As part of this, the government has sought to find ways to encourage the uptake of renewable sources by both businesses and consumers alike. Whether that is Solar panels (or even a heat pump) for a person’s home or opening a solar farm (or renting land for a solar farm). There are many opportunities.

Whilst we cannot, and will not, advise on these opportunities as investments, we can give a little insight into what these are and some of the legal aspects around them.

Business

Incentives  

As part of the move to encourage businesses towards a more carbon neutral approach, part of the Government’s plan to hit their net zero targets, opportunities for businesses to benefit, especially in periods where energy prices have affected them, have been rolled out.

The smart export guarantee – a replacement for feed in tariffs, provide a guaranteed rate for electricity produced by small business sources such as a business that has solar panels on the roof of its premises or on land that it owns to sell excess energy to the national grid (or energy company). Previously feed in tariffs operated, similar in nature to the Smart Export Guarantee however the rates were considered too high.

Solar Farm – owned and operated by the business  

In some cases, businesses may choose to set up their own solar farm or similar source of energy not just for their own use but also for the purposes of selling energy back to the grid.

The installation of a solar farm often involves a contract known as an EPC contract (Engineering, Procurement and Construction).

The actual installation of a solar farm can be rather quick, although like any contract it can have its own issues, such as immigration laws affecting the workers utilised in installation. There are several stages that are likely to occur, such as assessing irradiation levels for the solar farm, in some cases this is required by investors backing the project. The 4 key stages are the land, planning, grid and the generation assets.

Once the Farm is up and running, contracts will need to be negotiated with the energy companies that the business wishes sell the electricity to and also ensure that your farm is compliant with the necessary health and safety laws and standards for such an operation and if a separate manager is brought in for the farm, the agreement with that manager.

Solar farm – leasing the land to the operator  

It is also possible for land owners with sufficient space to lease out land to solar farm companies or even wind farm companies to install their equipment and operate.  As part of this, the tenants may seek to put in place an option agreement between the landlord and tenant to enable the tenant to have the option to purchase the land they are renting in certain circumstances (such as the landlord proposing to sell the land to another person or entity). Lease agreements can be complex, like all leases, to reflect things such as responsibilities for repair and upkeep. Option agreements may require negotiations as to the valuation of the land when the option is being exercised and on the scenarios in which the option may be triggered.

Consumers

For Consumers, there are many ways that they can be involved in renewable energy, whether that be buying their electricity and gas from suppliers that utilise only renewable sources or purchasing their own solar panels or heat pumps.

Consumers are able to benefit from the smart export guarantee as well as other incentives such as subsidy schemes to install heat pumps.

In the past the solar panel installation side of the renewable energy sector suffered some knockbacks due to several smaller companies becoming insolvent causing those that paid up front to lose their monies. To combat this and to help increase consumer confidence in this sector, the government has created a consumer code for installers and suppliers to follow as well as schemes to protect the deposits paid by consumers and restrict the amount (in percentage of the cost) that the supplier/installation business can take from their customers.

The encouragement of consumers into obtaining solar panels and battery systems forms part of the overall strategy to boost the Energy Security of the country, to enable us to rely less on foreign supplies of energy which influence the prices we pay.

There can be different influences on whether these incentives will benefit a household including whether permission is needed from a landlord, local authority and even regulators where applicable.

For further advice on the legal aspects of the above, please contact our Corporate / Commercial or Commercial Property teams.

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What is a shareholder?

A shareholder is someone who has purchased and owns a share (or shares) in a company (this can be either a Private Limited Company or a Public Listed Company). This is a type of investment with a value which may go up or down dependant on multiple factors, the issue of shares in a company can be for numerous reasons one of these is to raise money for the company to use.

What are their rights?

Share ownership can (but not always) involve the following rights:

1. right to vote (on matters at general meetings or written resolutions)
2. rights to dividends (paid out of profits the company makes)
3. rights to distributions (if the assets of the company are divided up amongst the shareholders when the company is wound up, this allows the shareholder to receive something)
4. right to be redeemed. (This is where the company can repurchase the shares from the holder on a specified date or after an event

Are these rights always applicable?

No, a company may issue numerous classes of share with differing rights. In some cases, as part of using the shares to raise funds, companies choose to issue shares with no right to vote (or limited rights to vote) and in some cases without the right to a dividend. rights to redeeming shares are also used in specific circumstances.

Next time you are looking at your shares in a company, take a few minutes to look into what your shares allow you to do. And if you are wanting to issue shares with different rights for your company, please contact our Corporate Department to discuss. We love to help businesses grow!

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As you will be aware, most employment law changes occur in either April or October each year, and this year is no different.

Therefore in order to assist you in complying with the changes, they are set out below, together with details as to what this will mean for your business:

•1. The Qualifying period for claims for Unfair Dismissal and the right to a written statement of reason for dismissal will increase from 1 to 2 years continuous service. Therefore any employee starting from 7 April 2012 with under 2 years’ service will be unable to bring a claim for Unfair Dismissal unless they fall into one of the categories that are exempt from the qualifying period of employment. This should serve to reduce the number of claims for unfair dismissal before the Employment Tribunal and should make the dismissal and management of employees somewhat easier. It should be noted that this does not effect claims for discrimination and therefore you should still approach dismissals with care.

•2. Judges will now be allowed to sit on their own in straight Unfair Dismissal cases; this will remove the need for attendance by lay members and should therefore speed up Employment Tribunal cases a little and reduce the costs of the Employment Tribunal.

•3. The sums orderable by an employment tribunal will increase: Deposit Orders (a payment on account of potential costs) will increase to a maximum of £1,000, and maximum costs awardable by a tribunal will extend from £10,000 to £20,000. In reality given the rarity with which tribunal’s exercise such powers these are unlikely to have any significant impact.

•4. The standard rates for statutory payments are to be increased:

•a. maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay will increase to £135.45 per week.

•b. Statutory sick pay will increase to £85.85, with the weekly earnings threshold also rising from £102 to £107.

You should therefore check that they are paying the correct sums to employees effected by either of the above; failure to do so could see employers faced with claims for Unlawful Deduction from Wages before the employment tribunal.

•5. The anomaly within the Equality Act relating to “Compromise Agreements” will be corrected so that any solicitor advising employees upon such agreements will be deemed to be independent provided that they have not acted for the employer. The effect of this change means that it will become easier for you to ‘contract out’ of discrimination claims and in doing so it will also provide you with a greater degree of certainty that matters have in fact been concluded and they will not be as open to judicial scrutiny and question in the future.

Whilst it is not directly relevant at this time, you are also encouraged to begin considering the changes to the Pension rules and legislation which will begin to come into force with effect from October 2012; it will not be sufficient to simply begin considering any new obligations at the end of September as new measures will need to be put into place in order to ensure compliance with the new rules.

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You may have a claim for passing off if another business has created potential confusion to customers by using a similar logo or mark to yours. A passing off claim may also arise if another business uses a similar name to yours or copies your packaging or “get up” (e.g. slogans, package shape or visual images).

Remedies

You may be able to apply to the Court for an injunction to prevent them using the logo or mark. An interim injunction may be granted, pending a full trial. You may also seek delivery up or destruction of any infringing products and either compensation for damages or an account of your competitor’s profits.

There are three requirements which need to be established for a claim to succeed:

· Goodwill

Goodwill may be described as being the value of your good name and reputation and connection with customers that brings in business. You must show evidence that your logo or mark is a distinguishing feature that customers and prospective customers associate with your business; in other words that you have established goodwill or a business reputation in the logo or mark.

The Court will require quite compelling evidence to show that you have goodwill, such as details of your marketing budget, sales figures and customer surveys, as the objective is to protect a trader’s business from unfair competition rather than allowing one business to have a monopoly in using a particular feature.

· Misrepresentation

You must also establish that your competitor, acting in the course of trade, has misrepresented their own goods or services so that customers or prospective customers believe or are likely to believe that that they are associated with you. The misrepresentation does not have to be deliberate.

· Damage

You will also need to show that you have suffered actual or likely financial loss as a result of your competitor using the similar logo or mark. This can include loss of profits, damage to your reputation (e.g. if customers or prospective customers associate your opponent’s inferior product with yours) or loss of opportunity to expand.

Defences

Your opponent may dispute the Claim by arguing a number of grounds, such as:

• The mark or logo that you use is not distinctive;
• The mark is merely generic;
• The mark is descriptive;
• You have given your consent to them using the logo or mark; or that
• YTou have abandoned the logo or mark.

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