SME Sector
We are not just lawyers we are business owners who listen to help you solve the problem you need to talk to us about.
Fighting fraud for SMEs
We have been recognised as the best law firm to advice on fraud and financial crime for the SME sector by SME News in 2021 and 2022.
Fraudsters are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. They can be employees, suppliers or cybercriminals. Whichever they are, we have seen their ever-changing methods of defrauding unwary victims is a constant threat to business owners.
From when we started right through to today, Tenet had particular focus on supporting SMEs prevent, detect and respond to fraud.
Our experience allows us to understand that SMEs are built on the trust of customers, suppliers, employees and fellow owners/directors. Many SMEs benefit from agile practices with less red tape allowing the focus to be on innovation, growth and survival.
Unfortunately, our experience also shows that these factors have led to counter fraud controls either being bypassed or not having been put in place effectively leaving many in the SME sector particularly vulnerable to fraud.
Realising your business has fallen victim to fraud is a stressful emotional journey (especially if the perpetrator is an employee) which can be difficult to navigate through. We understand that a prompt and cost-effective response can be the difference to whether your business can survive.
Our expertise
- Authorised Push Payment Fraud (sometimes called “Money Diversion Fraud”)
- Fraud by employees and agents including diverting money for their own gain, invoice fraud and expenses fraud
- Procurement fraud where suppliers cause bid rigging through colluding with employees or knowingly overcharge
- Misappropriation of funds by directors/owners or directing business opportunities away from the business for their own interests
- Theft of confidential information such as customer lists, pricing lists or intellectual property
- Asset finance fraud
We help our clients make the best possible commercial choices when reacting to fraud as well as supporting their legal rights and financial recovery strategies. Our strength lies in getting to know our clients businesses – both their market and how they operate and what matters to them not just us saying what they should do . Without exception, our clients have all had very personal journeys when building their SMEs and they each face different pressures in deciding how to respond to fraud, or the threat of fraud.
At Tenet 95% of our work comes from recommendations because we offer tailored legal services individual to each client. We establish our clients’ needs from the start to understand the values and principles, business reputation and the time and money they have available when dealing with issues of fraud.
Financial and reputational loss can lead to business failure and in many cases, businesses cannot afford to fight the case. At Tenet our flexible business model allows us to deliver affordable legal advice for our niche area by lawyers with at least 4 years of experience in national law firms, whilst working hard to minimise disruption to the business and reduce the personal impact caused by fraud.
To discover more about the world of financial crime and fraud please see our Fraud Hub.
