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WBD advises Puma Private Equity on investment into Tictrac
05 Jun 2020
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised Puma Private Equity which led a £6 million equity investment into Tictrac, a leading health engagement company. The corporate team was led by Partner Leon Miller, Managing Associate Alex Fergus and South African qualified lawyer Alice Millar who advised on the transaction.
The Bank of Mum and Dad: helping out your children financially
05 Jun 2020
Most parents want to help out their children financially at some point in their lives, whether with college or university costs, their first car, their first step on the property ladder or any number of other things. The financial challenges for many are more acute at the moment, due to the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the economy, job security, income levels and the availability of loans and mortgages, so more young families may be looking to their parents for help. Whilst the intentions are always good, problems can and do arise, and some may find their way to the courts. So, there are various "Dos and Don'ts" to bear in mind when supporting children financially.
Surrenders and vacant possession – one without the other?
04 Jun 2020
The recent case of Dreams Limited -v- Pavilion Property Trustees Limited (May 2020) provides important lessons for landlords and tenants who have agreed a surrender of a lease. The principal issue in the case was whether, the tenant having agreed the surrender would be with vacant possession (VP), the landlord could refuse to accept the surrender unless and until VP had been given.
Wrestling with an octopus: changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
04 Jun 2020
Getting to grips with the furlough scheme is like wrestling with an octopus – every time you think you have it under control, another tentacle in the form of a new piece of HMRC guidance appears and you have to start again. The changes avoid a cliff edge scenario, which employers and employees alike were fearing. If the scheme had ended completely on 1 July then it was feared that this would have generated mass redundancies. However, employers are going to have to make an increasing contribution towards the costs of furlough leave, as this article describes. There is genuine concern that this may be enough to tip some employers over the edge and generate redundancies anyway.
How changes to the furlough scheme and other issues will affect the charity sector
04 Jun 2020
With lockdown now starting to ease and the Government hoping to kick-start the economy, we turn our attention this week to supporting and helping you to prepare for the next stage of the new normal.
Winding-up petitions in the COVID-19 era: where are we now?
04 Jun 2020
The decision of Mr Justice Morgan in A Company (Injunction To Restrain Presentation of Petition) [2020] EWHC 1406 (Ch) (judgment anonymised) which was handed down on 2 June 2020 will be of interest to tenants and landlords alike in the current climate. The judgment, which follows the decision in Travelodge Ltd v Prime Aesthetics Ltd [2020] EWHC 1217 (Ch) will be of huge precedent value to commercial tenants that have been impacted by coronavirus and have been unable to meet their rent obligations as a result. The decision also sets an interesting precedent in another respect, namely the ability of a debtor to seek an injunction on the presentation of a winding up petition, not on the usual basis of a disputed debt but on the basis of measures to be implemented under pending legislation, in this case the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill.
FAQs - Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
02 Jun 2020
On 20 March 2020 the government announced the launch of its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme), which is intended to pay employees who would otherwise be redundant or subject to a requirement to remain away from work without pay and are instead designated as "furloughed".
WBD boosts technology offering with senior hire
02 Jun 2020
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has strengthened its technology practice with the appointment of Sheilah Mackie who joins as a legal director in the Southampton office.
FCA updates on Business Interruption Test Case
02 Jun 2020
We previously reported on FCA's intentions to bring a test case to obtain court declarations that would help resolve contractual uncertainty in several business interruption policies, stemming from claims relating to COVID-19. On 1 June, it confirmed the results of its enquiries to date, and its next steps.
