2018 in preview: Vember Mortlock, Roythornes

The managing director of law firm Roythornes gives us her business predictions for 2018.

1. There will be a great deal of activity across all sectors to prepare for the introduction of GDPR from May 2018, with businesses getting to grips with increased levels of responsibility in terms of data control, management and transparency.

2. The ever-increasing use of social media and Cloud data storage means that many of interests – or at least access to them – are now digital or online. Traditional wills and the powers given to executors struggle with digital assets, whether a simple case of password protection or thornier issues relating to the true ownership of digital files. 2018 may see a greater consideration placed on digital estate ownership when it comes to succession and post-death entitlement.

3. For farm businesses, the current uncertainty around Brexit and future agricultural policy will continue. If DEFRA Secretary of State Michael Gove stays in place, we can expect big farm support cuts and radically different environmental schemes to be on the cards in 2018’s agriculture bill.