Do you have the right lease? by Philip Rowland, Adams and Remers LLP on 03-Oct-2011

S mall businesses come in many forms and can be run from many different places, but if you are renting your business premises, make sure you have a Secure Business Tenancy or you may run the risk of losing your business premises and your business when your lease ends warns Philip Rowland of Adams & Remers LLP.

"The news that the BBC Gardener’s World presenter Carol Klein has to close her nursery Glebe Cottage Plants due to the lease on the land she rented to run the business not being extended, should serve as a warning to other businesses to check the type of lease they have," comments Philip.

"If you have a Secure Business Tenancy, this means you have the automatic right to renew your lease when it runs out. Otherwise you can be asked to vacate the property without compensation."

"This can be especially detrimental where the tenant has built up substantial goodwill or passing trade at a property for a number of years, which can be lost on the whim of the landlord. For example, if you are running say a hairdressing business where the landlord decides not to renew at the end of the lease, the landlord could then sell a lease of the property to another hairdresser who could take a lot of the trade formerly enjoyed by the previous tenant."

"In the case of Carol Klein, the land is next door to her home and is therefore particularly convenient for running a business. It is also a difficult business to simply ‘uproot’ as space is needed to continue to grow the plants."

"My advice to anyone who may be in this position is to take legal advice when they first negotiate their lease to ensure they are fully aware of their rights so they can plan ahead for the future success of their business."

For more information, contact Philip Rowland of Adams & Remers LLP at: www.adams-remers.co.uk

Tweets by @biz_works