header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

The worst of both worlds

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
22 January 2016 / Sophie Belgrove , Alison Padfield
Issue: 7683 / Categories: Features , Commercial
printer mail-detail
nlj_7683_belgrovepadfield

Sophie Belgrove & Alison Padfield examine commercial agents

There is a category of self-employed commercial agents for whom the law provides protection on termination of their agency agreements, loosely analogous to unfair dismissal rights for employees. These are “commercial agents”, and the protection is provided by the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/3053) (the Regulations), which implement EC Directive 86/653 (the Directive). The purpose of the Directive and the Regulations is to provide protection for commercial agents, but there is an obvious tension between that purpose and freedom of contract in an otherwise commercial setting. This is explored in two recent Mercantile Court decisions concerning the agent’s rights on termination: Shearman v Hunter Boot Ltd [2014] EWHC 47 (QB), [2014] All ER (D) 144 (Jan) and Brand Studio Ltd v St John Knits, Inc [2015] EWHC 3143 (QB), [2015] All ER (D) 23 (Nov).

Agents

“Commercial agents” for the purposes of the Regulations are self-employed agents who negotiate the sale or purchase of goods on behalf of

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Pillsbury—Lord Garnier KC

Pillsbury—Lord Garnier KC

Appointment of former Solicitor General bolsters corporate investigations and white collar practice

Hall & Wilcox—Nigel Clark

Hall & Wilcox—Nigel Clark

Firm strengthens international strategy with hire of global relations consultant

Slater Heelis—Sylviane Kokouendo & Shazia Ashraf

Slater Heelis—Sylviane Kokouendo & Shazia Ashraf

Partner and associate join employment practice

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Law Society calls for clarity on AML
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
NLJ this week: Turning corporate liability into opportunity
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
NLJ this week: A prince no more?
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
NLJ this week: Shareholder secrecy sunk
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
NLJ this week: The expanding remit of national security law
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll