Retail

Our areas of specialism include:

• Commercial contracts – including procurement and supply, agency and distribution arrangements, outsourcing, merchandising and franchising arrangements.
• Technology and e/mCommerce – as a firm we have particular expertise in technology, and provide innovative solutions to the legal obstacles posed by the use of new technologies by retailers including online technical facilities, digital currencies, wearable technology, as well as ensuring a retailer’s online terms comply with relevant consumer regulations.
• Employment and workforce issues – we act for various retail clients regularly providing legal and strategic advice to HR professionals and senior management, dealing with issues as they arise in the workplace. We also provide appropriate employment contracts and policies, and deal with restructures and redundancies.
• Data protection – our data protection team can advise on the numerous data issues which arise in an ever-growing e-marketplace, including preparing policies and procedures, advising on international data transfers, data analytics, marketing by SMS and other new media, and responding to data subject access requests.
• Retail property – we manage property portfolios for numerous household name retailers, and regularly advise on pre-let agreements, fit outs (including complex fit outs), dilapidations, lease renewal, and underleases/assignments.
• Reputation management – we are highly experienced in protecting the reputations of corporates and brands from diverse risks, both within the media and from other quarters in the UK and elsewhere. This includes dealing not only with investigative journalists but also consumer affairs programmes, activist campaigns and disgruntled ex-employees. We also advise various high profile individuals on the creation and developments of their brand identity and the associated reshaping of their public image.
• Corporate transactions – we act for various retail clients on acquisitions and disposals, shareholder arrangements and joint ventures.
• Start-ups and venture capital – we have a strong reputation in advising retail start-ups from seed fundraising right through to exit events. We are also actively involved in programmes and initiatives to support and promote early stage investment, including in the ‘Tech City’ area and wearable technology.
• Brand management – we are specialists in all aspects of brand management and offer a complete legal service to retail brands. We are specialists on comparative advertising, influencer marketing, brand protection, copy clearance, defamation, image rights, competitions and promotions, contract negotiation and regulatory advice. The team has particular experience advising on sponsorship matters and continue to be retained by a number of the most proactive and innovative global brands.
• IP – we are true IP specialists and provide advice on the full life cycle of a brand. Our IP team is integrated with our consumer, data protection, advertising and reputation management specialist groups in order to cover all aspects of brand protection.

We also advise on:

• Consumer protection legislation
• Litigation and disputes

Wolford London

We have acted for Wolford for many years, regularly advising the company in relation to day-to-day employment law issues arising in the workplace, including dealing with all employment contracts, policies and procedures. We have also advised Wolford, from a UK compliance perspective, in relation to its e-commerce website documentation including its e-commerce sale terms, data protection policy and disclaimers. We also act for Wolford on property matters including lease renewals, the surrender of the lease of an existing store and portfolio management, including advice on rent review.

Victoria Beckham Limited

We advised long-standing client Victoria Beckham Limited on a transformative investment from private equity firm NEO Investment Partners into Victoria Beckham’s luxury fashion brand. The transaction also involved negotiation of a debt facility. We advised on all aspects of the transaction including the investment and debt arrangements, intra-group reorganisation and employment agreements. The deal involved specialists from across the firm.

Doubledownies Limited

We were instructed by Becky and Ellie Downie, the British Olympic gymnasts, in relation to the launch of their ‘Double Downies’ leotard collection. This included trade mark advice, strategic advice in relation to the establishment of their new business, corporate advice and the negotiation of their design and manufacturing agreement with Milano Pro Sport.

Pronovias UK Limited

Pronovias is an internationally renowned firm that sells wedding dresses in more than 105 countries through a network of 123 stores and more than 4,000 points of sale. We assisted Provonias in relation to bringing ecommerce solutions to the UK. This included drafting the website Terms of Use, providing Data Protection advice and also providing more general commercial advice.

IMO Car Wash/International Car Wash Group

We continue to act for IMO Car Wash, the largest car wash operator in Europe, in respect of various property, employment, commercial and data protection matters. Our recent work for IMO includes advising on lease renewals with Tesco and ASDA.

Investor Syndicates (SPVs for each acquisition)

We acted for a number of investors using SPVs on various sales, including the sale of a shopping centre consisting of 30 retail units, the acquisition of a parade of retail shops in Worcestershire and a shopping centre in Wales.

We’ve also advised:

• Pets at Home – in relation to a reputational issue after being featured on the BBC’s Watchdog programme
• Raft Furniture Limited – in relation to their lease at Westfield
• Puttshack, a new indoor mini golf experience at Westfield – we advised on investment rounds and trade mark registrations