Alongside all of this tumult, various domestic legal is- sues have also impacted investment decisions in the property sector, risk and funding. Last year saw legal changes that added further complexities to this tricky economic climate for investors and for those raising funds. For example, investigations by the Competition & Market Authority into anti-competitive practices and land agreements have placed larger retailers under greater scrutiny due to long-standing concerns that improper practices such as land banking were being used to deliberately limit competition and therefore having a knock-on effect on consumer choice and prices in local areas. Lawyers acting for such retailers should be mindful of these anti-competitive practices, which could result in large fines, closures or other costly and time-consuming regulatory action. Retailers are therefore advised to ensure that finance and funding for investigations and fines are considered as part of on-going legal and commercial costs. Through all this, the business shocks of Covid continue to reverberate. Though landlords are still able to pursue outstanding rent via debt recovery processes, a delayed ability to recover outstanding debts has come at the same time as economic uncertainty - leading some commercial landlords to weigh up the risk of eviction/debt recovery against possibly empty spaces. On the residential front, cladding related regulations in response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire have proven to be problematic for leaseholders, particularly where remedial action is needed. In these cases, flat-owners have found themselves trapped: liable for the onerous costs associated with rectifying unsafe cladding but unable to sell or re-mortgage. To help our clients make sense of it all, Harold Benjamin experts James Oxley, John O’Donovan and Niten Chauhan came together with Simon Jagger, partner at independent advisory and investment house Resolve Group UK, to work through what this all means for both individuals and businesses. Together they consider the impacts on raising finance, the steps businesses can take - including advice on re-structuring, the emerging trend away from tech fundraisers towards bricks and mortar and the resulting challenges for investment. During the podcast, the team also discuss the reasons why businesses don’t seek professional advice in trying times.
THE FOUR CORNERS LEGAL PODCAST
In this podcast: Making sense of the economy on business lending, investment and restructuring
2022 will be remembered as yet another eventful and testing year, as the UK went through a series of social, political and economic upheavals. Whilst the country was still coming to terms with the aftermath of the pandemic, Europe was shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the economic consequences of Brexit began to bite, and the government was hit by further scandal, with two Prime Ministers deposed. Furthermore, a disastrous mini-budget damaged Britain’s finances and reputation, swathes of workers voted to strike, recession loomed over the horizon and millions of people faced real hardship because of inflation, spiralling energy prices and tax rises. Domestic political instability has exacerbated international cross-border economic challenges such as staff shortages, supply chain issues, concerns around money laundering, and the global inflationary pressures of Covid and the Ukraine invasion on food and fuel costs. In turn, the impact was felt on the cost of lending and the wider commercial climate.
THE LEGAL CORNER MAGAZINE | ISSUE 002 JANUARY '23 | BANKING & FINANCE SPECIAL HB 16
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