4 year training bond - but not employed by company

As Cyndy says... you need a lawyer.

Depending on the exact wording you may be doomed to repay if they don't offer employment (thus you can't accept). Alternatively you may be able to "Accept employment" even if they don't make an offer, just by writing and saying "I accept employment as Managing Director on a salary of 100K a year with a x% shareholding in the company".
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Ltd Company Franchise purchase

Franchising is not like a standard business set up.... it is a complex business marriage. Instead of simply buying stuff from wherever you want and selling it however you want a franchisee will often have to rely on the franchisor to perform specific tasks.

Just one example would be brand marketing. - What happens if the franchisor fails to do sufficient marketing or you don't feel it is of suitable quality and is impacting your business? You can't simply slap the brand on your own advertising because you don't own it/have the rights
i. Are their obligations clearly defined?
ii. Is there a conflict resolution process?
iii. Do you have a proper license to use the brand in the first place?
iv. Does the agreement have a provision that allows you interim use of the brand during a dispute (or are you basically stuck in limbo unable to advertise).

You also need to realise that (as all the finance industry adverts state) "past performance is not indicator of future performance". The company was previously run by the founders daughter and he was likely a lot more accommodating towards her than he would be towards a non-relative. Also what happens if they decide to take it to the next level and start setting up more franchises.... some of which you feel encroach on your patch? Or what happens if they bring in a new manager/CEO who doesn't like the lax way things have been running?
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How can I Sell off Excess Womenswear Stock?

Can anyone advise on how to sell off excess womenswear stock (multiple brands) close to wholesale prices? Does anyone buy such stock vs. posting it on EBay or GumTree etc or selling it at £1 per Kilo etc?

We have a large body of customers who like a bargain and come to our website to find one. Generally, prices are less than wholesale, but selected items can achieve higher prices.
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Holiday pay and pensionable salary questions

The 12 weeks rule is EU law / rules you need to count back to work out the average. The idea being that a week's holiday should be paid no differently than the period of work most close to that period.


Excuse me for being pedantic, but this is simply not true!


The twelve-week rule is found in UK legislation – sections 220-224, Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA). This determines how the “rate of a week’s pay” should be calculated in instances where this is not clear – using the previous 12 weeks as an average.


European laws & judgments simply say that an employee should be not be paid less during holidays, and to ensure an employee doesn’t suffer any financial loss, overtime & commission should be included in the calculations. However, there is no European/ECJ case law to determine what a week’s pay is/how to calculate this from a variable weekly amount, and therefore while in the UK, (in the absence of any other authority) the tribunals & courts follow the legislation at 220-224, ERA, there is a strong feeling among many employment lawyers that this would fall foul of European law if or when it is ever tested at the ECJ.



Karl Limpert
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Where is the best place to buy a "job" type business?

My advice is to start off small and if you make a success out of it scale it up. That worked well for me back in 2004 I built a business up working in the evenings and weekends then only left my day job when it was established enough and I proved to myself I could make it work.

A website / store business is very tough and competitive so I would be careful of trying to start something like that from scratch at the current time.
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Cease & Desist Letter Received

Personnaly I would consult a solicitor and see if it would be sensible to reply in the following manner.

Yes you sold a couple of items. But you no longer sell them as they were not popular.
No you dispute the infringement, you do not agree that the marks are passing off.
In any case you have no intention of re-stocking the items and suggest that they drop the matter.

The idea being to make them realise that there is no point in wasting money in continuing.

That was my initital thought, but the more I think about it, the more I think that they sent a standard letter asking the earth. Still contemplating options.

Mister B
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