Your Startup, Your Pie: Legal Essentials for UK Food & Beverage Founders

If you're launching or scaling a UK-based Food & Beverage (fast-moving consumer goods) business, this plain-English webinar will guide you through the legal must-knows that could save you time, money, and stress. Learn what to protect, what to document, and how to build a legally solid foundation for growth and exit.

What We'll Cover:
Bake the Pie – Lay Your Legal Foundations
1. Trademarks & Slogans
Protect your brand before you promote it

• Register your name, logo, and slogan early
• Search UKIPO and Companies House before investing
• Consider international filings

2. Packaging & Labels
Compliance that sells

• Include required details (e.g. allergens, expiry)
• Avoid misleading marketing claims
• Follow sector-specific rules

3. Manufacturing Agreements
Put it in writing, even for small-batch runs

• Cover pricing, quality control, delivery, IP ownership
• Add protection clauses for delays or defects

Slice the Pie – Share Ownership, Protect Relationships
4. Founders’ Agreements
Avoid drama later. Agree now.

• Decide roles, equity splits, and exit terms
• Use vesting to align commitment

5. Investment
Prepare to pitch and protect

• Have your IP, contracts, and cap table investor-ready
• Understand term sheets and shareholder rights

6. Options & Incentivisation
Equity isn’t just for founders

• Use EMI schemes for tax-efficient team incentives
• Define vesting and exit terms

Sell the Pie – Sell Smart, Scale Smart
7. B2C Documentation
Protect your online store and your customers

• Get terms of sale, returns, privacy policy, cookie banner
• Follow UK consumer law and GDPR

8. Distribution & Wholesale Agreements
Expand beyond DTC without losing control

• Set clear terms for exclusivity, territory, payment
• Avoid restrictive clauses or auto-renewals

9. Selling the Business
Built it right? Sell it right.

• Be due diligence-ready from day one
• Know the documents: SPA, warranties, disclosure letter
• Understand your exit obligations

Meet the Speaker: Michael Buckworth, the founder of Buckworths and author of Built on Rock, the entrepreneur's legal guide to start-up success. Advising on the risks and pitfalls to avoid when setting up your own business, this book makes the complicated aspects of start-up law simple. Chapter one is now available to download for free, click here to find out how to build your business on rock.