Brachers advises clients to be pro-active about legal risk

Brachers hosted a breakfast seminar on Thursday 6 October 2016 to provide guidance to business owners, directors and executives on future-proofing strategies to help manage risk and opportunities.

Results were shared from a recent survey conducted by Brachers which explored where organisations across sectors think their legal risk priorities are. There was broad agreement on the top 3 legal risk priorities; legislation being the highest concerning factor for those who responded to the survey, closely followed by contractual issues and dispute issues.

On the back of these results, the team of legal experts from Brachers presented on how companies in Kent can plan and mitigate potential risks to their business, including future-proofing strategies to implement in light of the economic challenges ahead. Sarah Hewitt, Solicitor, discussed how to ensure commercial documentation and processes remain resilient and compliant, whilst Catherine Daw, Head of Employment, provided advice around employee engagement, including how to ensure staff retention through reward strategies.

James Bullock, Head of Corporate and Commercial, who provided an overview of the impact of Brexit, said that despite the vote there is a positive outlook for the South East:

“It’s not surprising that legislation is at the front of our respondents minds, since the Brexit vote will affect all businesses that trade with the EU, whether as supplier or purchaser. However, the economic landscape in the UK has not, generally speaking, reacted to the Brexit vote as many experts had predicted.

“The South East remains the most active ‘deal-making’ region in the UK after London, and deals of between £0.5m and £10m increased significantly in volume and value in Q2 of this year (according to Experian). However, despite the economic outlook appearing positive, we’re still at least two years from exit. Some businesses are suffering from the weak pound, and the deal volume increase was before the vote so we need to see the impact in Q3.”

The future is always uncertain and particularly so for our relationship with EU business, as reflected in the survey conducted by Brachers. James concluded:

“After a quiet summer whilst the dust settled after the June 23rd Brexit vote, our firm has seen a surge in corporate transactions. More widely, consumer spending is up, GDP is up and the employment rate is up. The outlook is positive and businesses should now take the opportunity to plan ahead to ensure they are risk resilient and equipped for sustained growth.”

If you are considering implementing a legal risk management framework, or simply want to improve what you have please contact the team on 01622 690691 for a free initial discussion.

For more information on the next ‘Future-proof your business’ seminars and to register to attend, view our upcoming events.