A landlord has won the legal right to challenge a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) proposed by the Nero coffee shop group. Nero, which has over 800 shops in the UK, was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and had fallen into rent arrears at its shops. Mr Young was the landlord of one of the
Two financial services directors have been disqualified for continuing to trade and take money from clients while their company was insolvent. Paul Rossi was a director of Independent Derivative Traders Ltd. The company traded as ‘Futex’ and provided access to a financial markets trading platform for sub-contracted independent traders. He was joined in the management
The government is continuing its support for tenants to protect them from being evicted during the Covid-19 pandemic, even though lockdown restrictions have now been eased. As part of a phased approach back to normality, notice periods – previously extended to 6 months as an emergency measure during the pandemic – are now set at
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.