Resources

Expertise, events, news and updates –
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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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Bates Wells advised SafetyNet Technologies Limited on its recent seed investment round

Bates Wells’ corporate team advised SafetyNet Technologies Limited (“SNT”) on its seed investment round securing its first debt and equity investment from sustainable impact investors Mirova (an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers), Conservation International Ventures and Mustard Seed VC. The funding will enable SNT to take the next important steps in commercialising its pioneering light …
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Real estate update – Winter 2020

Our latest update summarises the key real estate topics which have developed over the last few months. This update summarises what you need to know about key real estate topics such as: Click here to read the full update. To receive updates like this in your inbox, sign up here.
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Charity Governance and Solvency: A Coronavirus Guide

We have created a quick guide for charity trustees who are concerned about solvency and wondering how to approach it in the immediate crisis caused by the coronavirus shutdown. Click here to read the full guide now.
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National press covers Chetal Patel’s comments on ‘Right to Rent’ checks

Chetal Patel from our Immigration team has commented on the new Home Office push on “right to rent” checks. Comments from Chetal have been picked up by a variety of publications, including Property Wire highlighting Chetal’s comment that “the new push the Home Office is putting behind these checks could give rise to even greater …
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Right to Rent – what has changed?

New legislation, in force since 2 November 2020, has introduced new measures to modernise the ‘Right to Rent’ checks required by landlords and letting agents, intended to simplify the process of carrying out those checks and for individuals to demonstrate their right to rent in the UK. In our article of 17 June 2020, we …
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One way to make the UK’s pretensions for global climate leadership a reality

David Hunter explains why he feels the publication of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill could mark a turning point in the fight against the climate emergency. It is a bitter irony that humanity has for some precious time known how to address the causes of climate change, but has lacked the collective will to …
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What does Net Zero mean for Bates Wells?

Angela Monaghan, our Senior Operations and General Manager, explains the practical steps we’re taking to mitigate our carbon footprint. I was lucky enough to join Bates Wells’ operations team just after they had made a commitment to go carbon neutral from 2019 onwards. It can be hard to understand what going net zero means so …
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