anti-money laundering and fraud checks before they can approve the lending and they simply can't do that in the time scale that the government has given them for approving these loans.
5:53
What the government requires is that the loans are turned around from application to approval within a period of 48 hours and they just don't have the capability to get all the kyc sorted in that 48 hour period so what they're doing is putting in place this requirement to hold the account. So once they got the account opened it can then meet the government's requirements of turning a loan application around in 48 hours.
6:19
So this scheme will work best for borrowers who have got their main bank account with one of the eleven lenders that has an accredited to provide about about loans at this stage just in terms of the time scales that this works too. I've spoken to one client who applied for the loan when the scheme opened on the very first day on the 4th of May and they had received approval of their land by four o'clock that afternoon.
6:48
And that fits with the government information that we've had that 69,000 applications were approved on the first day and I understand the world around a hundred thousand applications. So nearly three quarters were approved on the first day. So the best thing about this is that it does appear to be a very quick way to get a much-needed cash boost for your business.
7:09
The other benefit of this scheme is that the lender cannot ask for guarantees or in the case of a sole Trader or partner can't enforce the loan against that person as principal residence or vehicle?
7:24
They're asked their personal assets would normally be at risk in relation to business lending, but the government has specifically put in place this restriction to stop the banks in force against their large personal assets.
7:37
The loan is available to pretty much all businesses from all sectors, except a very few exceptions and he's exceptions actually apply to all three of the different loan schemes. So the people the businesses that can't apply our state schools insurance companies and public bodies.
7:59
The loan is made on a self-certification basis and borrows required to confirm a number of things the business must be a uk-based in its business activity and the business must have been established by the first of March 20 20 the business you have to confirm as part of the application that the business has been adversely impacted by the Coronavirus.
8:24
The business must not currently be using another government bat coronavirus loan scheme, but what you can do is use the business the bounce-back scheme to refinance a facility. They've been taken out undersea bills, which is a slight exception to the general rule that you can't use I'll be using any other loan scheme.
8:45
The business must be in bankruptcy liquidation or undergoing any sort of debt restructuring.
8:51
At least fifty percent of its income has got to be from Trading activities rather than from other Investments such as commercial property renting that kind of thing.
9:02
The loan is available to companies LPS and Partnerships and sole Traders so pretty much to all business entities and the load has got to be used for the purposes of the business. It definitely isn't to be used for the personal gain of the directors.
9:19
There's also one further requirement that the business mustn't have been a difficulty as at the 31st of December 2019. If it was designated as being in big difficulty at that time, there will be further restrictions on the amount that can be borrowed and what the phone can be use for and specifically in those circumstances. The government has said that the loan can't be used for export activities.
9:44
There are a few other confirmations that have to be given because the loan relies on self-certification.
9:53
The borrower has to confirm that they understand that the losses may be incurred result of borrowing the money that it will have an impact on their credit rating that there may be a firm Financial Risk to personal assets. Although not their primary residence or any personal vehicle and that there is reduced consumer protections available.
10:14
And various other data protection consents and what borrowers need to understand is that this isn't going through any normal Bank affordability process. The onus is fully on the borrower to decide that they want the money that they need the money rather than in the usual application for a loan where it is up to the bank to ensure that the business can afford alone and to be responsible lender. So essentially the credit process is turned.
10:43
Round and it's for the borrower to decide whether it can afford to repay it and not for the bank and what this means is that the borrower has waived all of the usual credit approval for formalities and specifically what the government have done is that they have discipline. I'd the provisions of the consumer credit act that would otherwise apply to any of these loans.
11:03
So basically there is no formal consumer protection, its borrow at your own risk, essentially, but that's why the amount of the loan is wanted to 50,000 better take the government's made of made a decision that boring up to 50,000 for a business is probably going to be affordable for the most businesses going forward.
11:26
I'm just to reiterate briefly that the only checks the banks will carry out is anti-money laundering know your client and four checks, but nothing else will be done to check essentially that the business can afford the loan.
11:41
So that was pretty much the bounce back loan scheme in a quick run-through. Now, I am going to move on to the coronavirus business Interruption loan scheme or see bills which has been up and running for over a month now.
11:58
so the new bounce back scheme has meant that there are some changes to the see bills loan Arrangement and that that main ski change is that there is now a limit on loans of 50001 pounds whereas before there wasn't any sort of a limit and what I would say is that if a business has borrowed less than 50,000 pounds undersea bills, they would be much better off refinancing it into a bounce-back loan as the interest rate is lower and it would also not cost them anything in terms of fees to make the change because no fees can be charged for the bounce back loan.
12:34
There is one slight exception to what I just said is that it will still be possible to get a siebels loan that's less than 50,000 for asset Finance or invoice Finance because there are the only loans available under bounce-back are straight term loans.
12:53
Now in terms of the lenders that are available for this there are over now over 50 accredited lenders, there were originally 40 but another 10 or so have been authorized during the last month to also provide these loans which means that they see bills loans are much more widely available from a much broader range of lenders than any of the other sorts of loan schemes and of the three schemes that are available. This is most definitely the most flexible and the most widely available.
13:21
But I would actually say that I would expect more out sparklers to be granted overall because access to that scheme so much easier and quicker than see bubbles.
13:32
So just a reminder of the key provisions of the see Bill scheme businesses can borrow up to five million pounds.
13:41
The loan period can be for up to six years, which is just the same as the bounce back scheme and it's available to businesses with a turnover of up to 45 million pounds per year.
13:54
Bologna's interest rate for the first 12 months. So the government will cover the interest for that period And I think this was originally six months, but it's now been increased to 12 months and again mirrors the bounce back scheme in terms of interest rates. This is not like the bounce back scheme.
14:12
So interest rates will be exactly the same as they were before the before the crisis and banks are entitled to price their products in accordance with Usual procedures which again is Stockholm to start contrast for the about asking just in terms of the lending rates that I have seen available. These generally are looking like they are up to about 6% over base which is which is you know, which is quite a quite a hefty interest rate on these on these loans.
14:48
The government has said that there can't be any personal guarantees required for Lending under 250,000 and the government will guarantee 80% of the loan, but the bank may still take security for these loans in the normal way such as debentures and other sorts of charges.
15:06
Again, these loans are only available for UK based business activity.
15:11
But probably the most subjective criteria of all that the borrower has to fulfill is that they must fit all the lenders usual borrowing borrowing criteria, that would have been in place if it weren't for the coronavirus outbreak and the loan must or the borrower must prove that the loan is we payable in the short to medium term and the evidence that we have seen is that this is where a lot of For Alice are finding difficulty in giving enough detailed financial information to lenders to ensure that they can.
15:47
Tick this box and prove essentially affordability as with about vac scheme. There are a number of exclusions those that can't borrow our banks insurance, but that doesn't include insurance brokers who are included who can who can still apply public sector bodies schools membership organizations and trade unions.
16:10
I miss this is pretty much the same same list as for the bounce back scheme and one note of caution that I would say that what we're seeing coming through on the schemes that we have been advising on undersea bills is that there may well be a early repayment penalties now, they can't be any of these with the bounce back scheme.
16:31
But with see bills we are seeing repayment penalties put into the loan documentation if a borrower decides that they want To pay back the loan before the end of the term for that is that is quite a point that should be noted because it can it can be one percent of the loan amount so it could be relatively costly for the borrower.
16:53
I'm just to say that Shakespeare Martin at we have a fixed fee product for any borrowers that are looking at entering into the sea Bill scheme where for a very discounted price. We will review and report on the loan Arrangement and any security documentation just to give you peace of mind before you sign up to it. So if anybody's interested in that we can let you have further details of that after the webinar moving on then to the large loan.
17:21
Hakeem I will just give this a brief run-through as it is quite a large and complex scheme businesses with a turnover above 45 million and up to 250 million can apply for a loan of up to 25 million.
17:41
Businesses with a turnover above 250 million imply apply for a loan of up to 50 million.
17:48
The scheme has been expanded to cover businesses with turnover Abarth 500 million as well who were originally excluded by the government's initial proposals because they weren't large enough to qualify for an even larger scheme that the government has brought in which is the Bank of England's covid corporate financing facility, which is Regret investment gray companies, so These loans on to the large loan scheme are only available for a much more limited period of time but they're available for three months and up to a maximum of three years. So half of the the term that you can get under the sea Bills or the bounce back. But under this scheme, you could get term loans you can get over drafting an invoice discounting and asset-based lending. So it is quite a quite a large range of products that are available.
18:37
And as with the other schemes personal guarantees can't be required for loans of over can only be required or loans over 250,000 pounds, but what they can't be required for is any more than 20% of the loan which essentially is the bit that is not guaranteed by the government.
18:55
So any business that is looking to take out one of these loans will find that it's going to be a pretty significant and bespoke financing facility on although they are made available pursuant to the government scheme that is likely to be a need for quite a lot of negotiation on the more detailed terms conditions that the loan such as events of old and security requirements though obtaining one of these loans is likely to take much longer than either anything under the sea bills or The bounce back and each load will need to be tailored to meet the applicant businesses individual circumstances.
19:33
These loans are also only available from a limited panel of lenders because of the likely size and complexity of the loans that are involved and also the ability of the lender to deal with them in a in a timely manner. Although definitely not as quickly as the Bills or the bounce-back seen the difference or the biggest difference with this scheme is that there are no payment holidays available or assistance from the government's in paying interest for the first 12 months or any of the fees. So lenders will be able to charge fees.
20:02
Useful providing the facilities in the usual way but the government's 80 percent guarantee does cover the fees interest and principle that is repayable under under these loans. Currently. There are just about ten accredited lenders, which again is pretty much just the High Street banks that that can make these these loans available under the government scheme.
20:27
So that pretty much brings us to the end of the webinar. I hope that you have found what I've had to say helpful and useful in the current circumstances. If there's anything that you would like further information on or you have a specific question or query that you'd like to discuss, please do let me know and I would be very happy to help.
20:46
Finally just to let you know, we have launched a free legal help line giving you direct access to a senior team of experts for free legal guidance over 20 minute video. Call details are on the screen if you would like to book a session, and thank you very much for listening today. Goodbye.
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Development agreements – protecting against COVID-19
COVID-19 | Development agreements – protecting against COVID-19
The real estate sector has been one of the hardest hit industries as a result of the current business climate. With commercial development facing a multitude of issues, what can developers do to keep their projects moving forward?
This webinar will look at land acquisition and reaching unconditional agreements, highlighting the current issues parties are facing with obtaining signatures to complete property transactions. We’ll also cover planning considerations and how delays in obtaining planning permission could affect the ability for developers to meet their contractual deadlines – all of which increase the risk of incurring additional losses which may not be able to be passed onto contractors.
We hope that this webinar will help developers put things into perspective during these difficult times and offer solutions and practical considerations where they may not have been so apparent.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:00
Welcome to today's webinar on development agreements protecting against covid-19. I'm Pete Dilks a partner in the real estate team at Shakespeare Martineau with 15 years experience in dealing with development a grievance.
0:14
So today's webinar is aimed at commercial developers. Although it might be the members and professional team or contractors or even invested in commercial property might find this useful something to bear in mind is that we're not really looking at Public Health England guidance or practicality that working on site. We're looking really at the documentation around development transactions such as development agreements agreements police and development bringing agreements see our covid-19 right environment some players Koreans.
0:44
His policies this webinar is going to be to looking at the one conditionality of deals and getting the site acquired any issues that might be faced their second part being with the actual construction side. Once we've got the site leading to practical completion. So reaching them conditionality. The land agreement is like to be conditioned on a few points, maybe sight assembly funding or home owner of things. The one we're going to focus on today is obtaining Planning Commission that's going to problem.
1:14
And be the top of the agenda for most developers at present. The Agreements are likely to have various obligations on the developer is better planning firstly respective submission of the application and ba-zing win landowner by a consultation on the planning strategy or master plan. And the right the good news is that most agreements you've drafted correctness probably K to the any delays experienced by the landowner during this process.
1:42
So if there are delays during the During this period of covid-19 where the laser experience from a landowner perspective. It shouldn't impact on timelines for the developers submission for the check, you know, as all Agreements are different. I should make that point generally throughout these that whilst I'm talking about development agreements in general. Each document is bespoke and is be read carefully depending on the greens contained within it. So other than submission and consultation with the landowner in it, which generally should be okay.
2:14
The covid-19 is obtaining plan commissioned by the long. Stop date. One of the usual greeting development agreement is extensions of time for judicial review challenge resubmission planning appeals up type of thing and that won't be affected usually by the gate to obtain planning. But the difficulty is that the long stop date itself May well be subject to no extensions before seizure. It's not like a construction.
2:44
And contract where you have both of your extensions and land side of the deal might not have any extensions for that and probably won't so there's find out whether or not we do actually think we're going to experience difficulties in the planning process and invited one of my colleagues and Igor who's a partner moans running fine consultant. He's going to give a review on his experience with the planning process itself whether he sees there are any delays life is suffered. What you can do to mitigate those delays.
3:13
Yes, we will Out a shadow of a doubt the covid-19 situation has impacted on planning and the ability to secure planning consent and the best summary I can give really is to say the reaction the planning system is mixed fortunately it patchy.
3:35
There's a isn't a consistent response sun burning authorities are well setup dealing with Vote working and video conferencing and or easy to get hold of other officers are not and it varies on a council by counsel basis. What is fairly consistent is the lack of planning committee meetings that were able to hold so whilst we may be able to push playing.
4:14
Applications along through the system what most authorities are struggling to do is take applications to planning committee most appalling committee that works and doesn't Prejudice the interests of interested parties who aren't set up home about working particular demographics and Society.
4:44
With reliably assured that many authorities are exploring opportunities for communities videoconferencing committee, but it's it's still a way off in my view. I think there's there was a trial done and it was abandoned recently. So didn't really get off the ground government to try to facilitate committee.
5:13
These video conferencing by relaxing legislation around committee procedure vertical so they've made an attempt terms to overcome that.
5:30
The big issue is planning inspectorate. The response has been fairly clear the most recent advice on the website is that all hearings inquiries and site visits office phoned and they're exploring opportunities for holding those remotely as well. But again, no evidence.
5:59
It's that anything is taking place. So there's a there's a complete stop on those sort of gatherings at present which is having a big impact on local plan preparation and the appeal system inevitably will lead to backlogs that that's decision making in respect of the the pre-submission element of the planning system.
6:29
Part of the process where we're all very active is Consultants.
6:37
This is difficult as well because clearly we can't obtain highways data because we can't do traffic counts because there's no cars on the road ecological assessments are often giving verse results because ecology Habits habits of shifted and detective species of moved around on are more prevalent in on some sites and there were six months ago.
7:13
So Actually mapping the the sort of impact the Baseline positions when you're looking at having a planning application. It's very difficult as well. So I think at the moment is much as I would like to be able to provide some certainty around this matter.
7:41
It really is a case of authority by Authority though if you are at an appeal it was the funny inspector and I think you will experience some delay that Okay, thanks very much. And it sounds like it's more of a side-by-side Authority by parity basis. So anyone does want to get in touch with Andy further with details of be published at the end of the webinar. So let's assume that we did manage to get through that and we we got planning we have achieved on conditionality. We now just need to proceed to acquire the land. This would normally be a price rate forward position. One of the issues with land Acquisitions with property is it's going to be by deed.
8:31
And we all know that you'll execution of dudes are two directors director covid secretary or witness witnessing a doctor's signature. Unfortunately with the way the land registry of approach this it's not been straightforward and the things like DocuSign the e-signatures are not being accepted by learning registry for executing on fields and likewise when it comes to witnessing signatures witnessing over FaceTime or Zoom or other media.
9:00
Form not been accepted either down to the street where your legislation is drafted back on 1925. So one way we can look at getting around. This is by way of a power of attorney and it might have been you want to consider authorizing your solicitor to sign a particular document or documents on your behalf. We do have separate materials on it. We can send to you separately if that is of Interest.
9:26
The good news for development transaction is usually they're doing the jail period We have time to get documents signed reminded me so much of a practical issue. However, if we have eaten into our lungs stopped bait through some of the reasons and you mentioned earlier, it could be that we need to we need to acquire the side straight away and wave that period possibly looking insurance policy and which case we won't have time to keep talking to be signed beginning of our attorney. Lionel could really be beneficial.
9:53
So assuming that we now acquired the site we now and in the construction phase we're going to look at those Target dates and are they lead to the great advantages and also long stop dates with the ultimate stick against any better at all simulation. So firstly on the target dates is going to be extendable in each agreement usually for a certain set of criteria, which we expect to see a mobile development agreements. And first one is tenant or good sir variations, which could well be the case given the current covid-19 crisis. You might get one of those parties looking to burn the specification each of those should carry an extension of times Jinping rise.
10:31
Likewise extension permitted under the building contract and expect even agreement mirror and extension method that the developer should be put into a neutral position provided as extensions of grounds of rooms of the building contract. What would be nice to see and your agreements is a provision allowing extensions for any matters beyond the reasonable control their developer doctrine of contested provision for one which would be very helpful and almost certainly Grant you an extension.
10:59
I'm dreaming Covid-19 crisis. I have mentioned here. The employers agent has are going to be critical in certifying any particular extension of time under the development agreement. And usually that would be an uninfected extension of time which they can grant given a purchaser or fun drama certain. You have a warranty from that party over we have seen in recent years and Burgesses off ones wanting further control on extensions of time and certification by employees agent.
11:29
So please review Agreement carefully on that firms. It might be the first consultation has to be had if the quality's before those and before the employee agent can actually search by the extension. So use the touch back on the building contract and that's the most common extension. We think we would see and Link that to extensions of time between development agreement under building contract to introduce Alex Smith doozer construction partner cheeks been wanting to say a few words and how these two agreements might interact and it thanks face.
12:00
He's in our experience to majority of the building contracts entered into pursuant to that agreements. Take it form the JCT 2016 design and build usually with a scheduled amendments as a developer usually wishes to place single point responsibility for the design and construction of the works with the contractor development agreements. Usually provide the target dates for completion and the development may be extended weather extensions of time given under the building contract as just mentioned by piece.
12:29
And the JCT has separate mechanisms for determining whether or not a contractor is entitled to extensions of time to completion dates and lost an expense. In addition to the safety contract price are many really going to look at the extensions of time for the purposes of this webinar. Now in relation to the covid-19 pandemic construction sites in England and Wales can remain open if they meet the conditions set out in the guidance issued by public health England, which align with the construction leadership councils sites operating.
12:59
Just imagine two extensions of time. The JCT uses a long list of relevant events, which Trigger Time extensions, but before being allowed an extension of time, if the delay event fits one of the relevant events, the contractor still has an owner has hurdle to go through this is usually that the contractor has to use his best endeavours to prevent it delays the progress of the works or any section.
13:25
However caused Looking at potential relevant events in the current circumstances. We thought that there would be to force module and intervention by UK government or Public Authority in the circumstances.
13:41
The one that's most likely to be applicable now is that in relation to force majeure as presently the government or other public authorities haven't closed construction sites now for some of y'all is undefined in JCT contracts and hasn't been a subject of extensive do Should comment in those of England and Wales whilst this creates a degree of uncertainty as to how Provisions could be interpreted the cases. We've seen give us a general understanding Force module, which is essentially that force majeure is an event which is beyond the responsibility control of either party the tributes will either two forces of nature or other circumstances, which aren't confined in their effects principally to the parties to employers persons contractors persons the site all the works in these circumstances is rationed.
14:27
To force majeure and covid-19 the effects are applicable to everyone. So you think therefore that it would be relevant and apply.
14:34
The second one as I mentioned is a relation to exercise by UK government or Public Authority of of powers. Now this hasn't been done at all in terms of exercising statute powers to close sites and many ended in the industry is expected this to happen sometime ago, but it hasn't happened and we aren't aware of any enforcement Powers provided by the coronavirus actor 2020 being used in respect of construction sites consequently in some relationship covid-19.
15:04
19 and extensions of time contractors May seek to apply for extensions of time due to force majeure and if they are successful in doing that's then this would apply for the purposes of the developers be entitled to extensions and time under development agreements going forward. We're building contracts that entered into pursuant to development agreements being put together now, then we'd expect those to be specific provision simulation to covid-19 which would entitle contractors to extensions.
15:34
Time but not too lost an expense.
15:37
That's it relations of building contracts and development agreements from my perspective plans you back to peace Thank you very much, Alex. And again, if anybody wants to contact Alex afterwards, we'll put his details up at the end so you can get in touch with him directly. So the finally see that I wanted you to touch upon was was not necessarily the target dates, which would usually allow an extension of time. It's the long stop dates in the agreement, which will usually be there drop dead date for the developer truth finish the transaction the issue with long stop dates.
16:11
I'm only is it they won't be extendable in the I asked Toby date. Will these are there to get the purchaser or fund certainty that science going to be constructed by that date? So this is really where the developer runs the risk of the biggest losses to it largely because the building contract is unlikely to have any type of long stop dating as long as the relevant event exists as Alex just explain contractor will be granted an extension time. Whereas the developer will have a drop headlong. Stop me.
16:44
It's not all complete during going to be available. However, these long stock dates are usually built in with a sufficient period of time to cater for these type of event will not necessarily this event or just delaying events the usually minimum twice bill period however on smaller projects with a smaller long story short along start date and bill period the disproportionate effect of covid-19 might make this more likely to be missed.
17:10
So what we've got to look at is is that long stop dates that are achievable With a Slowdown in construction on site and is possible and practical solution to renegotiate that bait if it's going to be missed in all bodies documented in the deal. No reason why one I shouldn't be the case and step in is really something they know God wants to do they own themselves. However, if the crisis has led to one or more parties wanted to get out of the deal is where it's going to be quite tricky, but I'm renegotiating in place.
17:40
So assuming that we can't renegotiate because remedy for a a tenant for a and 37 would be termination and with that comes problems with a developer in how it gets its cost back from working printed scheme. So if we if the developer has Miss along start date and a party looks to terminate developers got to try and get back its costs from what he's carried out. It will largely from these works on third-party land. I mean transfer disappearance to an end go to Sur and therefore may have carried out the entirety of the build without being paid yet the first week.
18:14
Guys is a developer to being paid for some practical completion. Will it get its market value in the works when it get the cost of the work? I said find by employing agency in their profit element or indeed an element of profit with it get a percentage of either of the above all women looking for each full development V and all costs less the cost the complete to might include purchases margin on the cost of completed. Well either way spider final bullet.
18:44
Point looking more attractive they're probably not going to lead to a huge amount of coffee table to the developer giving them two more additional costs of stepping in finishing off a build. So it's it depends on how an agreement is drafted. But as this is essentially You could argue a no-fault event on the part of the developer do to covid-19 that would have ordinarily granting extension time. But with a long stock date night with it some of these development agreements you allow payment no circumstance.
19:14
Second point on Jan 19 a stage paintings. It's the same greens as a bulldog you be less risk the developer has you will all leave extra its money by the better than stage or in terms of good. So in case of looking at what your documents looking that way final point, I wanted to mention was this point I'm talking here about how the developer might extract its value as of the scheme.
19:36
They're also going to be additional losses to the tenant or the fun and that's not to say that those losses won't our way or being greater than The losses suffered by many better bring not being paid for it works. So it depends on how these clothes are stretching your documents range critical to ensure that those losses payable to attend or to a on and on termination or quantifiable and hopefully we'll still need to remember getting some of the other scheme. So just to summarize here. We spoke about the impact of planning and I only spoke earlier that this is quite an uncertain time and each local Authority might be acting differently also.
20:14
The education of Deeds that could be problematic in the Chrome times not just the development transaction before all property transactions try and get your ducks in a row already complications in the coming up Target dates. Generally I'm going to be what he achieved liquidated damages in the minutes provided. You've got suitable drafting in everyday extensions of time. So these things don't hit long stop dates could be major issue in we've got a relatively short bill period and haven't packed into account any extensions of those long stop beads.
20:44
I can't reiterate in author. Each switch document is different theories different. Please read your agreements or contact if there are still over yours. Look at those agreements for you to see what your position is and these factors should be taken into account in the future drafting or learning agreements. So you want to contact either is details to be appearing on screen now by the time you Alex for myself finally, we've got a free helpline which offers 20 minutes.
21:14
Guidance from a senior member of our team which could help cover any of the issues that we've discussed today, which hopefully you may find useful. Thank you very much.
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Reporting data breaches
COVID-19 | Reporting data breaches
The lockdown has posed new challenges to the way we work, particularly in maintaining security of personal data while working from home.
Cyber criminals are increasing their activity and exploiting the current crisis, requiring businesses to be extra vigilant. This increases the possibility that data breaches will occur and that they will have to be reported to the ICO. While the ICO is currently being flexible and pragmatic in its approach, it cannot suspend or waive the duties imposed by the GDPR and the DPA, which continue to apply.
In this webinar, we highlight what it means to commit a personal data breach and the thresholds for reporting to the ICO and to the victim of the breach.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:40
Hello, I'm Geraldine Swanton a legal director at Shakespeare Martineau know today's session will provide a very brief overview on the duty to report personal data breaches under the GDP or the GDP are is rooted in the right to privacy, which of course is not an absolute, right?
1:00
And can be interfered with for a legitimate purpose provided its proportionate and so the GDP or seeks to achieve a fair balance between individuals reasonable expectations of privacy and the need for businesses to process personal data people entrust their data to us and some of it is highly sensitive data.
1:23
So it is about honoring that trust and therefore to do that we are Wired to take both technical measures and organizational measures to protect security Now organizational measures refer to you know, firm-wide policies and procedures, but they also include measures we as individuals can take in our day-to-day handling of personal data to ensure that it is secure now the duty to promote security is not absolute.
1:57
It is appropriate that the Sweet take must be appropriate to the risk posed to the individual as a result of a breach. So to sum it up really it's about preventing breaches. But if they do occur it's about detecting them quickly and reacting in a timely manner. Now, one of the big challenges for all of us is knowing when a breach has actually occurred and it might be helpful to enable you to identify breaches by dividing them into three.
2:30
Simple categories the first is a confidentiality breach and that is any unauthorized or accidental disclosure of personal data or unauthorized accidental access to personal data. Now when we think of these breaches, we think of melodramatic cyber attacks, but actually these occur on a routine day-to-day business basis in our ordinary everyday activities.
3:00
For example sending emails to a non intended recipient forwarding very sensitive Health Data to colleagues when they have absolutely no legitimate interest in seeing that Health Data the second type of breach is an Integrity breach and that's any unauthorized or accidental or alteration of personal data. For example, it could mean when data becomes corrupted.
3:29
So we only have a partial record an in inadequate parcel records can have a detrimental impact on individuals. And finally there is an availability breach. That's when there is unauthorized or accidental loss of personal data or destruction of personal data. So it could mean we have encrypted data, but we lose the key. Therefore we can't get access to that data either temporarily.
4:00
Permanently now the duty to report occurs. First of all in relation to the Ico. If there is a risk to the individual, you must only report the breach to the individual where there is a high risk posed to them by the breach now again assessing risk can be quite a difficult activity quite a difficult challenge, but there are various factors we can take into account.
4:29
And when we are assessing risk, and the first is what type of breach has occurred, usually a confidentiality breach will post some risk to an individual but the type of risk will be a very valid consideration and assessing risk next the nature and the sensitivity of the data.
4:51
So if it's ID day sir, that's that could pose a risk if it's highly sensitive disability related data, you can assume That will pose some form of risk. But even where the individual days are not particularly sensitive the combination of the data inadvertently destroyed or disclosed could create a risk when considered in the round.
5:15
Then there's the volume of data involved the group The more likely it is that some risk will be posed.
5:24
Then How likely is it that the person can be like it might not be identified by the actual data inadvertently disclosed but they might be identified when that is cross-referenced with other data. Then we have to assess the severity of the impact and the likelihood of the risk materializing now likelihood is again a difficult exercise, but for example, if inadvertent disclosure was made to a trusted.
5:54
And the risk is minimum if it was disclosed to an unknown source, then you can assume there is some likelihood of risk, the severity of the consequences. The severity of the impact is very relevant in assessing risk for example is the person more vulnerable to identity theft or fraud leading to financial loss.
6:19
If for example, we inadvertently release contact details If it means that a person who's estranged violent partner can now locate them are they vulnerable to physical harm distress is a very real consequence particularly. If we disclose very sensitive data humiliation damage to reputation. These are all probable consequences which could result and following the breach then we take into account the special characteristics of the person.
6:54
This data has been breached. So if it is a child or somebody with a learning disability, they may be much more vulnerable to risk.
7:05
The special characteristics of your business will also be relevant. So if you're a prison an educational institution or a medical practice data breaches are much more likely to have adverse consequences that if your business is simply compiling and mailing lists for magazine distribution.
7:28
Also, the number of individuals involved may be irrelevant consideration the greater the number the greater the threat That may be involved now the to recap the juicy to report to the information commissioner arises where there is some risk to the individual and you must report the breach without delay and in any event within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. So what does it mean to say when we become aware of the breach?
8:01
Well aware means not that we think maybe possibly but where are you have a reasonable degree of certainty that a data breach has occurred. You must provide reasons to the information commissioner. If you fail to disclose within that time limit and I would say look if you are in doubt about whether the threshold for disclosure has been passed you should report any way. So if in doubt always report now when you report the information commissioner, you really have to have a hand.
8:35
On what has happened? So you've got to explain what the breach was how it happened? What information was concerned the categories and numbers of individuals the categories and numbers of Records.
8:51
The potential consequences the steps you have taken to mitigate risk in the interim in the short term and the steps you're taking to mitigate risk in the future if you have a data protection, An officer you must provide the details of that officer and again to be to be sure to be sure.
9:13
I've include if in doubt do report now reporting to the data subject is required where there is a high risk and you must do that without undue delay and the purpose of revealing your breach to the individual is so that they can take steps to Don't think sounds if there is a vulnerability to Identity fraud then they can tell their bank. They can tell other they can they can take steps to diminish the risks themselves.
9:49
And as a very minimum the report must include again details of the breach the likely consequences the steps you've taken to protect the individual and details of the data Protection Officer if you have one Now you don't have to tell the individual where the information that has been inadvertently disclosed for example is unintelligible to anybody outside of your organization. So for example, if the data disclosed is encrypted, but you haven't disclosed the encryption key, then the risk is minimal and there's no need to tell the individual.
10:32
You don't also have to report if you've taken clear steps to ensure that the risk does not materialize. So remember there has to be a Nexus between reporting and high risk, but if you've taken steps in the interim to mitigate the high risk than there's no need to report now. You don't have to report to the data subject where it would involve disproportionate effort. Now that's a set of circumstances.
11:02
Stances may arise when the breach relates to a large number of individuals and it would you know be impossible or very very very burdensome to do to notify each and every individual but that doesn't mean you can do nothing. You may instead have to put a notice on your website detailing the breach so that those who are affected can protect themselves finally a theme that permeates the entire.
11:32
Rarity of the GDP or is accountability or transparency and that requires amongst other things that you must document all personal data breaches, even if there's no duty to report them to the information commissioner and the record must be pretty comprehensive.
11:51
It must include again the facts the house or what the when the effects any remedial action you've taken in the wake of Reach and in the long term and that record will enable the information commissioner to assess whether as an organization, you're complying with the GDP or if complaints are made and it's also very useful to include in that record any explanation as to why you haven't reported a breach to the information commissioner. It provides a justification in the face of the complaint.
12:29
In summary there for a remember. This is about honoring the trust that individuals have placed in us when they provide us with their personal data. It's about also creating a culture where our staff feel free to report a breach and ultimately it is about preventing greeters. But if they do happen it's about quick detection and prompt reaction.
12:59
Thank you. And please do remember we offer a free legal help line where we provide 20 minutes of free legal guidance. That's the end of this session. Thank you very much for your attention. I hope you found it useful.
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Webinar
Cyber security | The dark side of the web
Cyber security | The dark side of the web
In this webinar, we’ll look at the different types of threat actors, and situation awareness – the latest threat intelligence for Covid-19 and the increased threat landscape due to home working, and what businesses can do to protect themselves as best as possible.
Our guest speaker is Chris Woods, CEO of the CyberQ Group. He has over 20 years of cyber security experience developed within the EU and MENA regions, and has previously led cyber security teams at the European Space Agency, HP and Fujitsu.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:00
Hello, my name is Chris Wood's and I'm the founder and CEO of cyber Q group and I'd like to thank Shakespeare's Martinez to give me the opportunity to present this webinar today, which is called the dark side of the web and the objective of today's presentation is really go through three things and the type of tractors and secondly, what is the dark web and thirdly what is covid-19 scams that we're seeing in our through intelligence.
0:30
T a little background on me I've been again. My name's Chris was I've been in the cybersecurity industry for about 23 years. I started life working for a company called Fujitsu as a penetration tester has seven happy years. They are then I was headhunted to go and work for an organization called HP Hewlett-Packard as part of that role. I was the director of building cyber security capability across the globe. So these are things like security operations center.
1:00
Is instant response penetration test Etc. And as part of that role. I also spent a couple of years in Italy as in frascati on the European Space Agency as the sea so and as well as working very closely with gchq and UK government's as part of that role then took me to work in a place called cutter as in the Middle East and again very similar and building Global capability and should we say government secure code?
1:29
Ability and I did that for four years and I came back three and a half years ago four years ago to build Sawbuck you group and so I've accused group in effect isn't an award-winning UK innovator. We work on a lot of different types of services and consultancies for our clients. And again, we have capability across the globe in the US and in the Philippines and also in the United Kingdom, so that's a little bit about me. It's a little bit about cyber Q group. Okay.
1:57
So these are the type of fracture is And then we have an also why categorize different factors. Now, this is really important for cybersecurity professionals and criminals specially cybercriminals are no different to normal criminals. And as in the world you have different criminals with different motivation.
2:17
That is the same as in the cyber world and I'll give you an example so as part of characterizing threat intelligence and categorizing tractors and you tend to have people with different Techniques people with different tactics and basically people with different reservations and if you take it as a general coffee that if you were trying to steal cars you have certain tools at your disposal you have certain information at your disposal. If you take that as a jury Thief, they also have different tools. They have different tactics and they have different information available to them so they can still that information or they can still that asset.
2:58
There is no It's from the tractors that you get into the real world their motivations their drive and their characters and their Tools in there is in the cybersecurity world and I'll go forward and explain the different types of threat actors that we have in the cyber world that we categorize us. Okay. So these are the type of threat actors.
3:19
So the first one we'll start with is hacktivism now because of my role and because my background I've been involved in a lot of instant responses over the last 20 years and that's Going to organizations that have recently suffered from a breach and understanding what happened and Advising the Senior Management and the board of the steps of what they need to do. Now. My favorite tractor has always been activists now activist have a motivation. They have a drive and they have a message and if they go after your organization, they want to put that message out there.
3:51
So if you work in certain Sciences, if you work in certain oil or banking industry's activist one Getting to your website and I want to embarrass that organization. I want to put their message across the beauty about her activities is they actually let you know that they're there they won't hide they won't come back and try and steal data that potentially we have some Financial impact. They'll literally go on to that organization and they'll look to demonstrate a message and look to get their message into the into the wider population.
4:25
So again hacktivism the motivation they have a number of tools at their disposal and they also have a sometimes a political message that they want to get out. The second type of reactor is cybercriminals cybercriminals are probably the most Insidious in nature cybercriminals are there to make women it's the bottom line for cyber for sort of criminals the way they do that is getting into the organization lying there dormant for a number of months if not years and then waiting for the ideal opportunity to strike now.
4:59
Sorry cyber, criminals can work in different ways. They can work by stealing intellectual property intellectual property that you have within your environment and extracting and trying to sell on the dark web. It could be just good old-fashioned ransomware. So ransomware where the make sure it has the maximum damage and so they can extract Bitcoins from your organization. And anyway from embarrassment the quite Angel supply chain that you've been hacked and they've got access to some secret information cyber criminals.
5:29
About the money and they're very Insidious in nature. The third type of tractor is The Insider threat Now The Insider threat organizations need to be aware of his employees that they trust and people that within their organization have access to confidential information or have access to information.
5:48
Now this potentially could have an impact in God's if the inside threat went broke, so if they stole the information and they certainly were selling that Between the dark with that could have a dish - dries a disastrous effects and to that organization. And again, it's how you monitor The Insider threat. What's their motivation was their tools at their disposal. How do they know? Well how well do I know security systems as well? So again Insider threats again have a motivation. They have a technique and I have an understanding about how your organization works fourthly.
6:23
We have nation states and the nation state really involved governments and not I'm going to be a surprise to say the different governments hack. So you have you know, X you get X government will attack another government and voice of inertia and vice versa. Okay, so going from the tractor to some of the Cyber challenges now the next couple of slides and just basically give you an overview of some stats and I'm not going to go through every single one of them, but I'm just going to pick out some of the key points.
6:54
I think from the slides now, I think for me the biggest number that comes after me is the average Learn to identify breach in 2019 was 206 days. Now again mapping it back to the physical world that's equivalent to having a burger in your house for two hundred and six days and you're not realizing that they're there now again, there's a number of reasons for that. The reasons around is that cybersecurity is complex the organizations landscape, so as increase, especially now with covid-19 lot more people working from home.
7:30
People are working from their phones. People are working from their laptops tablets Etc. So the landscape has increased I will give you a quick example in that. So as a kind of an ex penetration test that we used to hack service what we have now is people hacking smart kettles and that's probably an idea to share with you about a penetration test that we were involved in a couple of years ago where by infiltrating an organization.
7:59
Organization had a smart Kettle as part of that smart Kettle. We were in able to get in because the password was very weak. But because we gain access into the smart counsel that interned and I just to get access into their environment and into the organization.
8:16
Now the smart Kettle was actually on the same local area network that their conference room is on and then by getting access to this market, so we were able to get access to the conference facility and we're able to get access to the TV and record board meetings and meetings that happen within that environment again, that's just one of the stories that we see and again you start to appreciate when you're in six days before detection is very very hard to pick up a sophisticated director.
8:46
Okay. So here's the second slide with the the again some stats that taken from the previous slide now again, I'm not going to go through each one of them but I think due to the covid-19 one that I woods and look at and the one that we're hearing from our security operations center around threat intelligence is the health sector now, I think you can see on the screen run somewhere for 2020. We looking quadruple to the healthcare sector and we've seen the impact of previous attacks.
9:16
Hence, the health care that can be devastating and obviously what's happening in covid-19 with what we've seen at the moment. We've seen a heightened increase on that.
9:26
And again, we have a stat there this year potentially run somewhere would have quadrupled within the health sector and the other thing that we're happy to share with you that we're seeing from our threat intelligence and from a security Operation Center is tax against universities and organizations that are researching into covid-19 and Tract is believed that if they can get access into the research institutes, they can do two things one. They can potentially still intellectual property and they could sell the intellectual property or two if they can still the data or use ransomware or their encryption and they've got a highly likely chance of the University facility pain that money. So if you do work in universities or research institutes that looking into covid-19 or looking into how they can create.
10:16
Vaccines or additional information. It's probably worth being alert that the information and for intelligence that we receiving special on the dark web. We know that the number of fractures are targeting these types of organizations. So the next slide we'll talk about the internet the Deep Web the dark web. So just again giving you an overview there. So the Deep the dark and the internet and surface web as it says it cool down the slide and a very different in nature and the surface web is probably the simplest simplest one.
10:46
To cover the surface web is literally going to Google or going through a search engine that you use and type in a subject hat head out type in a subject or something you're interested in to retrieve the information. So BBC News you get the BBC News. So that's the internet in essence. It's the surface where it's stuff that you can find this out there. That's indexed by up by search engine. The second part is the Deep Web. Now. The Deep Web best way to view is that it's not indexed by search.
11:16
Search engine. So the Deep Web has information in there and you know, it can be universities can be research you can be a number of things, but it's actually not indexable. So you can't get to it with a search engine or it can't get to it just type in search. Is it a search names or Search terms in there and the links tend to be shared usually by email. And again, they tend to be served in Academia certain organizations and so certain research institutes as well.
11:46
That gives you an overview of the Deep Web. The dark web is that you need a browser you need an encrypted browser to get access to it. Usually that's a Tor Browser where people can get their the traffic there is encrypted and is anonymized as well. So it's very difficult to track the individual. So that's the difference between the Surface deep and the dark web now just focusing on the dark web a lot of bad stuff happens on the dark web, but the dark web can actually be used for good.
12:13
So people in suppress countries or people We've certain shall we say political views and can write their views on the dark where which then in turn can be shared with other people which may not be possible to do on the service web or the Deep Web. So even though the dark web has, you know, should we say a bad reputation the dark web actually can be used for some positive and that's you know, regarding political that certain statements that potentially would be suppressed in certain countries.
12:41
Their Dart web could be a good medium to getting that message out obviously video conferencing is Big thing of the moment with remote workers have what we're seeing on there is a lot of activity around sharing accounts and sharing meetings. So again, people can go on the dark web and they can get links or credentials and video conferencing which then in turn they can zoom bomb like you can join that conference and try and disrupted they can it again put their message out there or get injured at least to see if they can still an intellectual property.
13:13
So again after intelligence and Security operation sensory stimuli chat, Chatter and a lot of talk on that and the final one is again, not really a Marketplace. It is a Marketplace, but it's the type of thing that you can find on the dark web and you have a threat actor on the right who basically is a hired hacker.
13:33
So you can hire hire him for a certain amount of Bitcoins and he can do some nasty things to your enemies or two people that you dislike you have anyone he dislike so this individual can hack email address you can post images about Individual heating get images and off of an individual and you can make this the individual in question and he can make sure we say various things happen to him from a cyber perspective. And again, we're seeing an uptake of that as as people was, you know, people potentially might have divorced people may get very angry with certain individuals or certain competition that these tractors now becoming more and more into play where you can hire them to do it a specific thing.
14:16
So that gives you an overview on the dark web in regards to some of the things that you can buy some of the intelligence that we're seeing and also the type of tractor that you can purchase you can actually work on your behalf with a set of requirements the next slide now. I'm going to go onto the kind of covid-19 scans now as I alluded to earlier. Yeah because of our security operations center because we protect the number of clients in the u.s. In the UK and also in a pack with seen different threatened.
14:46
Jensen different ways throughout actors of playing these this intelligence then for this presentation and focusing purely on the UK. Now. The first one is quite interesting and the first screenshot on the screen on the left is basically getting an individual's to open email. So again, it's the tactic of using fishing but it's basically using coffee grounds as his some safety measures. That one should be aware of please click the link now, obviously, sorry click the file and download the file. They know damn well that file.
15:16
Jane's malicious software. So once the user clicks on that piece of software you can install and it will grow information back to that's and a hacker. And again, that's another thing that we're seeing quite a bit of that people are using covid-19 to get people to click on links or get people to open open files the other one screen currently two three four, so that's the kind of give you this evening and he screams at the moment that's around tronic strategy information.
15:45
So again a lot of She's that we see pretending to be from UK government lot of information about giving money back. And again, they're looking to extract information extract details from the user the fourth one the one at the far right and she's about a vaccine which I thought was interesting. So China in the world know about covid-19 already.
16:07
They have a cure but they're not sharing it with the masses and it just so happens that this organization or these people have the vaccine and Again, I want you to click on a link and I want you to give the details you give access to the vaccine. Obviously, you know majority of people won't click on that but there could be certain people in a desperate State potentially could be enticed by such a such information and again click on the link again. It's about extracting information and in the end point, you've always some and then finally the good old-fashioned of raising for covid-19. We saw this on the on the dark web.
16:46
Some Bitcoins. So we're seeing these students are quite a few of our customers. They're trying to do the good cause of the UK's doing at the moment and getting them to donate Bitcoins, which obviously do not go to covid-19 go to the threat actors who pocket the money now, that's a little bit of the snapshot that we've done. We've copied 19 and some of the stuff that we're seeing. Now, there's kind of the next steps of how can you do to protect yourself? What can you do now?
17:13
We have a slide here just going through Six points there are other points that you can do and but but really I think the first one is obviously use a secure VPN. So a VPN in essence encrypts your traffic from 8 and B, you know tables that hackers of people can't sniff on the wire or sniff to get your information. So most organizations do adopt a VPN. It's very rare. We've come across any letdown but all organizations should be using a VPN to access the organization or even if they're going about their personal business.
17:46
Again, more protection even if they're in a white Wi-Fi free spot and they may be using different coffee shops offer free Wi-Fi and they should really be using a VPN if they've got some confidential information. So the first thing is use a VPN the second thing is change your password regularly used to factor where where you cannot know that for certain organizations potentially is it hard to do and but most organizations should be able to use two factor.
18:14
That should be mandatory where Isabel but also change your password if that's not possible. So passwords need to be changed regularly and you need to make sure that you adopt your policy around that and making sure that you follow that policy and also that policies in force. The reason being is passwords get a breached on a regular basis and therefore, you know, your password could have been leaked in the open source or the dark web which potentially can be used by a tractor. The third one is quite simple enable antivirus on your hand point the right person bring much.
18:46
Need to say anything more about that. I think that standard I think you need to ensure that your device is up to date.
18:51
Make sure you download in the patches make sure that it's up to date as we possibly can be and the fifth one down obviously download files from unknown sources, you know be mindful specially now more than ever when we've seen the increase of attacks about people using people getting you to download software to do with covid-19 as I've shown you in the previous slide with some of the scam emails that we're missing and finally, Be aware of phishing emails. So we're seeing a lot of phishing emails being talks in organizations where people are doing reconnaissance on the organization. And again using phishing emails through information or to compromise or the compromise the nation also where there is data breaches, especially on the legal size. It's really important and you get the relevant individuals involved quickly, especially with the Ico and especially we data that might be extracted.
19:45
Okay, so that gives Gives you a bit of an overview of secure revive working and I again just want to thank you all for your time today and thank you for joining the presentation. I hope it's been informative. And if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to myself for all the team. And yeah, thank you very much. Have a great day.
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Development and construction | Preparing for the future
COVID-19 | Development and construction | Preparing for the future
It’s anticipated that the government will lock down building and construction sites before long. This is of course the right thing to do to protect workers from the coronavirus, but as self-employed individuals this will be a hard hit on them personally, and an enormous impact on house builders, developers and the construction industry overall.
In this webinar, we will look at what the industry can do to protect themselves and their assets from any further knock-backs. To prepare as much as possible, for a secure future when the disruption is over, now is the time to review all acquisition, sales and planning documentation, supplier agreements etc, as well as looking at new and modern ways of marketing housing sales in the new world.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:00
Hi, I'm Neil Gosling. A partner here at Shakespeare Master note in the residential development team. Welcome to today's webinar on the development of construction industry preparing for the future. You will see on your screen that you are able to ask questions along the way so please do so and I'll answer as many as I can. We'll also be sharing a summary of those questions with everybody after the webinar.
0:24
I think it's fair to say that the occurrence of the coronavirus epidemic has blindsided everyone the government of had to act quickly setting out guidance as to how our nation will tackle. This unprecedented situation. The strategy has had to be both proactive and reactive to the circumstances. We face on a day-to-day spaces and consequently, the guidance can sometimes be confusing the impact on the housing and construction sectors is huge with the biggest issue.
0:53
Being the uncertainty. We have no clear guidance as to how long the country will be on lockdown how long that lockdown will be for and whether social distancing requirements will be relaxed for certain industries consequently for house builders to continue during this period of uncertainty. They will need to consider new ways of working to ensure that they can hit the ground running when the shackles are undone.
1:17
To give house builders the best chance of success during this turbulent period they should be reviewing their current liabilities and mitigating those risks most considering new ways of securing land and building and selling houses.
1:31
So now we're looking at the land and planning issues that you may encounter during this time. For those of you old enough to remember the recession in 2007 2008 a large proportion of time was spent reviewing historical contracts understanding the obligations that has Builders were legally Bound by and trying to find ways to delay or defer those obligations or in certain circumstances.
2:00
His terminate the contract currently we do not find ourselves in a position whereby termination of contract is at the Forefront of the business decisions being made. However, a full review of the legal documentation that has been entered into in respect of your development sites should be undertaken as a priority to ensure that any obligations relating to construction practicalities or financial payments are clearly identified.
2:30
Fide adhere to all varied as required. So looking at the acquisition contracts and deferred payments together. The first thing I suggest that you do is you dust off the old legal reports that were produced by your acquisition solicitors and give them a good read. Hopefully these reports will have identified all obligations that you are legally Bound By the time frames within which those obligations must be performed and the risk to you.
2:57
Should you fail to perform those obligations I'm specifically He thinking about matters such as construction of infrastructure time scales for submission of planning applications or time frames for payment of deferred payments. If any of these obligations are not adhered to they could be deemed as reasons for termination of the contract consequently. The house Builder will have one of two options being a third to comply with the obligation or to seek A variation of the contract.
3:30
To accommodate delays that arise as a result of the coronavirus outbreak at the same time. You should be asking your legal advisers to review all force majeure Provisions to determine whether the coronavirus epidemic is a ground for extension under the terms of your contract and whether there are any notice Provisions that you have to comply with in order to secure any such extensions in respective.
4:00
Planning permissions and section 106 applications.
4:02
It's pretty much the same process as Builders need a clear idea of the time scales and time frames within which they have to comply with certain planning conditions and make commuted some payments in some circumstances surveys will be required before implementation of the development can commence or occupations on-site can take place if the surveyors have shut Topshop as a result of the coronavirus epidemic this can naturally have an impact on your timeframe for complying with these planning requirements which in turn could add further delays to the house builders build a program and ultimately the anticipated date for completion of the sale of plots.
4:51
Once again, you should liaise with your legal advisers to ensure that they have provided a full review of your obligations under the Running documents to ensure that these are complied with or varied accordingly. So in these strange times what opportunities can as Builders expect to see well, undoubtedly, they'll still be an opportunity for strategic land with long-term promotion potential in these cases. The impact of coronavirus should merely be in relation to the logistics of getting the promotion agreement or option agreement agreed and exchanged submitting.
5:30
Planning applications and undertaking surveys can be accommodated within the legal document immediate land transactions may be a bit more difficult to progress due to the additional level of due diligence required in order to proceed to a point of exchange of contracts and ultimately completion.
5:52
From a practical point of view we are being advised that search providers are taking a significant amount of time to provide search results local authorities are down to skeleton staff and therefore the time scale for responding to inquiries and the planning issues is significantly increased and the ability to secure surveys in respect of sight due diligence is taking longer as a result of the impacts of Coronavirus.
6:22
On the Working Day there may well be opportunity to buy land off other developers who need a cash influx or to create joint venture opportunities with housing associations backed by Government funding. They will undoubtedly be an opportunity for the cash Rich developers if they can move quickly.
6:47
However, we can expect that landowners will hold fire for a few months at least before considering quick sales at lower prices. However, we may see an increase in inner-city manufacturing and Industrial sites becoming available for sale as a result of these businesses struggling in the economic downturn consequently. We may see a rise in land available for PRS schemes high-rise development and regeneration.
7:21
Following announcement is made by the government and subsequent advice given by the housing minister in relation to construction sites. We are expecting further clarification and guidance to be provided current guidance suggests that if you work in an occupation that cannot be continued from home, then you can go to work subject to following the guidance given by public health England in respect of social distancing.
7:45
My interpretation of this is that has Builders working on development sites can continue to do so provided social distancing is adhered to as a result. The problem is one that is more of practicality rather than regulation.
8:00
We are already finding that some contractors are now unable to continue with their works and services as a result of a number of issues surrounding coronavirus and the subsequent government advice and action So now I take the chance to look at contractual obligations and more specifically in relation to JCT contracts.
8:22
However, as a word of warning, I would suggest that a full review of all construction documents is undertaken, especially in relation to the terms of appointment of contractors, the permitted timeframes for suspending work on site and the reasons for such suspensions to ensure that you are Fully compliant with the terms of your legal documents top if you are bound by the terms of a JCT contract.
8:51
It is important to note that if the contractor were to seek an extension of time due to delays associated with coronavirus, whether due to force module or government action that in principle, the contractor would be entitled to an extension of time to complete the works but not to direct loss or expense if suspension of The Works continues for a prolonged period the JCT contract standard period being two months, but this may have been varied.
9:21
And following the issue of a seven-day notice from either the employer or contractor that the suspension is still continuing the notifying party May terminate the contractor's employment under the building contract the consequences of such termination are also set out in the contract. However, the point here is that the contractor wouldn't have a right to terminate their employment before the end of the prescribed period of suspension.
9:49
Consequently, there is no action for the employer to take at the present time stopped and the contractor should continue with the works until such time as they are unable to do. So either through Force measure which would need to be advised by the contractor to the employer through the contractual Provisions or the UK government exercises statutory powers to stop the works which as yet it has not decided to enforce a stop.
10:17
We are hoping that the government will Provide some further guidance in relation to this issue. However, as it currently stands the ability to work on site whilst adhering to social distancing requirement seems to be the underlying factor, which neatly brings us on to issues of health and safety in simplistic terms in addition to all of the usual health and safety requirements. You would expect of a development site has Builders now need to consider.
10:49
Or whether they can continue production whilst also accommodating the public health England social distancing requirements. Some house builders have already decided that to protect the welfare of their staff and employees that it is more suitable to shut down sights and suspend construction rather than try and create a working environment that complies with the social.
11:19
sentencing requirements ultimately until such time as the government provides clear advice as to whether sites that should remain open on not a site should only remain open if the has Builder can ensure that social distancing requirements are adhered to consequently it will be possible for has Builders to remain on site and complete the construction of houses that they have contracted to sell their by allowing them to comply with their tractor obligations without the need to vary the terms of the exchange contract. However, as you will hear in our section regarding sales the Law Society and has Builders seem to be taking a slightly different approach finally and what could be potentially the biggest problem for the has building and construction industry is the availability as a result has Builders are already finding that there is a material shortage.
12:20
And such material shortage could have a prolonged impact on the effect that coronavirus has had on the as building industry when the suspension of trade and Industry is lifted. There will undoubtedly be a lag in the availability of materials and until such times our stockpiles have been re-established not only could this result in a delay in materials being available to has builders.
12:50
But the increased demand could also lead to a spike in material prices in the short term. Although I would hope to see that material prices will rebalance over time. It may well cause some short-term pain to profit margins and the time frames for delivery of development sites. So now we turn to the sales process current Law Society guidance.
13:20
It's no additional contractual provision should be put into a plot contract in an attempt to counteract delays in the construction and sales of housing plots during the coronavirus outbreak. They would rather see the parties to a contract taking a more pragmatic view in light of the unprecedented situation that we find ourselves in.
13:46
However, we all know that In tough times if a party needs to find an angle to terminate a contract.
13:58
They will do all they can to do so consequently. Some PLC has Builders have already started to include coronavirus Clauses within their plot contracts to allow for delays in not only construction, but also the Sales completion process.
14:14
Now I strongly suggest that house builders review their exchanged sales contract in relation to plots in most cases. If a has Builder incurs delays in the build program, they are obliged under the terms of the contract to serve a written notice on the plot purchaser advising them of the delays if these contractual obligations are not complied with then anticipated completion.
14:44
Asian date cannot be adapted to allow for the temporary suspension in the build program consequently. You should be reviewing all contract obligations to ensure that you are not in breach and that you can legally extend the time frames within your contracts.
15:04
So when we find ourselves in a period of lockdown, how can we look at marketing strategies in a slightly different way obviously attendance on site it will be greatly reduced and therefore marketing strategies should be similar to those used when trying to find investment for overseas purchases consequently has Builder should be considering The use of video viewings Drone footage to show the development as a whole and maybe even working closely with the gaming industry to understand how virtual reality tours can give clients a true perspective of the product being sold and it's Dimensions.
15:50
One thing that is abundantly clear is that in order to Market properties remotely people will now need to think outside of the box in an attempt to overcome the underlying problem that purchasers want to see and feel what they are buying before making a very large Financial commitment. So what does the future hold for the hands building industry?
16:21
There will no doubt be a direct impact on developers and house builders who may struggle to keep open sites without critical staff. We have already seen that some of the PLC has Builders have shut down all sites and that plot pouches are reluctant to exchange contracts until there is more certainty around their ability to go about their day to day lives stock market Falls have created volatility and nervousness around investment some mortgage lenders have suspended.
16:51
The issuing of new lending products and the general uncertainty will be weighing on the consumers Minds to the slippage of completions which would inevitably impact on the profitability of the house builders.
17:06
And as a consequence small or indebted has Builders could be at risk the market analysts aren't expecting a shock contraction in sales during this initial period which will depend partly on the longevity of the virus and also the The confidence in the National employment status there will still be needs-based purchases and cash-rich opportunistic purchases, which may include overseas investment who are looking for a good deal. We may also see a rise in bulk sales to housing associations backed by Government funding. So although the initial impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
17:52
Will have a huge effect on the short term delivery of housing stock, but would expect the residential property Market to bounce back in the aftermath of the crisis.
18:02
However, as stated at the beginning of this webinar, the unknown is the timeframe the longer the crisis continues the more likely it'll be for structural changes to the market to occur with house builders having to adapt their product to facilitate working from home, which will Visibly become The New Normal consequently, we may find us at housing design with study facilities or access to Shared business facilities within developments becomes more of selling point as well as access to healthcare facilities and local stores. The impact of coronavirus will inevitably be a challenge for all house builders and contractors Because unless they are.
18:51
Able to quickly deploy resources to reopen and start on new sites. We may find a significant contraction in Supply in 2020. However, any delay in productivity at this stage will only enhance the housing shortage issues that the country faces and consequently, we will see a surge in pent-up demand which could lead to a significant bounce back in property prices.
19:18
There is most definitely an opportunity for house builders and Tractors to re-evaluate the way they go about business to ensure that they are best placed to maximize the opportunities available to them when we get through this period of uncertainty. So thanks for listening to this webinar you hope you found it useful and relevant in the current circumstances.
19:44
Unfortunately, I have run out of time, so I haven't got time to answer any questions now, but if you would like to raise any questions Please do so and I'll make sure to follow up on these after the session and share any answers with you. All in the meantime, if you would like any further advice or guidance on the coronavirus and how it might impact on development. Please feel free to contact our dedicated resource Hub at shma.co.uk and finally if you'd like any further information or would like to discuss any specific inquiry and more detail then please do of course get in touch.
20:21
Touch many thanks for listening. Good luck in these turbulent times and stay safe.
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Our expert lawyers are ready to help you with a wide range of legal services, use the search below or call us on: 0330 024 0333
Webinar
COVID-19 | Reorganisation and redundancy
COVID-19 | Reorganisation and redundancy
Businesses are doing their best to keep “business as usual”, implementing different and virtual ways of working and doing everything they can to protect their workforce.
However, for some businesses and industries, the impact of the coronavirus may be too severe to survive. Shorter working days and/or redundancy may be the unfortunate inevitable. It’s a difficult time and these decisions are not by any means taken lightly by employers and the approach should be sympathetic and respectful, but it must also be legal.
In this webinar, we’ll look at the rules that need to be followed should this situation arise.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA®ON DEMAND.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
1:00
Hi, I'm Mike Hibbs a partner in the employment team at Shakespeare Martineau. Welcome to today's webinar on future proofing your business from an employment law perspective. You'll see on the screen that you're able to ask questions. So, please do ask questions along the way and I'll answer as many as I can and we'll also share a summary of questions with everyone after the webinar. Clearly. You don't need me to say that these are difficult times.
1:30
Or that they are unique because of course they are but acting in the best interest of the business and its staff is absolutely crucial and it's undoubtedly the case that when we come out of this as we surely will then staff will remember how their employers treated them during this particular period for decades to come now, that's not to say that there aren't tough choices that face business and that there won't be tough decisions that have to be reached.
2:00
So what I'm going to do in this webinar is introduce you to some legal concepts of layoffs short time and redundancy and to some possible other options that businesses are taking at this time and to try and explain a bit about the process. You would have to follow to make sure that you don't face additional burden of tribunal claims and all sorts of other things that might go with it. If you get the procedure wrong, very important to follow the right procedure even in these difficult.
2:30
You called times. So first of all, let me say that in cutting costs and retaining skills. How are you able to deal with this? Well, first of all, I think it's important to look at the government packages that may be available to support your particular business do review all of the various options and see how you might be able to claim or whether you'll be able to get payment one way or another and then at the same time you need to consider the resources that your business has.
3:00
and any access it's got to particular means of Finance whether it's got the means to be able to repay that in due course, you will also need to look at the cost of your most expensive resource for most businesses not for all which is the staff and any potential redundancies in the future so factor in a couple of weeks of consultation or maybe more if it's going to be a larger number than 20 and look at notice periods and also, At the level of statue redundancy payment or company redundancy pay if that's what your particular business pays. You'll also need to look at other options that might be available to you before we come to lay off in short time.
3:48
So there are a number of businesses at the moment who will be looking at shorter working weeks four day weeks three-day weeks and the like in every case you will need to Get the agreement of your employees before you're able to impose such a term. Nonetheless at the moment when the alternative May well be redundancy many employees would be likely to agree to some work rather than no work at all. Another possibility might be to have a period of unpaid leave again. You'll need that to be agreed between you and the employees but a period of unpaid leave might assist.
4:31
Or alternatively you might bring forward individuals holiday Arrangements. You can do this. If you've got that power in the contract for in any event, you can insist the people take holiday providing you give them double the length of notice of the length of holiday involved. So if you want to agree five days of holiday being brought forward, then you would have to give 10 days notice of that taking place in all of these kinds.
5:00
Circumstances, I'm advising people that they should only make these Arrangements on a temporary basis that is reviewable. Whatever that period is and that will be different for different businesses. That might be a few weeks. It might be a couple of months at the end of that period you would sit down and review and the employees would know that such a review is coming up and that you might be making changes at that particular time next. I want to talk about what I've called time lost.
5:30
It's not unique to me, but it's a way of expressing lay off and short time. Lay off. Sometimes is used as if it's the same meaning as redundancy.
5:43
It isn't there is a specific legal meaning to it and it is a week when an employee is available for work, but there is no work available short time is less than half a week's work being available and the employee Being available to work. So those are the two meanings of those particular terms. And the first place to look is to look at your contract of employment. There are many manufacturing businesses that will contain the layoff clause and there are lots of other businesses that also include that but equally there are many businesses that do not have a clause enabling layoff or short time. If you haven't got that then you will need the agreement of your work.
6:30
Workforce to do it As I said earlier in relation to other options, it will also be the case with layoffs that where that is the old tentative to being made redundant many employees would agree a period of layoffs. You need to bear in mind that during that layoff you need to pay a minimum of a statutory guarantee payment. The current level of that is 29 pounds a day for a maximum of five days.
7:02
Over three month period and that's rising to 30 pounds on the 6th of April and there for a hundred and fifty pounds over five days many employers at the moment are being able to agree a more substantial guarantee payment than that as with the other options that I mentioned earlier.
7:26
It's only going to be for a limited period of time but they might agree for example as in In one of the case of my clients that they will pay half pay for a period of a few weeks and then it will decline after that on a tapering basis down to the Garrett statutory guarantee payment.
7:44
Whatever Arrangement you make can be reviewed at the end of that particular period and potentially renewed once you put somebody on Leo for short time, then after a period of time the employee is entitled to claim their redundancy payment or though Was the employer can serve a counter notice. It's beyond the scope of this webinar for me to explain all the details of that which are quite complex, but there are time limits for making those particular arrangements. So if you need advice, then please ask for the details and we can help you with that. It's unlikely again that redundancy payments will be claimed anytime soon.
8:29
But at some point or other an employee might Do that and if you're not in a position to be able to provide further work, then that might well be what would occur as I say accountant Otis is possible now dealing with redundancy in relation to redundancy. This is the ultimate measure because of course it terminates employment that will be the end of your relationship with that particular employee in order to carry out redundancy.
9:00
There will be need to be a A period of consultation and you'll need to be sure that actually it is a redundancy situation. So there are only three potential redundancy situations. First of them is your closing the place of work altogether or secondly that you are removing a particular post you no longer need somebody to do a particular job or the third possibilities you need less people to do a particular job.
9:29
And therefore you're reducing the the numbers when it comes to consultation if you're making twenty or more redundant in one establishment and an establishment is usually a workplace then within a 90-day period then you will need to consult collectively that will mean in the case of recognised trade unions a consultation with the Trade union, but if you don't recognize the Trade union, then you'll need to offer the employees the alternative of electing representatives.
10:02
Sensitives to be consulted you'll also need to notify the government on an HR 1 form. If it's of the numbers that need Collective consultation in both cases Collective consultation and numbers less than 20 you will need to have individual consultation.
10:25
Unlike Collective consultation where you have a set period you need to consult for 30 days or 45 days depending on how many people you're making redundant with individual consultation that can be done over a shorter period as a week or even perhaps slightly less than that and it will involve looking at suitable Alternatives or ways of avoiding redundancy.
10:50
In these circumstances, maybe there won't be many of those but it might be that somebody were to would say that they in particular were prepared to have a period where they were not paid and would like to postpone their redundancy and you might be prepared to consider doing that in terms of selection. If you're selecting between a group of people who are all doing similar work and you just need less people doing that.
11:18
Then you will need to come up with um, criteria many businesses will do a matrix which involves putting the names down one side and across the trop top the particular selection criteria that you're going to take into account.
11:33
So the criteria that you might include are things like the qualifications to do the job ability to operate particular kinds of Machinery whether or not they've had a disciplinary against them what their attendance record is like Would be applied to each of those and those with the lowest score would be those who are put at risk of redundancy and ultimately made redundant.
12:02
When you come to terminate, then you will need to pay notice pay now that could be because you're insisting that notices worked or alternatively it could be because you're placing them on Garden leave if you've got a provision in the contract or other otherwise reach agreement and then you're paying monthly to the end of their notice or alternatively you could pay them in lieu of notice a lump sum. Now whenever the termination date is the statutory redundancy payment will be due for all those who've got more than two years service and a statutory redundancy payment is calculated on the basis of age and length of service to a maximum of 20 years.
12:50
So for those over the age of 41 for particular years of service those years will count as a week and a half for those between 21 and 41 a week.
13:01
And for those who serve time below 21, it would be half a week, but it's only the last 20 years or if less whatever period of time that are taken into account and there is a maximum pay for statutory redundancy payment for a week's pay and that is hundred and twenty-five pounds Rising on the 6th of April to 538 pounds for a week's pay so you will see that the total maximum for somebody who has been with you for 20 years over the age of 41 is fifteen thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds and that's rising to 16,000 140 pounds on the 6th of April, but it is very important to get the procedure right in relation to Redundancies you make otherwise an employee will be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Even if it's just on the basis of the procedure rather than on the basis that there is actually a substantive redundancy taking place or not.
14:08
On Friday the government announced that he was going to provide a new class of leave called furlough leave whereby individuals who had no work to do would be able to be compensated as to eighty percent of their wages up to a maximum of two thousand five hundred pounds per month.
14:33
And this was to include gross pay and also pension payments national insurance payments and other sums that the government have not yet fully specified and the way in which this will be done is that workers will be designated on a portal which is yet to be set up as furlough workers and will therefore no longer be provided with work by their employer clearly for Some employees particularly those below the cap of 2,500. This will be a very attractive alternative to being put on layoff or being made redundant.
15:29
Many employers are finding that this is a useful alternative so far as they are concerned. There is no need for an employer in these circumstances to top up the extra 20% Although of course, they could choose to do so and similarly they could choose to pay something towards the difference of salary for those above the 2,500 cap, assuming that they have the resources to enable them to do. So again my strong.
15:59
Vice is that this is only done for a limited period of time and not on a permanent basis we will know more when the government are able to get the portal set up but please don't expect that in the next few days is going to take a bit of software engineering to make sure it's up and running and no doubt the government will want to put some anti-avoidance systems in place to make sure that this new benefit is not vojta David I've had a few questions in so if I deal with those first of all someone who says I put my staff on furlough leave what if some work becomes available can I get them to do that work well the answer is that they're not on furlough leave if they're doing work so at any stage when they're doing work they won't be on furlough Leave we're not quite clear as to what gaps will be available. So whether it will be possible for example to put them one week on furlough leave and one week off. But we do know that the government intended to be possible to opt in and out of furlough leave. I suspect it's unlikely to be less than weekly so doubt it will be possible to be one day at a time.
17:27
Next question if I lay off my staff. Can I pay them more than the statutory guarantee payment? Well the answer to that is yes, you can but I suggest you only agree to that for a limited period much as I've said in relation to any other issue that you deal with at this time. It's worth not doing these things permanently other than obviously redundancy because we don't know how long all of this is going to go on or for example.
17:57
How long the furlough leave Arrangements arm?
18:03
I've also got another question. I will need some staff even though I'm making redundancies. Can I pick and choose those that I like the answer is no you should have some objective criteria as much as possible. And anyway, you want the best staff who will be able to work with the business going forward. So it would be appropriate to make sure that there are sensible selection criteria to help you select those.
18:33
That's all I've got time for at present, but I will answer any other questions that are sent in and we will send around a list of the questions and answers as soon as possible. Thank you
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Webinar
COVID-19 | Business interruption loans
COVID-19 | Business interruption loans
The Chancellor’s announcement for additional support to protect businesses was a welcomed sigh of hope – it could make the difference between businesses sinking or swimming.
We now have more details on this Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and are also getting some information on how the banks will be dealing with the scheme. In this webinar, will look at who can qualify and what you are likely to need for a successful application.
Further information on how to manage the impact of coronavirus can also be found on our coronavirus resource hub and you can view past webinars at SHMA® on demand.
Please do let us know of future topics that you are interested in, or for more information about our webinars please contact us.
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Webinar transcript
(Please note this is auto-generated and un-edited)
0:52
I think we can expect there to be many developments over the next few days and we'll keep you up to date as and when things change There are actually two schemes currently available. We will focus today on the coronavirus business Interruption loan scheme, but we'll look at that in the context of other Financial measures. You'll see on your screen that you're able to ask questions. So, please do ask questions along the way and I'll answer as many as I can. We'll also share a summary of questions with everyone after the webinar as an introduction to what we're going to talk about. We'll look at the main funding packages available to business. One of the packages is available to smes.
1:29
And the other is available to the largest corporates will think about what that currently means for businesses trapped in the middle. Well, then look at the specifics of the business Interruption loan scheme in particular will focus on the rules governing the scheme and this will be relevant in two ways firstly you need to know whether you qualify for the scheme. And secondly the rules of the scheme will have a bearing on how you frame your application to maximizing your chances of success. Finally.
1:58
We'll deal with a couple of Students and then pick up any other questions after the webinar. So let's kick things off with a list of the Main Financial measures introduced by the government over the last few days firstly we have the coronavirus business Interruption loan scheme, and that's what we'll focus on today. Then we have the covid corporate financing facility the CCF and these are the two big loan schemes. You'll also be aware of the job retention scheme announced on Friday and my partner's out we'll have a lot more to say about that over the next day or two.
2:29
Only there are miscellaneous package of tax and business rate deferrals that I think most people will be aware of so looking at the two loan schemes. What's the difference between them? The CCF is a lending facility from the treasury and the bank of England. This is a very large corporates the government describes them as strategically important.
2:50
It is aimed at businesses with the ability to issue commercial paper on the corporate debt markets qualifying campaign is will need to have an Seventh grade credit rating which is likely to be supported by one of the major credit ratings agencies for practical purposes. This is going to rule out the scheme for pretty much everyone who might be listening to this webinar today. So for that reason, I don't propose to look at the CCF in any more detail.
3:16
I think what is going to be much more relevant to people today is the business Interruption loan scheme will look at some of the detail on this scheme in a second, but I'd like to point out one really important part of the scheme, which is that it is only available to Businesses with a turnover of less than 45 million pounds we can therefore see that there is a funding gap for businesses that turnover more than 45 million, but not big enough to tap the commercial debt market. So so far the government has not announced any support for these businesses and they represent a huge and material part of our economy.
3:52
We're watching developments closely and we will update you with any new supporters announced the business Interruption loan scheme is A niche by the British Business Bank, this is the UK government's Economic Development Bank created to increase the supply of Finance to smes the scheme is operated by more than 40 accredited lenders. The accreditor de lenders include all of the main High Street Banks. So Lloyd's Barclays HSBC that Western Santander are all included as well as some of the Challenger Banks and asset-based lenders. You can see a full list of the participants on the British Bank British business bank's website.
4:30
As of last night most of the major Banks were redirecting people to the British Business Bank for more detail. And that makes me think that the banks are still working out their own policies in relation to the scheme, but some speculative details have been emerging this morning. So what do we know about the scheme? The first main headline is that the facility is for up to five million pounds, but this really does need to be thought of as the upper limit rather than the Baseline normal lend.
4:57
We've heard this morning that at least Some of the banks are setting test limits on the loan so that the loan must be less than either double the annual wage Bill and it must be less than 25% of the 2019 turnover. So the lower of those two amounts as I said earlier it's only available for businesses with a turnover of less than 45 million pounds and some banks are telling us that at least 50% of the turnover must be in the UK the facilities they can be term loans.
5:29
Overdrafts asset Finance facilities or invoice Finance facilities. There are some excluded business sectors, but these are areas such as Banking and public sector. So they're unlikely to be relevant to you in practice. Crucially, the applicant business must have and I quote a borrowing proposal which were it not for the current pandemic would be considered viable by the lender and for which the lender believes the provision of finance will enable the business.
5:59
To trade out of any short to medium term difficulty. Now, this is important because the government is making it clear that the scheme is only targeting businesses that could have borrowed before the pandemic. The government is also making it clear that the funding must be needed to enable the business to trade out of a short to medium term difficulty to demonstrate.
6:22
This applicants are going to need to have a well-thought-out business plan and cash flow forecasts and these are not quick to prepare and any business who wants to draw in the scheme should be starting to prepare these immediately. I think the next point is Central the government scheme guarantees 80% of the loan to the bank. Of course, this means that the bank is at risk for the other 25% and this has important consequences in particular. The banks are going to apply Their Own Credit Control policies to the applications. This is inevitably going to take time.
6:59
And any delays are going to be exacerbated by the sheer volume of applications and the fact that the bank's own systems are facing the same disruptions as the rest of us. So assuming you are able to qualify and get a business case approved by the bank. Then the government will cover the interest and fees for the first 12 months after drawing down. We're not yet clear on Capital repayment terms, but I think it's going to be at least six months before that kicks in there is no guarantee for ePub are payable by the applicant.
7:29
But the bank does have to pay a fee itself to access the scheme term loans and asset-based Facilities can have a term of up to six years overdrafts and invoice discount facilities can have a term of up to three years.
7:42
So turning to security lenders have discretion to make unsecured loans of up to 250,000 pounds, but for facilities above that amount they are required to establish what is described in the guidance as and I quote again a lack or absence of security prior to the business using the scheme the British business Banks guidance to lenders specifies that lenders must go through the process of verifying the availability of security according to their normal lending policies and to establish that there is either a shortfall or complete absence I think that point this is driving at is that the scheme cannot be used if the applicant has security that will make a conventional loan viable if the lender can offer Finance on normal commercial turns without the need to draw on the scheme then it must do so finally and this is a developing point this morning we're hearing that at least some of the banks are expecting to ask directors of borrowing companies and members of LPS to give personal guarantees for the whole of the loan although I've seen guidance elsewhere that banks are not allowed to ask for loans to be supported by the applicants main personal property this is clearly going to be an important factor in anyone's decision over whether or not to take out a loan you To think carefully about this and establish your own Banks position on guarantees as soon as possible and keep checking your bank's position on this may change from day to day even our to our so with all this in mind. What should you do? The first step is to look at the eligibility criteria such as the turnover threshold and decide whether you think you qualify and principal assuming you do qualify, then you should contact your bank as soon as possible.
9:26
You can apply to any of the providers but the practicality he's opening a new bank relationship particularly in the current climate means this is only likely to be viable with your existing Bankers in place open a dialogue with your bank. If you have a relationship manager, then contact him or her as soon as possible the British Business Bank advises applicants to apply online, but you'll be in a much better position.
9:50
If you have a relationship manager that you can contact recognize that the bank is going to have to prove to its credit committee that you have a viable business and that Provision of finance will enable the business to trade out any short to medium term difficulty. This means that you're going to have to have a proper business plan. Now, I recognize fully that this it will take a lot of time and there's a lot going on right now, but the key to the application process is going to be for you to make it as easy as possible for the bank to approve your proposal.
10:21
Think about the security that can be offered if you're looking for more than 250,000 pounds remember if you are able to offer security then the bank will require that you do that instead of drawing on the scheme crucially find out early on whether or not your bank is going to require personal guarantees for the full loan. This may well be the deciding factor for many people finally and this is a really important point. We need to recognize that the situation is moving fast and that the policies are changing by the day there has already been one major evolution of the business Interruption loan scheme and expect them way. They may well be many more new schemes may come online.
10:59
And we'll be monitoring the developments really closely. So thanks for listening to this webinar. I hope you found it useful in the current circumstances. I will answer a couple of questions now and we'll send a note of all the qas along with a recording of This webinar question 1 will it be difficult to apply? Yes. I'm afraid I think it is going to be difficult to apply it is going to be time consuming and we have to recognize that the banks themselves are.
11:29
Facing unprecedented disruption to their own systems and their own application processes. I think the key to this is to make any application as easy as it can be for the bank make the process easy for them the way to do that is for example going to your own bank where you've already got a relationship.
11:48
You don't have to deal with a know your client information presenting a business plan that shows that the sustainable and can demonstrate that your business is The trading out of this thinking about the security security requirements that we spoke about in the in the webinar. I think all of these things taken together, if you can make your application as user friendly to the bank is going to maximize your chances of getting the loan through and they expect the banks are going to respond to that favorably you certainly don't want to find yourself on the on the too difficult pile when there are so many difficulties out.
12:29
Are right now?
12:31
Question two. How long will it be before money is available. Now, that's a really good question. The money the government have said that the money should be available to be drawn down from now. We're having close conversations with the banks and we know that the banks themselves are in close conversations with the government.
12:53
But as we said earlier, we do have this circularity where the the British Business Bank is saying Check your bank for details. And each of the bank's at the moment certainly at the time of certainly this morning. All of the individual corporate banks are saying please have a look at the business British Business Bank add to that the time it is going to take to get together a really convincing business plan and cash flow forecast where all prior assumptions really are out of the out of the window right now and the strain that the banks themselves are facing.
13:30
I think it's going to be difficult to see any information any money coming out of the system with applications going in straight away. I think it's going to take at least a couple of weeks and that's a very optimistic View at least a couple of weeks before people are actually starting to draw cash down out of the system.
13:48
So to repeat them afraid what I said in reply to the previous question the secret to this the absolute key to this is to make your application as user-friendly to the bank as it possibly can be be if you'd like more information or if you have a specific query which would like to discuss in more detail then please do get in touch. All my contact details are on the first page..
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