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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Angel" data-source="post: 4557" data-attributes="member: 980">4.   UK High Street RetailThe Story: High street retail is facing its toughest climate in years. Reports this week state that 14 shops close each day. The autumn budget acknowledged that Brits have embraced internet shopping like almost no other nation. Perhaps its convenience appeals to Brits most as they work some of the longest hours in Europe.Impact on businesses: The increased demand for online retail is good for businesses because the costs of selling online are generally 10-20% below high street retailers. However, for high street retailers this means store closures. It is estimated that 40% of the current retail space will become surplus. This will affect property owners because shops won’t need to lease as much space. This lack of demand could decrease property prices and increase the residential property market in high street locations. John Lewis’ new Croydon store only required a 3rd of the space of their traditional stores.If high street retailers decide to omni-channel (have a combined online and high street presence) they need to manage costs carefully. Store closures will reduce overhead costs but also lose sales from that store. M&S decided to close 100 stores and focus on the most successful parts of the business namely food. Supermarket retail does not seem to be as advanced in terms of online presence vs high street retailers, probably because the process is quite complex and costly, making food deliveries more of a luxury way to shop. PoundWorld, unable to change with the shifting climate, is one of the companies struggling most.For startups, consumer growth in online retail is great news. They can cut entry costs by going straight online. They also do not have to worry about legacy costs like high street retailers such as high rent, wages and heating. However, low entry costs mean more competition which is why many new fashion lines go under.Impact on law firms:An increased demand for restructuring seems inevitable as the high street crisis shows no sign of slowing. Loss of profit will mean high street businesses will be unable to pay overheads and other debts owed to creditors and investors. This may particularly affect privately-owned businesses like Toys R Us which tend to have a lot of debt on their balance sheet. As the high street adapts legal assistance with takeovers and mergers will increase for example House of Fraser and more recently Sainsbury’s. An increasing need for property lawyers is also likely to deal with tenants unable to pay leases and a shift in the property market from retail to residential.The demand for competition law could rise if the high street were to deteriorate to such an extent that online retailers lacked competition. Although, reliable surveys show demand for high street retail will continue but to a lesser extent so the loss of the high street as a competitor all together seems very unlikely.Contributed by: Flora ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5. Smart ContractsThe Story: Adding to the list of technological advancements in today’s commercial landscape are smart contracts. These are automated contracts that use blockchain technology to log and execute transactions without the need for any human intervention. Just this week, Change Healthcare made an announcement to collaborate with software provider company, TIBCO, to create a smart contract system to automate healthcare technology. Change Healthcare is a US-based conglomerate that primarily operates as an information exchange intermediary to connect providers, patients and payers in the US healthcare industry. This would allow personal health records to be encoded and stored on the blockchain with a private key to grant access to specific individuals. Other data such as surgery receipts, testing results, drug prescription… etc, could be stored on the ledger and be sent to the relevant parties as such insurance providers. Indeed, this isn’t breaking news nor is it surprising to anyone anymore. However, it does show how technology is leveraging itself across many industries. With the advantages of smart contracts (see below), it will likely not be long before other sectors, such as the government or those in the management industry adopt this automation. Impact on businesses and law firms:To businesses, smart contracts have the potential to increase commercial efficiency by reducing transactional costs such as legal and administrative fees to draft a contract. It provides autonomy by reducing the need for intermediaries to create the contract, it is quick because it reduces the time needed for paperwork, and it is safe since the encryption of data prevents hacking. Now, this can either be an opportunity law firms to burgeon in the tech sector, or it could be a risk, towards the unprepared, to lose their competitive advantage in the industry especially when clients are so heavily invested in this area today. To the former, lawyers will be in market to deal with the enforceability of smart contracts, in cases of a breach of smart contracts, because there will be uncertainty as to whether traditional contractual principles (requirements of offer, acceptance, consideration, intention and privity) applies to smart contracts. If they don’t, what will? Contributed by: Angel ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That’s all for this week’s update. We hope you found it useful. Thank you and stay tuned for more! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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