Business

  • Acceptance

    The unconditional agreement to an...

  • Acquisition

    This is the purchase of one company by another without a merger...

  • Agency Agreement

    This is an agreement which allows one party (the Agent) to sell products (goods or services) on behalf of another (the Principal) in return for commission...

  • Agent

    Someone who is appointed to act on behalf of another party, the...

  • Annual General Meeting (AGM)

    A company must hold a meeting of shareholders once each calendar...

  • Articles of Association

    A document which is required to incorporate a UK...

  • Authorised Share Capital

    Shares which are available to be...

  • Bankrupt

    A debtor who, either upon voluntary petition or one invoked by their creditors, is judged legally...

  • Bankruptcy

    The state of being...

  • Breach of Contract

    This occurs when a party to a contract fails to abide by the agreed...

  • Business Name

    Sole Traders and Partnerships can either trade under their own names or have a separate name, known as a Business...

  • Comfort Letter

    A document which is issued to back up an agreement but which does not have any contractual...

  • Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA)

    This is a deal between an insolvent company and its...

  • Conditions

    Conditions form the basis of a contract - if one of them fails or is broken, the contract is...

  • Consideration

    Something which must be given by either side in a...

  • Dissolution

    See...

  • Distribution Agreement

    This is an agreement which regulates the commercial terms whereby one party, the Supplier supplies goods and/or services to another party, the Distributor, for resale in a specified...

  • Dividend

    The profit of trading divided among the members in proportion to their shares and in accordance with their rights as...

  • Exclusion Clause

    Clause in a contract which is intended to exclude one party from liability if a stated circumstance...

  • Exemption Clause

    Clause in a contract that attempts to restrict the liability of the party that writes...

  • Express Terms

    Terms and provisions of a contract that are expressly written and on which the parties specifically...

  • Extradodinary General Meeting

    Any meeting of shareholders which is not an...

  • Extradodinary Resolution

    Company resolution that usually does not require any notice of its proposal, but must be passed by a majority of at least three quarters of...

  • Force Majeure

    An event which cannot be foreseen (eg. lightning) - liability for which is often excluded from...

  • Franchise Agreement

    This is an agreement for a person or organisation (the Franchisor) who wishes to grant the right to another person or organisation (the Franchisee) to operate an outlet of the Franchise business within a particular...

  • Frustration

    An unexpected or unintentional event that makes fulfilment of a contract...

  • Going Concern

    This is an accounting concept which assumes that a company will continue to operate in the foreseeable...

  • Heads of Agreement

    See Heads of...

  • Heads of Terms

    These set out the terms of a commercial transaction which has been agreed in...

  • Implied Terms

    Terms and clauses implied in a contract by law or custom and practice without actually being stated in the...

  • Incorporate

    Inclusion or adoption of some term or condition as part of a...

  • Incorporation

    The formal creation of a...

  • Issued Shares

    This refers to shares that have been allotted and issued and held by...

  • Joint Venture Agreement

    This can be used where two or more existing businesses agree to co-operate and combine their resources with a view to...

  • Letter of intent

    See Heads of...

  • Limitation Clause

    This sets a maximum on the amount of damages a party may have to pay if there is a failure of some part of the...

  • Limited Liability

    This generally refers to limited companies where the owners' liability to pay the debts of the company is limited to the value of their...

  • Limited Liability Patnership

    A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) is a recognised legal entity by virtue of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, which has some features of a limited company and some of a...

  • Liquidation

    This refers to the process by which a company (or part of a company) is brought to an...

  • Memoranda of Understanding

    See Heads of...

  • Memorandum of Association

    A document which is required to incorporate a UK...

  • Merger

    This is a combination of two companies to form a new...

  • Misrepresentation

    This is where one party to a contract makes a false statement of fact to the other party which is relied...

  • Non-Executive Director

    A director who does not participate in the day-to-day management of the...

  • Notice

    Advance notification by either party that a contract is about to...

  • Offer

    An offer to contract must be made with the intention to create a legal relationship upon...

  • Ordinary Resolution

    A resolution passed by a simple majority of members at a company...

  • Outsourcing Agreement

    This is an agreement designed for a person or organisation (the Service Provider) who intends to take over the provision or production of non-core operations for another person or organisation (the...

  • Parent Company

    A company which owns more than 50% voting rights in another...

  • Partnership

    A partnership consists of two or more people formed with the aim of carrying on a business with a view to...

  • Private Limited Company

    An entity incorporated by registration whose members have a limited liability towards their...

  • Proxy

    This is a person who acts on behalf of another for a specific...

  • Public Limited Company

    A company whose constitution must state it is a public company and which must satisfy requirements as to the minimum amount of its share...

  • Quorum

    The minimum number of people required at a business meeting for decisions to be...

  • Ratification

    This is the acceptance or confirmation of an act or agreement that has already been...

  • Receivership

    This is a type of bankruptcy a company enters when a receiver is appointed to run the...

  • Registered Office

    The official address of a company as stated on the register at Companies...

  • Repudiation of Contract

    Where one party to a contract refuses to comply, amounting to a breach of contract. Also, where a contract was made by a minor (person under the age of 18) who then repudiates it at or shortly after the age of...

  • Rescission

    The possibility to end a contract if it is entered into as a result of a...

  • Share

    A unit of economic value of a company to which are attached rights to vote and to participate in dividends and capital distributions of the...

  • Share Certificate

    This is issued by a company when a person is entered onto the register of members as the holder of the shares in the...

  • Shareholders Agreement

    An agreement which can be used where two or more parties wish to carry on business together as a limited company and wish to regulate the relationship between shareholders and determine actions in the event of...

  • Sole Trader

    A sole trader operates as an individual without the use of a company structure or partners and has sole responsibility for the actions of the...

  • Subject to Contract

    Words used on documents exchanged by parties during contract negotiations, denoting that the document is not an offer or acceptance and negotiations have not...

  • Subsidiary Company

    A company which owns less than 50% of its own voting...

  • UCTA

    Unfair Contract Terms Act...

  • Unfair Terms

    Contract terms which are deemed unfair by legislation and will not be enforced by the...

  • Void

    A contract which cannot be performed or completed at...

  • Warranties

    Promises made in a contract, but which are less important than...
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