Food & drink lawyers
Despite challenges, it continues to be one of the most exciting and vibrant sectors in the country and one which is constantly evolving in response to issues including rapidly changing consumer expectations and behaviour, environmental and sustainability concerns, and a competitive supply chain, to name but a few.
We have extensive experience of working with clients from across the food and drink industry. As such, we have built up an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities the sector faces.
Our pragmatic outlook and business orientated approach means we can help businesses in the food and drink industry overcome the challenges they face, while our ability to keep looking one step ahead to anticipate and adapt to change, means we can help our clients take advantage of the opportunities ahead of them.
Our expert team can advise on the full scope of issues relevant to the food and drink industry, covering the complete breadth of legal services enabling us to take a holistic and commercially-focused approach.
Our Food and drink sector team is headed up by Alisa Sweeney.
We can offer solutions to the food and drink sector across a range of legal issues including:
- Real Estate
- Corporate & Commercial
- Dispute Resolution
- Employment
Real Estate
- Review and advise on transaction heads of terms
- Letting transactions for Landlords and Tenants to include advising on leases and all supplementary documentation
- Agreements for lease and exclusivity agreements
- Turnover rent arrangements
- Property sales and acquisitions
- Property portfolio asset management
- Property support work on corporate mergers and acquisitions
- General commercial property advice and support
- Advising farmers, estates, landowners and landowning trusts, tenants and developers in land sales and purchases, agricultural tenancies.
To watch a short video on how we help our food and drink clients click here.
Corporate & Commercial
- Terms and conditions of supply and purchase
- Distribution, logistics. haulage, agency and other forms of commercial agreements
- Competition law, marketing and advertising
- Intellectual property rights advice and licensing
- Data protection
- E-commerce and website terms
- Plant breeding and plant varieties rights advice and licensing
- General corporate affairs
- Shareholders’ and partnership agreements
- Joint ventures
- Corporate finance and other banking and finance arrangements
- Succession planning
- Mergers and acquisitions and group reorganisations and demergers
- Employee share incentive schemes.
Dispute Resolution
- Disputes with suppliers, manufacturers, traders, producers or other trade partners
- Insurance disputes
- Supply chain disputes
- Shareholder and Partnership disputes
- Commodity trade arbitrations involving grain, edible oils, sugar, coffee and other products
- Regulatory compliance and risk management
- Insolvency
- Shipping, warehousing and logistics disputes
- Intellectual property including brand protection, exploitation, and reputational issues
- Real Estate Disputes including landlord and tenant issues, lease renewal procedures under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, resolving issues relating to easements. such as rights of way and advising on restrictive covenants relating to the use of land and buildings
- Contentious planning and environmental disputes
- Health & safety and defence of criminal investigations, prosecutions and inquests
- Arbitration hearings
- Providing specialist planning advice where needed
- Advising on and negotiating terms of engagement for the construction team and the full suite of documentation required on projects.
Employment
- Employment advice and support on all aspects of employment law, including Agency Worker Regulations, TUPE issues and minimum wage compliance
- Audits of employment contracts and policies
- Annual fixed price subscription available, giving you certainty on costs
- Collaborative and constructive resolution of employment and workplace disputes
- Bespoke employment law training for managers
- Advising on post-termination restrictive covenants and protection of confidential information and IP
- Supporting you when dealing with disciplinary, grievance and other staffing issues
- Carrying out negotiations and preparing settlement agreements
- Advice and support in defending employment tribunal claims, ranging from unfair dismissal and discrimination to whistle blowing claims
- Employment insurance protection.