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Setting up a business involves complying with a range of legal requirements. Find out which ones apply to you and your new enterprise.

Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.

What particular regulations do specific types of business (such as a hotel, or a printer, or a taxi firm) need to follow? We explain some of the key legal issues to consider for 200 types of business.

While poor governance can bring serious legal consequences, the law can also protect business owners and managers and help to prevent conflict.

You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.

The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.

Whether you want to raise finance, join forces with someone else, buy or sell a business, it pays to be aware of the legal implications.

While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.

Marketing matters. Marketing drives sales for businesses of all sizes by ensuring that customers think of their brand when they want to buy.

Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.

Commercial disputes can prove time-consuming, stressful and expensive, but having robust legal agreements can help to prevent them from occurring.

As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

Whether your business owns or rents premises, your legal liabilities can be substantial. Commercial property law is complex, but you can avoid common pitfalls.

Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.

With information and sound advice, living up to your legal responsibilities to safeguard your employees, customers and visitors need not be difficult or costly.

The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.

As information technology continues to evolve, legislation must also change. It affects everything from data protection and online selling to internet policies for employees.

Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.

Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.

Intellectual property (IP) isn't solely relevant to larger businesses or those involved in developing innovative new products: all products have IP.

Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.

Knowing how and when you plan to sell or relinquish control of your business can help you to make better decisions and achieve the best possible outcome.

From bereavement, wills, inheritance, separation and divorce to selling a house, personal injury and traffic offences, learn more about your personal legal rights.

Brexit worries give way to COVID-19 gloom

14 July 2020

Growth prospects for small firms in the UK are looking bleak as business owners say cash flow problems, red tape and lack of funding are holding them back.

A new poll has found that the proportion of UK small business leaders that say they are facing significant barriers to growth has jumped from 75% to 91% in the past six months.

Hitachi Capital Business Finance has been tracking small business opinion on growth for five years. During 2019, with concerns over Brexit, the net percentage of small businesses that worried about barriers holding them back was regarded to be high. Six months on, the advent of COVID-19 has taken fears to a new level.

The latest YouGov survey of 1,268 small business leaders has found that the percentage of small businesses that predict growth has fallen from 39% to just 14% in the past three months. Across all key industry sectors, there has been a rise in the number of businesses that are now more concerned about the future of their business (up from 27% to 32%).

However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a fall in the percentage of small firms worrying about economic uncertainty specifically linked to Brexit (down from 53% to 49%).

As some business sectors prepare to come out of lockdown, around half of those polled cited specific challenges that they regard as barriers to getting their business back on track in the post-lockdown era. The biggest barriers are:

  • Volatile cash flow (cited by 24%);
  • Red tape (11%);
  • Banks being restrictive on lending money (10%);
  • Lack of understanding from lenders (7%);
  • High bank fees and charges (6%);
  • The cost of skilled labour (5%);
  • The value of sterling/exchange rates (5%).

The sectors most worried about barriers to growth in 2020 are: hospitality and leisure (96%), medical and health (95%), manufacturing (94%), legal (94%), construction (93%), media and marketing (93%), transport and distribution (92%), retail (91%), education (91%) and finance and accounting (90%).

Gavin Wraith-Carter, managing director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance, said: "Our latest findings make clear the scale of the challenge with nine in ten business owners feeling there are things holding them back. Market-related factors from Brexit and COVID-19 are hard to deal with, but there are also specific issues relating to red tape, cashflow and finance that can be tackled."

Written by Rachel Miller.

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