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Brexit is likely to have a major impact on goods supply chains, whether or not a trade deal can be reached with the EU. This checklist sets out the key issues that UK exporters need to consider.

The Government is consulting on plans to strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) to aid businesses with fewer than 50 staff in the recovery of late payments from larger businesses. Among other things, it proposes that the SBC should be able to impose payment awards and fines.

Travers Smith LLP is advising Mears Group PLC (LSE: MER) on its class 1 disposal of TerraQuest Solutions Limited.

Our regular round-up of recent developments and topics for your radar, news on training and networking events for in-house counsel, and an update on our legal tech initiatives.

Technology & Commercial Transactions senior associate, Richard Offord, discusses the importance of worked examples when construing commercial contracts following the recent decision in Altera Voyageur Production Limited V Premier Oil E&P UK Ltd.

With the headlines dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, anyone could have been forgiven for putting Brexit to the back of their mind over the past few months. However, the UK is rapidly approaching the end of the transition period, at which point, amongst many other issues, it is highly likely that there will be disruption to goods supply chains.

Our latest webinar, hosted by Technology & Commercial Transactions Partners Richard Brown and Ben Chivers, and Senior Associate Rowan Armstrong, is aimed at in-house lawyers at all levels and others negotiating commercial contracts.

"Reshoring" supply chains – the movement to replace international supply chains with (theoretically) simpler, domestic equivalents – is currently high on the political agenda, boosted by Brexit and the disruption caused by COVID-19. However, while there may be merits for some businesses in reshoring, it is far from risk-free – and, for many businesses, it may be neither practical nor desirable.

Across five cases in less than a year, fines totalling £13.7m and warning letters sent to the entire industry, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the "CMA") has put suppliers and retailers on notice that it will not tolerate efforts to fix or otherwise stabilise resale prices for consumers. While all five cases concerned activities in the musical instruments sector, the risks and lessons apply to vertical distribution arrangements in a much broader context and show that the CMA is prepared to clamp down hard on businesses which flout the rules.

National governments across the EU have provided significant financial aid to support companies in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Ordinarily, many of these measures would fall foul of EU state aid rules and be open to legal challenge – but the EU has introduced a temporary framework to permit such measures to be taken.

On 25 June 2020, new legislation came into force in the UK which makes it much more difficult for suppliers to terminate contracts where the customer is subject to an insolvency procedure. In this briefing, we highlight the key issues that both suppliers and customers should be aware of and consider whether you should amend termination provisions in new contracts.

With the Brexit transition period due to expire on 31 December 2020, there is not much time left to prepare.

Two former Supreme Court judges have recently suggested that, given the exceptional nature of the current crisis, a "more creative" approach may be needed in assessing contractual disputes. With that in mind, we've put together a checklist of potential issues to consider if you are looking to dig yourself out of a contractual hole created by COVID-19.

Force majeure clauses are coming under increasing scrutiny in the light of the global COVID-19 crisis, as many businesses are left unable to perform their contractual obligations. The High Court's recent decision in the case of 2 Entertain Video Ltd & Ors v Sony DADC Europe Ltd [2020] EWHC 972 (TCC) provides an important reminder of the limits of force majeure clauses.

The global spread of coronavirus (now officially called Covid-19) presents a number of challenges to the UK business community. Whilst we hope that the outbreak is contained and does not become a pandemic, we recognise that businesses have to make contingency plans for a worst case scenario.

The COVID-19 crisis is moving at an alarming pace and it may only be a matter of time before the UK Government announces measures to try to contain its spread. In particular, consumer-facing businesses responsible for holding large-scale public gatherings (such as concerts, performances or conferences) are not only facing the prospect of customers pulling out, but that they themselves may have to cancel such events.

The sorry tale of Bates v Post Office Ltd has a number of salutary lessons for IT suppliers and customers. In an age where businesses are placing ever greater reliance on computer systems to carry out business processes and to make decisions, and with AI technologies being put to ever greater use in analysis and decision making, it is worth taking a few moments to consider what can happen when the balance tips too far in favour of the technology.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital Partners) on its acquisition of the Macdonald Rusacks Hotel and the Macdonald Randolph Hotel from the Macdonald Hotels & Resorts portfolio.

Liverpool FC has recently emerged victorious from a battle with sportswear maker New Balance over a right for New Balance to match the terms offered by a competing kit supplier – but it was a close-run thing. As we pointed out in our briefing on a similar case involving Rangers FC and Sports Direct, such rights often appear attractive – but both cases also demonstrate how easily they can lead to disputes.

The concept of "relational contracts" is not new but has recently started to crop up more often in judgments on contractual disputes. This matters because, as we explain in this video, a finding that your contract is "relational" can make a significant difference to the way it is interpreted by a court.