Show business agents Susan Knight and Susan Ayton, who find work for celebrity clients including Sir Trevor McDonald, are suing their former landlord Omavale Ltd in a dispute over the lease of their office in Argyll Street, London.
They brought the claim after bailiffs sent by Omavale seized £11,000 of telephone and computer equipment from the office of Knight Ayton Management on 27 October 1999. Omavale claimed that £3,647.92 in rent was owed for the period up to Christmas Eve 1999.
Now Knight and Ayton are seeking damages of up to £50,000 for damage to the business and goodwill of Knight Ayton Management caused by the loss of the office equipment. They say that it was illegal and irregular for the bailiffs to seize equipment when it was actually in use by their business.
They also claim that they owed no rent because they had overpaid thousands in service charges and their lease was about to run out.
They say that when they took the five-year lease of the offices, paying a rent of £10,500 pa, plus service charges, the landlord refused to give details of what the charges were for. They claim they ended up being overcharged £8,300, far more than the rent alleged to be due, and that, in those circumstances, the distraint was illegal and irregular.
PLS News 26/6/00
