The government has been accused of a “dereliction of duty” by small business owners after it emerged that their interests were overlooked until the last minute during the £1.5bn sale of the railway arches they are based in.
A report from the National Audit Office concluded that Network Rail and the government did not properly consider factors such as “business support, tenant protection or community regeneration” when arches that are home to thousands of small companies were sold this year.
Support to tenants was only “negotiated in the final stages” of the sale to Blackstone, an American private equity company, and Telereal Trillium, a property management and investment company, the audit office found.
