Grow your business
Mostly yes, but not in the way people picture it. The client list is usually the thing a buyer is actually paying for, and sellers tend to assume it moves across at completion like a van or a stock room. It doesn't. What you have is a mixture of data, contracts,...
A structure I see regularly is a partial sale, where a trade buyer, often a serial acquirer, buys 51% of an owner-managed business. The founders keep 49%, stay in their jobs, and get paid a mix of cash now and deferred money later, depending on how the business...
The short answer is that I'd rather you didn't, at least not into a free consumer version, and not without checking with me first. Part of that is a lawyer being precious about his own work, which I'll admit. But there's a legal point underneath it, and it's one most...
Most business owners sign a personal guarantee at some point. A bank or a lender wants comfort that if the company cannot repay, someone will. You sign, the money arrives, and you get on with running the business. The guarantee sits in a drawer and you stop thinking...
![Claiming misrepresentation and fraud in a franchise agreement; a £3.4m claim turns into a £850k judgement against you – Gibbons v Gravity Franchise Ltd [2026]](https://www.stevenmather.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gibbons-v-Gravity-franchise-misrepresentation-claim-1080x675.webp)
Told one thing, sold another: why a £3.4m franchise claim failed A man was told a trampoline park would cost £1.5 million to build. It cost £2.4 million. The business went into administration and he sued the franchisor and one of its directors for £3.4 million. He...
![What happens when an employee breaches a settlement agreement: Getting the money back – Espire Infolabs v Sharma [2026] EWHC 20161 (Ch)](https://www.stevenmather.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Espire-infolabs-v-sharma-settlement-agreement-breach-2026-1080x675.webp)
Breach of a settlement agreement: Espire Infolabs v Sharma and getting the money back Most settlement agreements are never tested. Money is paid, obligations are given, and both sides get on with their lives. Espire Infolabs Limited v Amit Mohan Sharma [2026] EWHC...
The fraud carve-out in a share purchase agreement removes every cap and time limit you negotiated. What Next Generation v Finch teaches sellers about warranties and disclosure.
CMA refreshes its unfair contract terms guidance: what it means for your consumer terms On 22 July 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority published a rewritten CMA37, its guidance on the unfair contract terms provisions in Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015....
Last reviewed: 16 July 2026. I have no affiliate relationship with the tools reviewed on this page. Vendor statistics are identified as such. Where a vendor does not publish pricing, any figure given is a third-party estimate rather than a confirmed rate card. Why...
A business takes a chance on someone with no track record. It pays them, teaches them and gives them skills the market actually wants. Eight months later they walk out of the door to a job paying two-thirds more. It is not hard to see why the business feels it is owed...
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