The West Midlands Traffic Commissioner has revoked the operator's licence of The Pipe Corporation and disqualified both the company and its sole director, Darren Sockett, from holding or obtaining a licence for six months. This decision follows two public inquiries which revealed significant breaches of legal obligations, including the improper display of vehicle identity discs and failure to maintain written maintenance records. The Commissioner found that the director had made deliberately false statements during the inquiry, particularly in attempting to blame coronavirus (COVID-19) for administrative lapses. Despite acknowledging some positive steps taken by the operator, including engaging a transport consultant and initiating staff training, the Commissioner deemed the breaches and lack of trustworthiness too severe to allow continued operation under the licence.

1 Pandemic management team and strategy Action point Owner Status and comments Identify a person to lead the Pandemic management team (Pandemic management coordinator) and clearly define their role [Insert name or role of owner of this action point] [Confirm status and add comments as required] Establish a Pandemic management team, to include representatives from the following functions:—senior leadership;—finance;—business units;—human resources;—business continuity;—risk management;—[real estate OR property] management;—facilities management;—communications;—legal. Pandemic management co-ordinator [Confirm status and add comments as required] Clearly define the responsibilities of each member of the Pandemic management team. Pandemic management co-ordinator [Confirm status and add comments as required] Draw up a high-level Pandemic management strategy. [Insert name or role of owner of this action point, eg Business unit heads] [Confirm status and add comments as required] Create a schedule of the Pandemic management team members, with full contact details (and annex to the Pandemic management strategy). [Insert name or role of owner of this action point, eg Business unit heads] [Confirm status and add comments as required] [Insert next] [Insert name or role of owner of this action point] [Confirm status and add comments as required] 2 On-site operations Action point Owner Status and comments Establish whether there are any business-critical

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic heralded a significant change in the ways many of us work. This note is focussed on hybrid working, which refers to a flexibility around where we work. Inevitably, though, it also touches upon flexible working which is about when we work. An historical context Originally, most people worked from, or close to, home, whether working the land, small-scale home-based manufacturing and service provision and so on. The industrial revolution, and with it factories as well as large scale farming, meant people started having to go to a place of work so they could collectively work on the same machine or on the same land or flocks and herds. At the same time, and with the spread of printing and other technologies, commerce meant that there was an explosion of document production. Those whose roles became document based, for example lawyers and accountants, had to be where those documents were kept so as to avoid creating multiple copies of everything. Part of the reason for the advent of the modern day

Updated in January 2026 Introduction The Philippines has continued to demonstrate relatively strong and resilient economic performance, sustaining its position among the faster-growing economies in Southeast Asia. From 2010 to 2019, the country recorded an average annual GDP growth rate of approximately 6.4%, a marked improvement from the 4.5% average between 2000 and 2009. Despite the global economic challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, the Philippines showcased resilience, with GDP growth rebounding to 5.6% in 2023, the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia. In terms of credit ratings, the Philippines has maintained favourable assessments from major international agencies. As of June 2024, Fitch Ratings affirmed the country's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at 'BBB' with a stable outlook, reflecting the nation's strong medium-term growth prospects. This guide aims to highlight some of the key areas that a new business will need to know and address before it begins to operate in the Philippines. This guide should not be

This Practice Note provides practical guidance on how to execute documents properly when one or more parties to a contract are not physically present. This is sometimes known as virtual signing or virtual closing. The Law Society has brought together a variety of established guidance on execution of documents by virtual means, execution of documents using electronic signatures, its ‘Tips on how to operate in practice’ in relation to virtual execution and the use of e-signatures, and Q&A on how to use electronic signatures and complete virtual executions: Our position on the use of virtual execution and e-signature during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We have produced a collection that is a comprehensive, interactive resource to help users identify and work through the concepts and common issues when executing documents, including when executing documents by virtual means. Each section or phase includes practical guidance, precedent clauses and Q&As relevant to that section. For more information, see: Execution collection. Mercury Tax Case This guidance is consistent with the Law Society's guidance, made on 16 February 2010 in response to the decision

The Insolvency Act 1986, s A1 (IA 1986) provides for an process whereby directors of insolvent companies, or companies that are likely to become insolvent, can obtain a moratorium, initially for a 20 business day period (which can be extended in some circumstances). The process is supported by Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024, r 1A.1. The moratorium is designed to allow viable businesses time to restructure or seek new investment free from creditor action. The legislative framework for the moratorium process was inserted into IA 1986 by provisions in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020), which was enacted quickly, spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium is overseen by an insolvency practitioner acting as a ‘monitor’, although the directors will remain in charge of running the business on a day-to-day basis subject to certain constraints. This is sometimes known as a ‘debtor-in-possession’ process with the company being the ‘debtor’. The moratorium is free-standing, meaning it is not tied to any particular insolvency or restructuring process. This can be contrasted

This Practice Note provides practical guidance on how to exchange executed documents properly when one or more parties to a contract are not physically present. This is sometimes known as virtual signing or virtual closing. It details the guidance provided by the Law Society of Ireland on the virtual execution of documents. Virtual closings This Practice Note provides practical guidance on how to exchange executed documents properly when one or more parties to a contract are not physically present. This is sometimes known as virtual signing or virtual closing. The Law Society of Ireland has issued Guidance on the ‘virtual’ execution of documents. While this guidance remains valid, it should be noted that it was last updated in 2014 prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which led to a move away from the approach in R (Mercury Tax Group and Another) v HMR (Mercury) (where scanned, wet-ink signatures are circulated by pdf with originals to follow), towards e-signature. The Law Society of Ireland has since published an Updated Guidance Note Regarding E-Signatures, Electronic Contracts

A member’s right to appoint a proxy is governed by the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). In addition to the statutory provisions, companies are entitled to confer more extensive rights in relation to the appointment of proxies in their articles of association. A traded company has to comply with additional requirements in the CA 2006 in relation to the appointment of proxies. This Practice Note also summarises those additional requirements. For examples of different types of proxy form, see Precedents: • Short-form proxy form for the general meeting of a private company or unlisted public company • Long-form proxy form for a general meeting of a private company or unlisted public company • Proxy form for a general meeting of a listed company This Practice Note does not cover voting by proxy. See Practice Note: Voting by proxy. For information on the appointment of a corporate representative as an alternative to a proxy see Practice Note: How to appoint one or more corporate representatives. Holding hybrid general meetings and AGMs Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, more companies

Construction projects often by their nature can be affected by volatile economic conditions or events which impact the price and availability of the products, materials and labour necessary to carry out the works. This, in turn, can lead to delay or disruption, and cost overruns can be frequent, particularly on larger projects. For example, among the challenges faced by the UK construction industry in 2021 were shortages and soaring costs of key goods and materials, which adversely impacted productivity in several sectors. Increases in the global demand for construction products in the aftermath of the worst effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 which had a detrimental effect on manufacturing capacity throughout the world, combined with lowered distribution capacity and other conditions impacted supply chains at every point, leading to price rises, prolonged lead times and unavailability. Among the materials affected were timber, steel, cement, roof tiles, paints and electrical components. In 2022, these challenges were further exacerbated by the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia, which had the twin effect of

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Employment law dates for your 2023 diary This Practice Note is a summary of the key legal developments that impacted employment lawyers during the course of 2023. The tables below set out, in chronological order, dates of relevance for employment lawyers, covering cases, legislation and consultations, sorted by month during 2023. More information and links to relevant news stories can be found in: • Case tracker—Employment • Archived—2023 Case tracker—Employment • Legislation tracker—Employment • Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Legislation tracker for employment [Archived], and • Consultation tracker—Employment January 2023 Date Type of event Topic Subject 1 January 2023 Legislation in force Immigration The Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/1391, amended the Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017, SI 2017/499, to exempt, from the Immigration Skills Charge, sponsored workers on the Scale-up route and also specific EU national intra-corporate transferees on the Global Business Mobility-Senior or Specialist Worker route who are covered by a commitment in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement 4

This Checklist on remotely accessed mediations summarises the key considerations when deciding whether and, if so, how, to engage in a remotely accessed mediation via video conference (VC). The arrival of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic saw an increase in the use of remotely accessed mediations, ie mediations carried out online by way of VC. VC mediations (also commonly referred to as ‘online mediation’, ‘remote mediation’ and ‘remotely accessed mediation’) are not the only means of conducting a non face-to-face mediation, you can also mediate by telephone. That said, the ease and increased user functionality of the various platforms offering VC have lent themselves well to the process for remote access mediation. For information on the parties’ obligations to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and the courts’ powers with respect to ordering or encouraging the parties to consider ADR, both before and during any litigation, see Practice Notes: Court powers to order or encourage ADR in civil proceedings and Court powers to order or encourage ADR in civil proceedings—key and illustrative decisions. For information on the potential costs

Background This Practice Note examines the legal and practical issues for employers to consider in relation to remote working arrangements. The concept of remote working has been around for some time, however the experiences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, during which many employees worked entirely, or primarily, from home resulted in a huge shift in work practices. Remote work is emerging as an increasingly common work arrangement. The government introduced the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 to fulfil their obligation to implement Directive (EU) 2019/1158 (the Directive) on work-life balance for parents and carers. For further information on the Directive, see Practice Note: The EU Work-Life Balance Directive. Following widespread criticism of this initial stand-alone bill, and it’s failure to reflect commitments made in Making Remote Work: National Remote Work Strategy (DETE, 2021)—guidance issued by the government in 2021 in relation to remote work, the bill was amended to include a stand-alone right for all employees to request ‘remote working arrangements’. An employee now has the statutory right under Part 3 of the Work