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Setting up a business involves complying with a range of legal requirements. Find out which ones apply to you and your new enterprise.

What particular regulations do specific types of business (such as a hotel, or a printer, or a taxi firm) need to follow? We explain some of the key legal issues to consider for 200 types of business.

While poor governance can bring serious legal consequences, the law can also protect business owners and managers and help to prevent conflict.

Whether you want to raise finance, join forces with someone else, buy or sell a business, it pays to be aware of the legal implications.

From pay, hours and time off to discipline, grievance and hiring and firing employees, find out about your legal responsibilities as an employer.

Marketing matters. Marketing drives sales for businesses of all sizes by ensuring that customers think of their brand when they want to buy.

Commercial disputes can prove time-consuming, stressful and expensive, but having robust legal agreements can help to prevent them from occurring.

Whether your business owns or rents premises, your legal liabilities can be substantial. Commercial property law is complex, but you can avoid common pitfalls.

With information and sound advice, living up to your legal responsibilities to safeguard your employees, customers and visitors need not be difficult or costly.

As information technology continues to evolve, legislation must also change. It affects everything from data protection and online selling to internet policies for employees.

Intellectual property (IP) isn't solely relevant to larger businesses or those involved in developing innovative new products: all products have IP.

Knowing how and when you plan to sell or relinquish control of your business can help you to make better decisions and achieve the best possible outcome.

From bereavement, wills, inheritance, separation and divorce to selling a house, personal injury and traffic offences, learn more about your personal legal rights.

Revealed: the best place to run a business in the UK

4 August 2020

Belfast tops the list of the best cities in the UK for running your own business, according to new research on business costs.

Utility Bidder has studied a range of common business costs - from salaries and broadband fees to office rents - to find the cheapest and the most expensive places to run a business.

In the UK, the findings show that the most affordable cities for business owners are: Belfast, Liverpool, Southampton, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Aberdeen has the highest average annual salary at £35,000 outside London (at £37,000) while Liverpool has the lowest average salary at £26,000.

Belfast has the cheapest monthly internet cost at £28 a month, followed by Southampton and Glasgow (£29). Bristol, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and London have the highest monthly internet cost at £32.

Belfast has the cheapest average annual office cost per square foot at £34. Unsurprisingly, London has the most expensive business office occupancy costs, at an average of £113.20 per square foot.

For UK entrepreneurs thinking of expanding overseas or even relocating, the study of business costs around the world shows that the most affordable cities for businesses are: Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava and Helsinki. Belfast comes eighth in the global list.

Office space is most affordable in Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Valencia, Porto and Bratislava. The cheapest cities for salary are: Mexico City, Budapest, Warsaw, Porto and Prague.

Budapest offers the cheapest corporate taxes - at just 9%. But the UK's 19% corporation tax rate ensures that UK cities are in second place when it comes to low business taxes.

Overall, the most expensive cities are: San Francisco, New York, Tokyo, Boston and Geneva.

Written by Rachel Miller.

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