Commercial contracts for retail
From research and development to getting a product to market, robust agreements are critical to protecting your assets, reputation and bottom line. Whether dealing with straightforward terms and conditions of sale or complex bespoke partnership agreements, our team of commercially astute lawyers can advise on a wide range of contractual requirements.
- Industry experience – including four former in house lawyers and the experience gained from ten secondments.
- Expert advice – covering all areas of commercial law including joint ventures, manufacturer, agency & distribution, procurement, sponsorship agreements, licence agreements, concession agreements, supply, hire & leasing, consumer contracts, e-commerce and online auctions.
- Outsourcing experience – strategic approach to supplier appointment advising on outsourcing contracts and the complex issues that arise in respect of these arrangements such as KPIs, SLAs and transition.
- Consumer law – including advice on competitions, prize claims, data protection, distance selling and e-commerce clients – including blue chip multi-nationals, owner managed businesses and small and medium sized enterprises.
Featured experience
A credit card partnership
Advising on the co-branding of a credit card partnership between two leading financial services brands. We advised on the contractual arrangement and IP issues, and negotiated the agreement on behalf of our client.
A leading dairy company
Advising on agreements for the outsourcing of logistics for a leading dairy company in the UK at short notice. This was one of a number of agreements that we have looked at for our client, previously providing packaging, promotions and related sales advice. By taking the time to talk through the charging provisions under the agreements we were able to ensure that there our client was not required to pay twice for the same service and that the agreements would be robust in different situations (such as volumes being lower, commodity prices increasing, fuel/transport costs increasing, customer requirements changing) and ensuring that these scenarios had been tested before the agreement was finalised.
A pre-wholesaling and contract logistics company
Advised a pre-wholesaling and contract logistics company on the structuring of its pre-wholesaling arrangements. This involved ensuring that competition law wasn't breached and that agency and retention of title issues were dealt with properly. These agreements have since stood the test of a very challenging customer of our client’s (and their lawyers) who queried every aspect of the arrangements.
An international specialist insurer
Advising an international specialist insurer on the outsourcing of a number of key functions to third party providers. The objective was to create a series of precedent agreements to be used multiple times across a range of services, was FCA compliant, would protect our client, offer varying options for different service areas (claims handling, loss adjusting and other services), and for the proposed joint marketing and collaboration with other financial services providers. Our strong insurance sector background meant that we understood the services being outsourced, the practicalities of dealing with claims and writing policies, and dealing with the regulatory issues involved in the agreements.
Testimonials
"We have worked with this team for a number of years and as a result they have an excellent knowledge of our business. Their strengths include their speed of response to enquiries, commercial acumen, ability to translate technical legal language into relevant business information and their personable working style."
"The team have provided our business with bespoke training in some key legal matters important to our sales and marketing teams which was extremely valuable. I know they have upgraded their systems and technology recently."
Related expertise
Key contacts
Cat Driscoll
Partner
Richard Nicholas
Partner
Emma Roake
Partner
You may be interested in...
Statutory rights and a contractual option to renew: Caterpillar Property Limited & Anor v Park Cakes Limited
Tackling retail crime: What the Crime and Policing Act 2026 means for retailers
Property litigation 2026: Taking stock and looking ahead
The rise of agentic AI in retail
The rise of AI shopping: Is it the end of retailers’ direct relationship with customers?
Browne Jacobson advises SKIMS on lease of a landmark Regent Street store
Distribution in the UK and the EU
The M&S cyber attack: Lessons for UK retailers
The Post Office Horizon IT Scandal: How should organisations react when IT systems go wrong?
Commercial contracts: Top tips before signing on the dotted line
How to negotiate better ‘green’ provisions in your leases
How to manage retail sector supply contracts and avoid disputes
Browne Jacobson advise Sephora on its acquisition of Feelunique
Browne Jacobson’s corporate finance lawyers have advised omnichannel prestige beauty retailer Sephora on its acquisition of Feelunique.