Services > Business Law

Corporate and commercial services

Our specialist skills and experience are there to smooth your path as you start a business, obtain finance agreements, draw up and agree contracts, buy and sell a business or put shareholder and partnership agreements in place. We can also ensure your copyright or intellectual property rights are protected. We complement this with the provision of debt recovery services or dealing with insolvency issues.

Business start-up

Setting up your own business can be the most exciting and satisfying decision you ever make. But while the potential rewards can be enormous, so can the risks. At Batt Broadbent we will make sure you receive the help and advice that will enable you to provide a sound platform for the start of your business venture and its future growth.

During the initial discussion or meeting we will help you decide whether to operate as a sole trader, form a partnership or become a limited company. Together with you we may examine other alternatives, such as self-employed agencies or franchising, which might serve you better. Whatever your plans, our expertise and experience is calculated to help you make a success of your venture.

Finance agreements

We provide legal advice on financing and acquiring premises (where required). Our help as you draw up and prepare your business plan will promote your obtaining the financial support you need, whether as start-up funds or for the development of your business.

Contracts

Professionally drafted contracts, or standard terms of business are essential to the protection of your business from the costs and other implications of disputes. You will need to set out clearly what you will provide as a service or goods for customers, and written contracts do that. They then encompass all the other essentials of your deals, such as the method and timing of payments due, so that your business can rely on them.

Our drafting of contracts and terms of business for your business will protect it from the very outset. It will enable you to concentrate on your own side of your bargain.

Buying and selling businesses

Businesses evolve and change all the time and new opportunities continually arise for diversifying, changing or even selling your business, whatever its nature. Whether you are buying or selling a business, our team of specialists will guide you through every stage and all the requirements of law and practice, to provide a smooth passage and to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises or liabilities to emerge in the future.

Shareholder and partnership agreements

If your business is to operate as a limited company you must know how many shares to issue, and who are to hold the offices of directors and secretary. If you want to have only one share issued, or only one director, there may be special rules to follow. A company secretary is responsible for ensuring that all legal obligations are met and that person must have access to expert guidance on their duties and responsibilities if problems are to be avoided.

Our team can help you to set up your limited company, appoint the directors and obtain the paperwork that you will need and your bank will require from you before you can commence trading. We also provide a critical reference point for guidance on the duties and responsibilities of Directors and Officers of the company.

If your business is a partnership, the terms agreed between yourself and the other partners will not be secure unless you have a formal Partnership Deed in place. If not, then even minor disputes between partners can lead to expensive difficulties, court action and even dissolution of the partnership and sale of the business – which may be against everyone’s interests. Where you don’t agree, in writing, what you are going to do, the law will fill the gap for you, and it may be something that no one wants.

There are always questions at the outset: who will be the partners, how will the value of the business be shared and who will have what shares in the profits (and losses). Advice on these from our team of specialists at the beginning is vital, and afterwards when the terms of the written Deed need to be reviewed, to take account of any changes affecting the interests of and in the partnership, or on the arrival of new partners. Continuity of advice can be of true worth.

Debt recovery services

We can help your business maintain cash flow by providing debt recovery services and pursuing debtors on your behalf. From recovering a single debt to dealing with all your debt recovery work we aim to recover unpaid debts quickly and cost-effectively, but always with a view to protecting the business relationship between clients and their debtors.

Insolvency

The complex laws surrounding the issues of receivership, bankruptcy, liquidation, administration, winding up and the disqualification of directors, requires expert professional advice to ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible.

We can recommend the best course of action to deal with bankruptcy, individual or company voluntary arrangements, administration orders and winding up petitions.

Charities

In most ways, charities need the same sort of advice that commercial businesses need, when they are set up, right through their growth and development and when, occasionally, they are closed. On top of that, they must take and follow advice on the special rules that apply to charities. We have the experience to ensure compliance with all these demands, and operate on special terms that recognise the distinct needs of charities in dealing with the law.