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The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the liabilities arise in the UK-based parent company for wrongdoings of its overseas subsidiaries, especially under law of tort.

Qualitative methods have been used in this paper, using both primary and secondary data, i.e. Books, case Laws, legislations, international laws and journal articles.

The English Courts are, now, more broadly accepting the allegations against the UK-based parent companies for the actions of its subsidiaries, especially by improving the access to the remedy in the UK for foreign victims of corporate related harms, though concern remains in the case of criminal liabilities. Additionally, in case of the civil litigations, the early settlement of a dispute is also causing pressure to the victim by liming the wider deterrent effect.

This paper will help the lawyers and academic in the field of international corporate law, especially in the tortious claim of an overseas victim in the UK Court. Moreover, this paper identifies the lack of proper legislative guidance in this field.

This paper aims to critically explore the challenges facing the UK in implementing registers of beneficial owners, a measure mandated by the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) directive to enhance beneficial ownership transparency.

This study systematically reviews the literature surrounding beneficial ownership transparency to critically analyse the extent to which challenges facing the UK, impact upon its ability to successfully implement registers of beneficial owners.

This study demonstrates that a lack of beneficial ownership transparency facilitates money laundering by concealing corrupt wealth and frustrating authorities’ efforts to trace illicit finance. It demonstrates that implementing registers of beneficial owners may be a superficial approach to tackling the multifaceted problem of money laundering. Better intergovernmental cooperation is required to improve beneficial ownership transparency and to ensure measures to curb offshore money laundering are successful.

This research focuses on one aspect of AML control from the UK’s perspective. Further work is needed to investigate the concerns from the perspective of offshore jurisdictions and how global AML rule affects developing economies.

The study informs policymakers and other professionals implementing the UK’s registers of beneficial owners to enhance future strategies and better combat offshore money laundering.

This is the only study to explore the challenges facing the UK in implementing registers of beneficial owners, thus providing novel insight into the moral, legal and practical dilemmas to imposing AML control.

This paper aims to examine the UK’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) policies under Margaret Thatcher’s era in the 1980s, with a view to understand the success stories, historical development and the structures of Chinese family business through a case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd.

The authors have achieved the objective on the study of the SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher through critical evaluation of the historical literatures, books, journals and newspapers. The study on overseas Chinese business and the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. is mainly through the research of the Chinese overseas in the UK and Southeast Asia, and the companies report from the Companies House in the UK. The authors have used the latest 2011 UK Census statistics and academic reports to locate the most current demographic changes and Chinese business characteristics in the UK and the Northeast of England.

First, the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher were quite receptive towards the ethnic business. Second, the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. indicates that family business networks are still one of the characteristics of Chinese business. Finally, the broader UK’s SMEs policies play an important role in this case study.

The authors provide a tentative linkage between the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher and Chinese family business. In addition, the case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd. improves the current understanding of Chinese family business with a clearer picture about their structure, practice, characteristics and development.

A case study is given of International Distillers & Vintners (UK) Limited (IDV (UK)) and an assessment made of the viability of translating theory into practice in the real world – the importance of having a strategy, of strategic planning, and having a success factor as a key component of an organisation′s competitive advantage. Following the appointment of a new managing director at IDV (UK) in 1982, three goals were established: (1) to more than double profits within five years; (2) to increase return on capital employed by almost 50 per cent within five years; and (3) to be the outstanding wine and spirit company in the UK. A sound strategy was required to achieve these goals. The historic background of the organisation is given and the strategic position of IDV (UK) in relation to its competitors and market share is described. A review of the state of the market is given and possible areas for expansion discussed. The quality and pedigree of certain brands and the quality and strength of leadership are proposed as the success factors upon which IDV (UK) could build. Details are given of how the organisation built upon these factors to achieve strategic success; the lessons learned; and the level of achievement and success in the marketplace.

The stagnation in the position of female directorships in the UK’s FTSE 100 companies appears to be very slowly changing. After a review of previous research on women directors, this paper reports the statistics on women directors in the top 100 listed companies. The paper comments on the findings regarding companies with women directors, female directorships and the women holding those directorships. It reviews the backgrounds (demographic profiles including age, education, marital status and children; corporate experience, international experience, etc.) of the top women executive directors. The paper also examines the minority of top companies with women executive directors, to see how their particular characteristics and contingencies (e.g. sector, chairmen, CEO and board demographics) may have influenced the environment as incubators for these successful women. The paper considers the findings through several theoretical lenses for explanations of the results, and conclude by commenting on the progress being made in other European countries.

This paper offers a preliminary exploration of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues being addressed and reported by some of the UK's leading construction companies.

The paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics and origins of CSR and this is followed by a brief outline of the construction industry and some of the challenges it is currently facing. The empirical information for the paper is drawn from the CSR reports and information posted on the world wide web by some of the leading construction companies.

The findings reveal substantial variations in the nature and the extent of reporting. The paper specifically focuses upon six sets of CSR issues namely those relating to environment; health and safety; human resources; supply chain management; customers and communities; and governance and ethics. More generally the paper suggests that although construction companies report their recognition of the importance of CSR and their commitment to integrate it within their businesses they make relatively limited use of key performance Indicators and have low participation rates in general benchmarking exercises.

The paper provides an accessible review of the CSR issues and agendas being reported by some of the UK's leading construction companies and as such it will interest academics and practitioners working in the construction industry and those professionals who work with the construction industry.

The British Government is driven by the concept of value for money and is seeking ways in which to fund projects in the public sector. In the defence sector, this is resulting in the formation of public‐private partnerships and a close working relationship between the Government and defence companies. As well as placing the UK’s defence capability within the context of national security, it also needs to be placed within the context of the Government’s foreign policy which is focused on international conflict prevention. The UK Government remains committed to encouraging international collaboration as this should witness technology transfer from the defence sector to the civil sector. Makes reference to nine factors which underlie collaboration in the defence sector and draws on the expertise of defence sector experts who provide insights into the defence industry. Refers to a postal survey which was undertaken in 1999 in order to establish which areas of defence management would receive increased attention in both the short term and the long term. Finally, highlights the Executive Intelligence Alliance Policy and Strategy (EIAPS) Charter which can be used by defence company personnel as a framework to develop long‐term working relationships with other defence companies, government departments and universities.

International franchising has proved a valuable strategic option in the overseas expansion of British mixed retailing businesses. It offers the opportunity to gain access to overseas markets with minimal investment and high returns. For Marks & Spencer, one of the UK′s leading retailers, the franchising group acts in a pioneering role.

Background: Commodity-driven deforestation is a major driver of forest loss worldwide, and globalisation has increased the disconnect between producer and consumer countries. Recent due-diligence legislation aiming to improve supply chain sustainability covers major forest-risk commodities. However, the evidence base for specific commodities included within policy needs assessing to ensure effective reduction of embedded deforestation.

Methods: We conducted a rapid evidence synthesis in October 2020 using three databases; Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus, to assess the literature and identify commodities with the highest deforestation risk linked to UK imports. Inclusion criteria include publication in the past 10 years and studies that didn't link commodity consumption to impacts or to the UK were excluded. The development of a review protocol was used to minimise bias and critical appraisal of underlying data and methods in studies was conducted in order to assess the uncertainties around results.

Results: From a total of 318 results, 17 studies were included in the final synthesis. These studies used various methodologies and input data, yet there is broad alignment on commodities, confirming that those included in due diligence legislation have a high deforestation risk. Soy, palm oil, and beef were identified as critical, with their production being concentrated in just a few global locations. However, there are also emerging commodities that have a high deforestation risk but are not included in legislation, such as sugar and coffee. These commodities are much less extensively studied in the literature and may warrant further research and consideration.

Conclusion: Policy recommendations in the selected studies suggests further strengthening of the UK due diligence legislation is needed. In particular, the provision of incentives for uptake of policies and wider stakeholder engagement, as well as continual review of commodities included to ensure a reduction in the UK's overseas deforestation footprint.