Trading company meaning

General checklist What follows is a checklist highlighting matters that a solicitor representing a company’s administrator (and, in some pre-appointment cases, the directors/company) disposing of a business and its assets ought to bear in mind when preparing a sale and purchase agreement (the Agreement). This checklist is suitable for both pre-pack scenarios and sales of the business and/or assets completed after administrators are in office. It is not comprehensive and, depending on the nature of the business, numerous additional points may arise. For further detail, see: Sale and Purchase of Assets—overview and Pre-packs—overview. We also, at points, refer to seeking information from the directors. That will not invariably be feasible, eg where the situation is hostile. Accordingly, if the directors are engaged, they should be able to provide the information and will often be best placed to do so; however, where the position is hostile, or if you act solely for the administrators, any enquiries should be directed to the administrators, or at least channelled via them to the...

Tax consequences of different buyback structures The table below offers a concise overview of the tax outcomes arising from the various forms of share buyback that a UK company may undertake. Throughout, it is assumed that the relevant shareholder is UK resident and that the repurchased shares are held as an investment. For fuller guidance on the tax treatment of share buybacks, see the following Practice Notes: Tax consequences of share buybacks—main rules Tax consequences of share buybacks—calculating the income capital split Tax consequences of share buybacks—unquoted trading companies For a comparative table setting out other ways a company can return value to shareholders, together with the principal UK tax issues for each route, see: Key UK tax considerations for returning value to shareholders—comparative table. Note that tailored provisions apply where the company repurchasing its shares is a qualifying asset holding company. For more on this, refer to Practice Note: Qualifying asset holding companies (QAHCs)—tax treatment...

The decision to trade on Trading on cannot be determined by an insolvency practitioner (IP) in isolation. Before proceeding, commitment to continue trading must be secured from all parties who need to participate. customers — must agree to keep buying from the company suppliers — must agree to keep supplying the company employees — must agree to continue performing their duties for the company potential purchasers — essential, as without a buyer ongoing trade is unlikely to deliver improved realisations The checklist below highlights the core areas an IP should concentrate on when trading a business. From day one of a trading assignment, strong communication and firm control are critical. Four watchwords apply the moment an IP takes charge: control — determine the location of all assets and premises secure — change locks, alarm codes and passwords insure — inform brokers providing IP asset cover inform — assemble staff to announce your appointment ...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR)-UK government publishes Business Model documentation On 27 August 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) released a suite of papers on its proposed Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Business Model and accompanying policy. The Lexis+ Energy team, working with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh Law School, set out the context for the GGR Business Model; its relationship with the Power BECCS Business Model; the technologies the GGR framework intends to encompass; its legal footing and principal features; and how...

Thiel-Czerwinke and another (joint liquidators of Courtside Recycling Ltd) v Crabb [2024] EWHC 337 (Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling underlines the uncompromising obligation on directors to maintain trading records, and accepts that discarding or failing to retain them was, on these facts, a constituent part of the director’s fraudulent design. It also clarifies that once office-holders demonstrate that company assets or cash were transferred to a director, the absence of documents showing that the funds or property were applied for the company’s advantage renders the director liable to repay the whole amount to the company. That outcome applies even though the judge did not doubt that Mr Crabb did in fact use some of the cash when making payments for Courtside... What was the background? Mr Crabb served as the Company’s sole director; the business dealt in scrap metal. For the trading periods from August 2014 to February 2018, the Company submitted VAT returns declaring sales, net of VAT, totalling...

In this issue: Public company takeovers Equity capital markets Corporate governance Partnerships Private equity Members LexTalk®Corporate: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Public company takeovers Takeover Panel publishes note on cancellation of admission to trading The Takeover Panel (Panel) has issued a new note offering advisers guidance on cancelling an admission to trading for companies caught by the Takeover Code (Code). It confirms that companies with registered offices in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, whose securities are traded on specified markets, remain within the Code for two years after cancellation, irrespective of where central management and control is located or whether they re-register as private companies. The Panel encourages early engagement with the Panel Executive when a cancellation is contemplated, to ensure shareholders receive suitable disclosure about the Code’s continued effect, and it outlines...

The enterprise investment scheme (EIS) It is primarily intended to boost investment in smaller, higher‑risk trading companies by granting a range of tax reliefs to individual investors who acquire newly issued shares in such companies. The EIS rules are prescriptive and contain numerous conditions that must be satisfied, including those relating to: the individual investors the issued shares the issuing company This Practice Note centres on the conditions that apply to the individual investor. Those conditions are outlined in the context of the income tax relief afforded by Part 5 of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007). References to the equivalent capital gains tax (CGT) provisions are included where appropriate. For information on the remaining conditions, see the following Practice Notes: EIS—conditions for relief: issued shares, the funds raised and the arrangements in general EIS—conditions for relief: issuing company EIS—conditions for relief: qualifying trades For a summary of tax reliefs available...

Successive UK governments have aimed to cement the UK as one of the world’s most appealing settings for innovation and enterprise. To that end, a wide-ranging suite of tax incentives has been rolled out to encourage innovative companies, supporting both investors and trading entities, and assisting businesses at every phase of a business’s life cycle. These incentives include: R&D tax reliefs patent box business asset disposal relief (previously entrepreneurs’ relief) capital allowances for purchases of: knowhow patents, and plant and machinery venture capital trusts the enterprise investment scheme, and the seed enterprise investment scheme This Practice Note outlines the UK position on key tax considerations when determining how to structure an innovative business with international or global aspirations. The observations are general in nature and work on the basis of a clean slate; revisiting an existing IP ownership arrangement will inevitably demand a bespoke solution (notably...

SME R&D relief—additional deduction (pre-1 April 2024) This Practice Note addresses the principal research and development (R&D) relief for small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2024, subject to transitional provisions. For further detail, see Practice Note: SME R&D relief—tax credit (pre-1 April 2024). For the R&D expenditure credit that applies to periods beginning before 1 April 2024, see Practice Note: R&D expenditure credit (pre-1 April 2024). In this Practice Note, these two are collectively described as the pre-1 April 2024 schemes. For guidance on the schemes of relief for R&D generally applying to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, see Practice Notes: The merged R&D expenditure credit (post-1 April 2024) and Enhanced relief for R&D-intensive loss-making SMEs (post-1 April 2024). SME R&D relief—additional deduction Where the relevant conditions are satisfied, an SME company may claim an additional deduction equal to 186% of its qualifying research and development (R&D) expenditure when computing profits chargeable to corporation tax...

[ Insert organisation name ] is proud of how we conduct our business. Our Code of ethics sets out the standards and policies that govern our operations and applies to everyone. Please read the Code carefully, make sure you understand it, and use it to guide your work. If you have any queries about the Code or its application, please speak with [ insert contact details ]. 1 What is fraud? 1.1 In broad terms, fraud is a criminal act involving deception or theft to secure an advantage. 1.2 The failure to prevent fraud offence under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) covers a wide range of fraud offences carried out for the benefit of our organisation, including: fraud by false representation fraud by failing to disclose information fraud by abuse of position obtaining services dishonestly participation in a fraudulent business false statements by company directors false accounting fraudulent trading cheating the...

Stop press: The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/82 now commence the remaining provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025). Provisions covering the areas below apply from 5 February 2026, while those on penalty notices and complaints apply from 19 June 2026. For further details, see Practice Note: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025—employment implications. This Precedent will be updated shortly to reflect these changes. subject access requests legitimate interests purpose limitation automated decision-making international transfers enforcement [ Insert name of organisation ] Data protection privacy notice (secondment) As you are aware, it is proposed that you will be seconded to [ insert name ] (host employer). This notice sets out which personal data (information) [ insert name of employer ] [ trading as [ insert trading name, if different ] ] (‘we’ or ‘Company’) will provide to, and receive from, your...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued draft guidance on recruitment and selection, which was open to consultation until 5 March 2024, and has also removed the employment practices code and its supplementary guidance from the employment information page. For further details, see Practice Note: The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: key data protection issues for employment lawyers—Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance. This Precedent will be updated in due course. [ Insert name of organisation ] This notice sets out what personal data (information) we will hold about you, how we obtain it, and how we will use and may share information about you during the application process. We are required under data protection legislation to provide you with this information. Please ensure you read this notice (also referred to as a ‘privacy notice’) and any similar notice we may give you from time to time when we collect or handle personal data about you. Who collects the data [ Insert name of...

A Sponsor may submit applications for multiple licence tiers concurrently; however, in the scenario raised in this Q&A it would be unwise, as approval of one would, by necessity, preclude success of the other. For a Skilled Worker licence (a Worker route), one of the criteria is that the company is lawfully operating or trading in the UK. The Home Office has, of late, taken a firm stance in rejecting Sponsor Licence applications under the Skilled Worker route where the business is not yet producing income—often described as ‘pre‑revenue’. Although limited cases exist in which a pre‑revenue enterprise might still obtain a licence, the prevailing position now is that such bids are typically declined. This reflects current Home Office practice today...

Dormant company—exemption from audit A dormant company can be either a public or a private company. It is also set up and operated in the same general manner as any other company. That said, the obligations concerning accounts and audit that generally apply to companies are relaxed for a dormant entity. The annual accounts of a dormant company for a financial year require an audit unless the company benefits from an exemption from audit...

Can a claim be made against a company for trading whilst insolvent? Wrongful trading There is no standalone claim triggered merely by a company ‘trading whilst insolvent’, even though that phrase is commonly used. What is usually intended is a ‘wrongful trading’ claim. This cause of action arises under section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) and, at present, applies only where a company has gone into an ‘insolvent liquidation’. IA 1986, s 214(6) defines this as the company entering liquidation at a time when its assets are insufficient to meet its debts, other liabilities, and the expenses of the winding up. The key point is that a wrongful trading claim can only be brought by the company’s liquidator; it is not a claim that a creditor may advance against a company, whether or not insolvency proceedings are on foot. The claim is pursued against the company’s director(s), rather than the company itself...