If you are a fan of Marmite or Hellman's mayonnaise, you may recall a brief dispute that broke out between Tesco and Unilever in late 2016 which led to the supermarket temporarily

While certain changes are already in place as a result of Brexit, we can expect a continuous stream of legislative reform that will affect businesses and their commercial contracts.

The Brexit transition period deadline is drawing closer and yet the future is still very unclear. Whilst the UK government is telling UK businesses to prepare for Brexit, the lack of clarity on what the future holds has left many business leaders in a state of limbo. However, the business which can react, adapt and change quickly will be the business that survives and thrives.

If you are one of the thousands of business owners in the UK who have had to adapt during the past couple of months to survive the coronavirus pandemic, then it is likely that some of your contractual arrangements may not have kept pace with all the changes you have made.

With the business world in turmoil due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus and our determined efforts to bring it under control, company directors need to proceed with caution over the coming weeks and months to ensure that decisions made under pressure can be justified and that they stand up to scrutiny in the event they are subsequently challenged.

If getting paid on time is a growing problem for your business, is it time that you reviewed your invoices and terms and conditions to ensure that they are not leaving you open to the risk of bad debt?

When you extend credit to a customer it is very easy to forget that it is the same as handing over cash. In order to preserve and protect the financial health of your business, it is vitally important to ensure that you regularly review and update your contractual terms with your customers, suppliers and contractors. This will ensure that your contractual relationships grow and adapt alongside your business. A new business, of course, will do very well to have a robust set of terms and conditions at the outset.

Organisational change is rarely easy, whether this is the implantation of a new IT system, rebranding or cultural change such as improving diversity within a workforce. It is time-consuming for senior management, requiring a diversion from 'business as usual' and may require skills or experience which are not available within the business.

Once signed, a contract represents a formal record of the agreement made between you and your customer. The obligations under that agreement are often absolute, with any failure to satisfy them will be considered a breach of contract which could result in a dispute, and considerable expense.

After years of hard work building up a business, the prospect of selling it on to another company or the current management team will be the light at the end of the tunnel. Unless you are a serial entrepreneur, a more leisurely life is ahead when the stresses and strains of running a business will be behind you.