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Boots loses Christmas court case
Landlord and tenant relations at Manchester's Trafford Centre have been rather lacking in Christmas spirit this year after Boots launched an unsuccessful law suit against the landlord over the cost of Christmas decorations.
By Graham Parker, property editor
Boots has failed in its bid to reduce its share of the bill for Christmas decorations, entertainment and Santa's Grotto at The Trafford Centre in Manchester. The retailer had claime
But in a judgement that will reverberate around the shopping centre industry Mr Justice Morgan disagreed and found in favour of The Trafford Centre on all four counts. Boots was ordered to pay The Trafford Centre's legal costs and was also refused the right to appeal against the outcome.
In his summing up the judge said: “You can distinguish promotion of the Centre from the benefit to a customer of an attraction service, and amenity. Entertainments are a facility or an amenity, not a promotion. The same conclusion can be reached as to Christmas decorations and the Santa's Grotto”.
Trafford Centre Managing Director Mike Butterworth said: “We are delighted that the court decided The Trafford Centre has been perfectly correct in the way in which it calculates it service charge, and that it has been since the day it opened. It is clear that Boots has been badly advised on this issue, but we look forward to working closely with them in the future to the continued benefit of both of our businesses”.
Tagged as: boots | trafford centre
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