We have extensive experience of advising businesses on standard terms of trading. This may involve the review and amendment of a business’ existing terms of sale/purchase, producing a set of terms from scratch or reviewing standard terms presented to a client by a prospective purchaser or supplier of goods/services.
Standard terms will typically deal with price, payment terms, time of delivery/performance, remedies for defective goods/services and late payment, and limitation of liability. The relative importance of these elements will depend among other things on whether a client is supplying or purchasing the goods/services in question and on the particular difficulties commonly encountered in that client’s industry. We act for businesses of all sizes in many different sectors, including security, food and drink, hospitality, manufacturing and automotive.
Given that standard terms are designed to achieve certainty from the outset of a business relationship and to avoid so far as possible the stress and expense of litigation, it is critically important that they are incorporated into a business’ contracts with its customers and/or suppliers. We regularly advise clients on the incorporation of terms and, where appropriate, will carry out an audit of a client’s sales/purchase paper trail.
