Yearly Archives: 2021

Office closures in the current lockdown

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Are the new restrictions guidance or law? The idea that the government’s directions for the third lockdown are ‘just guidance’ and not law is a myth. As of 6 January 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No.3) and (all Tiers) …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Comments Off on Office closures in the current lockdown

UK Design Law after Brexit

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Darren Butt

Instead, comparable rights were automatically established under UK legislation in order to ensure continued protection for existing designs (both registered and unregistered) and to provide a consistent level of protection for new UK designs, which would previously have qualified under …

Posted in Longer Reads | Comments Off on UK Design Law after Brexit

Working from home will not be the new normal post-Covid, says Rishi Sunak

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Christopher Wilsher

The Chancellor makes some good points in this article, but he does seem to paint an idealistic picture of working in the City which does not necessarily reflect reality.The Chancellor is right that we are social beings, and we all miss even the minor interactions we used to have with colleagues in the office, but does that really mean we will be going back to the office full time and resuming our working lives as they once were? The Chancellor has pointed out that 75% of investment banks would let their staff work from home at least some of the time – I find that figure surprising (although I do not think this is representative of most sectors as investment banking is somewhat unique in its working style). I too am missing the buzz of central London, that ‘spark’ of creativity the office brings, and after work dinners and drinks with friends. But are we all really ready to give up the liberties working from home provides?It is a question for employers, too. The prospect of paying (often astronomical) overheads for prime London real estate only to have some of the workforce actually use that space is by no means a tempting one and is perhaps enough for some to close their premises altogether. Some employers may even find that their staff are even more productive when they are at home because a better work/life balance should go some way to preventing the ‘burn out’ which some London employers have historically struggled to prevent.I do not think that most London office workers will ever fully return to the office. Instead, I think we will see a new ‘hybrid’ way of working emerge which can take the best of our traditional working habits and of working from home. What that will actually look like, we simply do not know.

Posted in Shorter Reads | Comments Off on Working from home will not be the new normal post-Covid, says Rishi Sunak

Website cookies crumble as they fail to meet legislation

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Collyer Bristow warns that, following the closure of businesses during the current and past lockdowns and increasing reliance on online operations, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is placing a greater focus on website cookies and their compliance. Cookies are small …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Tagged , | Comments Off on Website cookies crumble as they fail to meet legislation

Uk Supreme Court Rules On Apparent Bias Of Arbitrators

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Background The case arose from the 2010 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, in which 11 offshore workers died. Thousands of civil claims were brought against oil giant BP, the …

Posted in Longer Reads | Tagged | Comments Off on Uk Supreme Court Rules On Apparent Bias Of Arbitrators

Personal loans or personal risk?

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

The impact of Covid-19 and the resultant financial pressure has raised the question for many entrepreneurs of how to finance their businesses. The Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey for Q3 revealed that banks expect the availability of lending for …

Posted in Longer Reads | Comments Off on Personal loans or personal risk?

Why private equity should not be feared

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Watching the actor playing Stewy in HBO’s hit Succession do his vaudeville villain act, I was moved to remark to my partner that not all who work in private equity are like that. While it is true that there are instances that …

Posted in Longer Reads | Comments Off on Why private equity should not be feared

Four factors facing the residential property market in 2021

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Darren Butt

No cliff-edge on property sales The stamp duty holiday comes to an end on 31 March 2021, but we do not expect to see the property market fall off a cliff edge, says Janet Armstrong-Fox and Head of Private Client …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Comments Off on Four factors facing the residential property market in 2021

Post-Brexit breathing space for EU-UK transfers of personal data

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Christopher Wilsher

Even though celebrations to welcome in 2021 were rather muted in light of the ongoing pandemic, the New Year did bring some good news to businesses in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA) in respect of personal data transfers.Prior to the end of the Brexit transition period, the issue of how to ensure ongoing personal data transfers from the EEA to the UK in 2021 was causing a headache for many businesses. Although the UK’s position was that transfers of personal data to the EEA could continue as usual without any additional legal hurdles after Brexit, this position was not mirrored by the European Union in respect of flows of personal data from the EEA to the UK.While the last-minute post-Brexit Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the EU and the UK does not grant an adequacy decision to the UK in respect of transfers of personal data, Article FINPROV.10A does provide for a grace period for transfers of personal data from the EEA to the UK. Initially this grace period will last for four months, unless in that time the UK has obtained an adequacy decision from the EU in respect of data protection. If it hasn’t, then the grace period will be extended by a further two months (provided both the UK and the EU agree) to allow further time to finalise an adequacy agreement.This is welcome news to businesses, who can now continue to transfer personal data between the UK and the EU for the next four to six months without requiring additional measures as a result of the UK having become a ‘third country’. The fact this has been agreed gives a positive indication that both sides are serious about reaching an adequacy decision as soon as possible. However, there is no guarantee an adequacy decision will be reached, and the grace period will only continue as long as the UK does not amend its own data protection legislation to diverge from rules applicable in the EU. Organisations for whom such data transfers are critical would therefore be well advised to consider alternative arrangements in case no such adequacy decision materialises by the end of the grace period.

Posted in Shorter Reads | Comments Off on Post-Brexit breathing space for EU-UK transfers of personal data