Else Solicitors: How we saved a health spa £770K in lease deal

LISA Winfield, commercial property solicitor at Birmingham-based Else Solicitors reveals how the firm saved one of its clients from a potential liability of £770k after re-negotiating its commercial lease deal.

Else Solicitors has saved one of our clients from a potential liability of £770k after re-negotiating its commercial lease deal.

Our firm, which has offices in Birmingham city centre, was asked to oversee the business purchase and premises rental of London-based spa Hydro Healing.

The landlord of the premises, situated in Notting Hill, had requested that the director of the tenant company pay a 15-year personal guarantee on the property, equating to a potential liability of £825k.

The landlord also wanted the purchasing company to be responsible for structural repairs to the building, even though it would only be renting part of the property.

Following discussions with the landlord’s representatives, Else’s commercial property solicitors successfully renegotiated the personal guarantee, getting it reduced to cover just one year.

The Else team also managed to ensure that the tenant would only be responsible for internal maintenance of the building, and not structural repairs.

Hydro Healing director Layla Powell said: “Buying my first business was not only the best moment in my life, but it was also the most stressful time I have ever experienced.

“It was made better by the support of my solicitors from Else, who were always just a phone call away to advise me, help, and answer any questions or concerns I had.”

The lease that was originally offered to the client was, in our view, unacceptable.

Our advice ensured that the client was given a fair deal, saving her a large amount of money.

Else’s dedicated commercial property team, led by Peter Fox, works with a broad range of businesses and individuals. These include tenants, landlords, retailers, property developers, investors, entrepreneurs, surveyors, and a variety of other private and public companies of all sizes.

Else was established in 2003 and is an award-winning commercial law firm that operates across the UK. 

We also specialise in corporate law, dispute resolution, commercial debt recovery, HR and employment law.