City restaurant fails in bid to reduce rent arrears

Simpson’s Tavern, which claims to be the City of London’s oldest chophouse, has failed in a High Court bid to reduce its rent arrears. The restaurant, which opened in 1757 and claims to have been a favourite of Charles Dickens, fell into rent arrears during the Covid-19 pandemic and was forced to close in October 2022 when the landlords re-entered and changed the locks. The building is still shuttered and the leaseholders have started a crowdfunding campaign to fund a legal challenge, repay debts and reopen. So far it has raised more than £120,000. In February, a county court judge wound up the leaseholder company following a court hearing. At the hearing, lawyers for the leaseholders tried to claim damages of more than £600,000 for occupying the premises as a trespasser. Alternatively, they argued they were owed £260 for every day of forced closure. This would have brought their debt down from £290,000 to around £120,000 at the time of the hearing. The county court judge refused and wound up the company. The leaseholders appealed to the High Court, saying the county court judge erred and should have given them a reasonable amount of time to pay either £290,000 or £120,000. The trial was heard last month. However, in a ruling handed down yesterday, High Court judge Mr Justice Miles refused. He said at the February hearings the leaseholder hadn’t been able to prove that it was able to pay even £120,000 in a reasonable time. He said he would have reached the same conclusion as the lower court judge and dismissed the appeal. Restaurant EC3 Ltd v Tavor Holdings Ltd [2024] EWHC 3104 (Ch) Business and Property Courts (Mr Justice Miles) 3 December 2024 Image © Dosfotos/Shutterstock