A recent market report by cost consultant Turner and Townsend describes the UK contracting environment as a pressure cooker with contractors facing into cost increases whilst also having high workloads. The report forecasts tender price inflation for building projects of 8.5% for 2022, which is double Turner & Townsend’s Winter 2021/22 forecast! It also warns that if firms seek to mitigate those increases by stockpiling materials that could trigger further inflationary bubbles and / or material shortages – an unwelcome re-run of some of the shortages we saw as the COVID-19 lockdowns unwound. That is all pretty worrying and it looks like inflation and material shortages – which have been themes over the last year – are going to continue to be issues even if inflation does recede in 2023. So, what can be done?
Parts of the Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force on 1 June 2022, bringing in new rules for the operation of 5 year prescription (time bar) in Scotland.
Confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) often get bad press, perceived by many as a way of buying the silence of those privy to the unlawful or unethical acts of others. However, NDAs are entirely legal and, in the world of intellectual property, should be seriously considered as one of the most economic and effective means of protecting intellectual property rights.
Research undertaken by the insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, in Scotland, revealed that the number of insolvency cases (liquidations and receiverships), for the last quarter of 2021, was 164% higher compared to the same period the previous year.
