Companies in the UK have since the 1 January 2007 have been required include certain regulatory information on their websites and in their email footers or they will breach the Companies Act and risk a fine, warn Pinsent Masons, solicitors.

Every company should list its company registration number, place of registration, and registered office address on its website as a result of an update to the legislation of 1985 to implement a European law, the First Company Law Amendment Directive. The information, which must be in legible characters, should also appear on order forms and in emails. Such information is already required on "business letters" but the duty is being extended to websites, order forms and electronic documents.

The information should appear in the footer of every email sent from a company, to avoid having to decide whether each email amounts to a "business letter" or not. Many companies do this already because the term "business letters" was thought likely to include emails even without this new clarification.

For websites, contrary to the fears of some, the specified information does not need to appear on every page. Again, many websites will already list the required information, perhaps on their "About us" or "Legal info" pages.

Information that must be on your website

The following is the minimum information that must be on any company's website:

• The name, physical address and email address of your company. If the company name differs from a trading name this difference should be explained – e.g. "AB Solutions is the trading name of ABC Enterprises Limited."
• It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address and physical address somewhere easily accessible on the site. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice unless the registered office address is given. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included.
• If a limited company, the company's registration number should be given and, under the Companies Act, the place of registation should be stated (e.g. "ABC Enterprises Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 123456")
• If the business is a member of a trade or professional association such as REC, membership details, should be provided.
• If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e- commerce transactions.
• Prices on the website must be clear and unambiguous. Also, state whether prices are inclusive of tax and delivery costs.

For further information refer to OUT-LAW's guide, The UK's Ecommerce Regulations: http://www.out-law.com/page-431

Up until 1998 the tallest building status was essentially uncontested. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antennas excluded, the Sears Tower in Chicago was considered the tallest. When the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were built, controversy arose since the spire extended nine meters higher than the roof of the Sears Tower. Excluding the spire, the Petronas Towers are not taller than the Sears Tower. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) reduced the Sears Tower from world's tallest and pronounced it not second tallest, but third, and pronounced Petronas as world's tallest. This action caused a considerable amount of controversy, so CTBUH defined four categories in which the world's tallest building can be measured:

1. Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles)
2. Height to the highest occupied floor
3. Height to the top of the roof
4. Height to the top of antenna

The height is measured from the pavement level of the main entrance. In all of these categories, Sears Tower had held the second and third category. Petronas held the first and the original World Trade Towers held the fourth. Within months, however, a new antenna was placed on the Sears Tower, giving it hold of the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, the Taipei 101 in Taipei, was completed. Its completion gave it the world record for the first three categories.

Today, Taipei 101 leads in the first category with 509 m (1,671 ft); in the second category with an occupied floor at 439 m (1,441 ft); and in the third category with 449 m (1,474 ft). The first category was formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers with 452 m (1,483 ft), and before that by Sears Tower with 442 m (1,451 ft). The second and third categories were held by the Sears Tower, with 412 m (1,351 ft) and 442 m (1,451 ft) respectively.

The Sears Tower still leads in the fourth category with 527 m (1,729 ft), previously held by the World Trade Center until the extension of the Chicago tower's western broadcast antenna in 2000, over a year prior to the Trade Center's destruction in 2001. Its antenna included, 1 World Trade Center measured 526 m (1,727 ft). The World Trade Center became the world's tallest buildings to be demolished–indeed, its site entered the record books twice on September 11, 2001, in that category, replacing the Singer Building, which once stood a block from the WTC site.

The Ostankino Tower and the CN Tower are excluded from these categories because they are not "habitable buildings", which are defined as frame structures made with floors and walls throughout.

The DTI has announced that a worker's minimum annual holiday entitlement is due to increase to take account of public holidays. For a worker working 5 days per week, the increase will be from 20 to 28 days. DTI research indicates that 6 million workers stand to benefit from this increase.
The holiday entitlement will increase in two stages; from 20 to 24 days on 1 October 2007, and from 24 to 28 days on 1 October 2008. There will be a second round of public consultation on the implementation of these changes, which will close on 13 April 2007.
For more information go to www.dti.gov.uk/employment/holidays/index.html

National minimum wage - enforcement
The DTI recently announced a new policy to fine employers who pay their employees below the national minimum wage and who have failed to comply with an enforcement notice.
The DTI's policy outlines the penalty notice process and states that the penalty calculation will be based on twice the hourly amount of the national minimum wage in force at the relevant time. Employers could therefore face fines of over £200 for every worker receiving less than the national minimum wage, in addition to payment of arrears to the employees.

Flexible working
52% of men and 48% of women say they want to work more flexibly, according to recent research from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).
'Working outside the box' is a report of the EOC's investigation into transforming the workplace. The EOC notes that 6.5 million people in Britain could be using their skills more fully if greater flexible working opportunities were available.
The report does indicate that employers are beginning to change the traditional work culture. Flexitime and home working are becoming increasingly popular and new technology is encouraging a more innovative approach to work. In return, employers are reportedly benefiting from better staff engagement and raising productivity.

Don’t forget
1 February marked the annual increase in tribunal limits. This affects, amongst others, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal, which has increased from £58,400 to £60,600, and the maximum limit on a week's pay (used to calculate redundancy payments or the basic award for unfair dismissal), which has increased from £290 to £310.

arriviste: (noun) A person who has recently attained high position or great power but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart.
Synonyms: nouveau-riche, parvenu, upstart
Usage: The arriviste tried to gain acceptance into society through ostentatious displays of his newfound wealth, but his actions only inspired resentment

www.ukphoneinfo .com - The UK Telephone Code locator that includes area/map information

www.xe.com/ucc/ - Easy to use currency converter

www.bbc.co.uk/w eather and http://news.sky.com - I check the weather forecast and business news every morning using these sites.