Grow your business
![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...
The Wimbledon champion collects £3.6 million on Centre Court. In this article, I explain the sports law perspective: what UK tax law actually does to that cheque, why worldwide endorsement income is the real sting, and how the contracts behind the scenes decide who keeps what.
![When a Six-Month Non-Compete Collapses: Lessons for Every Business Owner (Huws Gray v Gentleman [2026])](https://www.stevenmather.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/non-compete-clauses-gone-wrong-huws-grey-v-gentleman-2026-1080x675.webp)
A major builders’ merchant just lost a High Court case trying to stop its salesman joining a rival — because of two words it forgot to define.
In Huws Gray Ltd v Gentleman [2026] EWHC 1309 (Comm), the company had a six-month non-compete clause, took it to court, and lost on every point. The clause was drafted so widely it would have banned the employee from working in the rival’s HR or finance team hundreds of miles away. And the one clause that would have protected its customers was useless, because two key terms were left undefined.
If you employ salespeople, the lesson is simple: having a restrictive covenant is not the same as having one that works. Here’s what went wrong — and what it means for your contracts.
A Leicester name has just become the textbook example of how not to run an online checkout. On 18 June 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority announced that Marks Electrical, the AIM-listed online electricals retailer founded in Leicester in 1987 by Mark Smithson,...
After more than a decade of litigation across five hearings, the First-tier Tribunal has, on 1 May 2026, decided that Level 1 National Group football referees engaged by Professional Game Match Officials Limited ("PGMOL") were not employees for tax purposes. Around...
Business Consultant