In addition, whether a person acts in the course of a business is a key element in establishing whether a person acquiring goods “deals as consumer”. This is important because the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 makes a distinction between the effect of exemption clauses in those cases where a person acquiring goods deals as consumer and in those where he does not.3 A person acquiring goods deals as consumer only if the supplier makes the contract to supply the goods in the course of a business and the person acquiring them does not make the contract in the course of a business nor hold himself out as doing so. In addition, the goods supplied must be of a type ordinarily supplied for private use or consumption.4

The issue of whether a person is acting in the course of a business generally concerns the supplier of goods, but the question of whether the acquirer of those goods acts in the course of a business is closely related. It is hard to disagree with the view of the Court of Appeal in R. & B. Customs Brokers Co. Ltd. v. United Dominions Trust Ltd.5 that the phrase “in the course of a business” must be given the same interpretation both in deciding whether the supplier is acting in the course of a business and in deciding whether the person acquiring the goods does so in the course of a business. Decisions on the first issue will therefore be treated as equally relevant to the determination of the second issue, and vice versa.