The government is introducing new legislation to target company directors who dissolve their businesses for their own gain and leave staff or taxpayers out of pocket. The Insolvency Service will be given powers to investigate directors of companies that have been dissolved, closing a legal loophole and acting as a strong deterrent against the misuse
A commercial landlord has won a dispute over unpaid rent of more than £166,000 despite the tenant citing Covid-19 as the reason for its failure to pay. The case involved Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft MBH and TFS Stores Ltd. Commerz was the leasehold owner of the Westfield Shopping Centre. TFS was the tenant of one of
A hotelier has lost an appeal over court costs because of uncertainty over how the Covid pandemic would affect its business. The case involved Engie Power Ltd, which supplied electricity to a hotel owned by Douglas Hospitality Ltd. A dispute arose after Engie cut off the supply in October 2019. Douglas claimed this was unlawful
Creditors of the Café Nero chain have been granted the right to an expedited trial to enable them to recover full compensation for unpaid rents. The case involved several commercial landlords who were challenging the validity of the way Nero had entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) after being adversely affected by the Covid-19
A company has been told that it is two years too late to apply to rescind a winding up order against it. The fact that the delay had been caused by a shareholder negotiating to pay its debts was not a good reason for breach of the time limit. The case involved Sarjanda Ltd and
The government has introduced its new Model Tenancy Agreement making it easier for tenants with well-behaved pets to secure leases. It means that landlords will no longer be able to issue blanket bans on pets. Instead, consent will be the default position, and landlords will have to object in writing within 28 days of a
While it is still too soon for any certainty and teething problems are likely to persist, it is possible to speculate and draw some current conclusions on the effect of Brexit on some areas of UK legal practice.
A commercial tenant has been refused permission to re-amend its defence to a service charge claim four weeks before trial. The court ruled that although the new defences had reasonable prospects of success, they could have been pleaded earlier and there was no good reason for the delay. The issue arose because the tenant refused