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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.

More Brits plan to start a business post-pandemic

29 March 2022

Analysis of Google search data has revealed a sharp increase in the number of people planning to start their own venture in 2022, compared to before the pandemic.

A new study of UK self-employment trends based on Google search data has found that the number of people that are thinking about starting a business has increased by more than a third (36%) in the past two years.

The research, carried out by Novuna Business Cash Flow, has analysed the most searched for questions around starting a business on Google, comparing data pre and post-pandemic. The results show that monthly searches for how to start a business increased from 33,000 in March 2020 to 45,000 in January 2022.

Searches for other key phrases related to starting a business have also seen big rises in the past two years:

As well as looking at the search behaviour of budding entrepreneurs, the study also analysed LinkedIn data to identify UK self-employment hotspots. The research analysed the number of LinkedIn users in each UK city and compared that with the number of people with the job title "founder" or "owner" on the professional social networking platform.

The results show that the city of Bath has the highest percentage of self-employed workers in the UK, with 7.84% of people in the South West city running their own business. Brighton and Hove is second, with 7.73% of the working population running their own business, while St Albans (7.31%), Worcester (6.37%) and London (6.35%) also feature in the top five cities. Cities with the fewest people working for themselves include Aberdeen (3.23%), Coventry (3.31%) and Liverpool (3.59%).

Commenting on the research, Andy Dodd, managing director of Novuna Business Cash Flow, said: "With more and more people pursuing their own ventures, particularly since the pandemic, it's really interesting to see where the self-employment hotspots around the UK are. It's no surprise to see London in the top ten, but it's really great to see a wide spread of cities from all parts of the country with a high percentage of people owning their own businesses."

Written by Rachel Miller.

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