Outsourcing is as important as selling for organisations, as it has a direct impact not only on profitability, but also on the organisation's ability to adapt to what is still a volatile global economic environment.

We reported in our last edition of VC Inform on the appointment of Hermes Private Equity and the European Investment Fund as the fund of fund managers allocated funding by the UK Government as part of the UK Innovation Investment Fund (UKIIF).

Swedish Internet café giant Global Gaming Factory (GGF) offered to buy notorious file sharing website The Pirate Bay for 60 million kronor (£4.72m) in June this year.

A laptop containing the details of 109,000 pension scheme members has been stolen from the offices of NorthgateArinso in Marlow in Buckinghamshire.

As with the current London Plan, it is intended that the new Plan once adopted will enure for a 21 year period. However, as we have already seen when major changes occur, either politically or policy based, the Plan will be altered or even replaced.

The recent decision of “William Hare Limited v Shepherd Construction Limited [2009] EWHC 1603 (TCC”) serves as a stark reminder that bespoke contracts need to be revised regularly rather than seen as a finished product and never revisited.

Under the old rules affecting UK resident non-UK domiciled individuals, it was not possible for a UK resident non domiciled person claiming the remittance basis (the client) to offset losses on his or her foreign assets against gains on his or her foreign assets.

The recent case of KG Bominflot Bunkergesellschaft fur Mineralole mbH & Co Kg v Petroplus Marketing AG [2009] EWHC 1088 (Comm) has addressed the exclusion of implied conditions in a commercial contract. The case highlights that for an implied term to be excluded it must be properly defined.

The European Parliament has approved sweeping reforms to strengthen competition and consumer rights in Europe's telecoms markets.

No one can fail to have noticed the deluge of disastrous economic news exemplified by the descent of the value of Sterling and the steady stream of companies going into or teetering on the brink of administration.

In the case of Patchett and another v. Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association Limited [2009] EWCA Civ 717 the Court of Appeal dismissed a claim by Gary and Karen Patchett that they had been mislead by the website terms of the Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association (SPATA) having chosen Crown Pools Limited to install a pool on the strength of the SPATA "member finder" terms.

The High Court in the recent case of "The Codemasters Software Co. Ltd v Automobile Club De L'Ouest [2009] EWHC 2361" construed an indemnity clause against third party claims in a license agreement in favour of the licensee, a computer games company.

The High Court's decision in "Infection Control Enterprises Ltd (ICEL) v Virrage Industries Ltd (Virrage) [2009] EWHC 2602" confirms that where work is commissioned and the contract does not contain terms detailing how and when copyright in the commissioned work passes to the commissioning party, the courts will not imply an assignment of copyright where only a non-exclusive licence is necessary.

There has been much discussion in recent months about Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) and whether they are beneficial to the construction industry.

When Mark Twain said death and taxes are always with us, he was only half right. Speechly Bircham has devised a new way of avoiding inheritance tax (IHT) which can potentially reduce the tax bill to nil

Balls of Kryptonite, LLC (www.bitesizedeals.co.uk and www.bestpricebrands.co.uk) have recently been investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and forced to change their website privacy policy and business terms in order to comply with internet business laws as well as remove suggestions that the company complied with the US Safe Harbor Program in relation to transfers of personal data.

In our July 2008 Inform we discussed the new Practice Guide to PPS25 issued to offer guidance on how to implement the PPS25 development and flood risk policies.

Here is a brief summary of recent cases we think are of particular interest.

Here is a brief summary of recent cases we think are of particular interest.

The government has launched a consultation seeking views on the future of the Edited Electoral Register (the Edited Register).