News & Legal Updates

Imagine the following scenario: A lorry driver parks up beside his employer’s yard, urinates on some trays belonging to his employer. This footage is caught on CCTV camera. The employer notes that the gents’ toilets were only two minutes away from the site. The employee is dismissed on the basis of gross misconduct. Sounds like … Continue reading "Investigating Misconduct: A “Wee” Bit More Investigation Required"

The Scottish Land Commission (SLC), set up under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, has issued two new protocols for private trusts and charities owning land, including buildings and land covered by water and will apply to rural and urban settings. The protocols set out practical expectations on trustees and land managers to manage land … Continue reading "Scottish Land Commission announces new protocols for trusts and charities owning land in Scotland"

As the Covid-19 crisis continues, you could be forgiven for thinking that farmers are not affected in any major way. For those of us who live in the countryside, in the first stages of lockdown, farm traffic was often the only movement seen on the roads. It would appear to most that farmers, who already … Continue reading "Covid-19, business as usual on the farm?"

UK Government release “Code of Practice for commercial property relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic” Businesses across the world are still coming to terms with the impact COVID-19 and desperately trying to minimise any long-term damage to trading. In terms of landlords and tenants, landlords face the challenge of having to continue to pay overheads such … Continue reading "Road to Recovery: Collaboration and Mutual Solutions for Landlords & Tenants"

Farming has for the most part carried on as usual during lockdown, but diversified business like cafes and activity centres have been restricted and will now be looking to reopening as we progress through phase 2. Farm shops have been able to open as an essential service throughout and many have worked so hard to … Continue reading "Farm cafes will soon start to reopen for outdoor then indoor service"

Pharmacy – At the beginning of lockdown our pharmacy clients experienced one of their busiest periods ever with some owners recruiting family members to step in and help with the huge workload. Despite the significant health risks, our clients’ teams worked tirelessly and delivered for their local communities. Whilst facing the challenges lockdown produced, such … Continue reading "Update from our healthcare specialist team"

The stage three debate for the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill took place in the Scottish Parliament on the 17th of June. Once enacted, the legislation will make several changes to the law relating to animals in Scotland. Several of those changes will be of note to land and rural business … Continue reading "Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) Bill"

I write this in week 12 of being a furloughed worker. Going from full time solicitor to full time stay at home parent to two pre-school children was a little daunting, but frankly a lot less stressful than trying to work full time with no childcare help at all. I take my hat off to … Continue reading "Furlough on the Farm"

It is now three months since all Scottish house builders had to down tools, mothball their sites and either furlough their staff or ask them to work remotely from home. During that time, the industry has shown itself in a very good light. There have been numerous examples of the absolute best practice being shown. … Continue reading "The re-starting of the Scottish housing market and it’s impact on house builders"

Following on from Rishi Sunak’s latest announcement about changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”), HMRC has updated its guidance on how the furlough arrangements are to work from 1 July 2020 onwards. Employees can perform work from 1 July One of the fundamental aspects of the CJRS as we knew it was the … Continue reading "Another Change to the Job Retention Scheme: FFS (Flexible Furlough Scheme) – changes from 1 July 2020"