Never a Bad Time to Review Business Contracts
Never a Bad Time to Review Business Contracts
Are Your Contracts Prepared for Brexit?
A few weeks ago I wrote about Brexit and the changes that might bring.
But we cannot forget Covid-19 either. At the time of writing parts of northern England seem to be going into semi-lockdown, though the infection rates in our own area remain, by comparison at least, relatively low.
Has there ever been a time when two such major disruptors hit us at the same time? Certainly not recently.
There is an argument, of course, that it’s all a bit too late. If you haven’t done something already, you have missed the boat. Or so the argument goes.
In some cases this will be right. Long term existing contracts may be difficult to renegotiate. But you can always review your standard terms, and difficult times may make people more willing to consider things that they might previously not have considered if perhaps they will secure an important relationship. There may also be other ways to mitigate risks.
So what might you be looking at?
There is always a wider picture, but in terms of Brexit and Covid-19 what contracts might you be looking at and at what areas?
Most contracts really: from logistics to facilities management, to IT contracts.
But perhaps the key areas will be the contracts you have with your main suppliers and with your customers.
What happens if one of those suppliers or customers were to get into financial difficulty, or they failed to perform in some way?
- What would the knock-on effect be?
- What do the existing terms say?
- And how might you mitigate some of that risk?
If you are giving customers credit you may want to update credit checks and review credit limits.
Do you need to look for directors of some customers to guarantee payment?
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How Kerseys Can Help
If you require assistance in reviewing your contractual commitments and negotiating new terms, contact me [email protected] Ipswich 01473 213311 or Colchester 01206 584584.
