Resources

Expertise, events, news and updates –
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Diversity in action: A guide for charities – diversity and your beneficiaries

When is it lawful to restrict who can benefit from your charity’s services? Read our analysis of a recent Supreme Court judgement that clarified when charities can restrict services to particular groups on page 12 of Diversity in action: A guide for charities. To read this article, click here Click here to read the full …
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Bates Wells advises SigmaRoc plc on £125 million credit facility

Bates Wells was delighted to advise SigmaRoc plc, a heavy construction materials group active in the UK, Channel Islands and the Benelux, on its entry into a new syndicated senior credit facility of up to £125 million led by Santander UK and including several major UK and European banks. The facility will provide the SigmaRoc …
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‘Legally Disabled?’: Redesigning the workplace to support disabled people

The brilliant ‘Legally Disabled?’ research by Prof Debbie Foster and Dr Natasha Hirst sheds light on the experience of disabled people working in law. Although the research focuses on the legal sector, its recommendations are useful for everyone. In this blog, we share some tips on how to make workplaces more inclusive. Disability inclusion needs …
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Part 1: A go-to guide if your staff are working in Europe (including Switzerland) now and into 2021

If your organisation will have staff working in Europe (including Switzerland), this is a “must-read” for you. With the end of free movement kicking in at 11pm on 31 December 2020, many organisations are considering the impact on workers who are working in Europe and Switzerland. As strands of our new UK immigration points-based system …
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New UK immigration route: Frontier Worker Permit

On 10 December 2020, the Home Office released a new immigration route called the Frontier Worker permit. In a post Brexit area, this immigration category will assist individuals to continue with cross boarder working arrangements, where they work in the UK but live abroad. From 1 July 2021, all frontier workers will need a permit …
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A new Charity Governance Code

A new, refreshed Charity Governance Code has been launched today – with significant updates to the Diversity and Integrity principles in the Code. The Charity Governance Code was first published in 2017. It is not legally binding, but aims to express ‘best practice’ core principles and governance goals for charity trustee boards, and has been …
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Top tips for managing legacies when merging

One often overlooked element of the merger process is how to protect yourlegacy income. If, as part of the merger, Charity A’s assets are likely to be transferred to another charity – Charity B – legacies to Charity A may fail. The problem generally arises where Charity A’s supporter has made a legacy in a …
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Changes to VAT and charity advertising

HMRC has recently clarified its position on the VAT treatment of certain types of digital advertising. As background, under the VAT legislation, many supplies of advertising services will be VAT zero rated, meaning that when a charity purchases such supplies from an external provider, it should not be required to pay VAT. However, any supply …
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Return to Retail and the Impact on Real Estate

Lockdown restrictions are at long last starting to ease. In England from 1 June schools and a limited number of businesses, have started to re-open and the rules on the number of people who can meet have changed.  The next significant step is that non-essential shops will start to re-open on 15 June, provided that …
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Easing lockdown and planning for a return to the workplace: key considerations for employers

We are all now having to grapple with the easing of lockdown restrictions. For some UK employers this means turning to the difficult task of reopening their workplaces and considering what ‘normal’ should look like after the end of lockdown. At the forefront of this will be protecting the health and safety of staff coming …
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Brexit and your trade marks – what now?

Now that we are in the ‘transitional period’ many uncertainties about the post-Brexit future remain. The good news is that dramatic changes in trade marks rights are unlikely – at least for now. Mathew Healey explains that this particular cloud may have a silver lining for brand-owners.
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Coronavirus and visiting the UK

Despite having the highest death rate in Europe from coronavirus, the UK is one of the few countries that has not to date overtly imposed significant restrictions on travellers entering the country as visitors. Although the numbers of flights arriving into the UK has been hugely reduced, it is still possible to travel here from a number …
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