Pictured: Andrew Jones, left, HCB commercial property team;
Chris Short, Essence Restaurant, and Sarah Rao, associate solicitor
at HCB Stratford office
Major Midland law firm HCB Solicitors advised Warwickshire's
latest restaurant on the lease acquisition for its premises in the
centre of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Chris Short already has a restaurant in Alcester but was keen to
bring his brand of fresh recipes to a wider audience and selected a
site with vacant possession in the Old Red Lion Court in Bridge
Street.
HCB has offices in Alcester and Stratford and was the obvious
choice to negotiate what became a complicated sub-lease agreement
for the second Essence restaurant owned by Chris.
Andrew Jones is a solicitor in the HCB commercial property team
which acts as an umbrella department for the company's offices in
Walsall, Lichfield, Redditch and Solihull as well as Stratford and
Alcester.
He advised on the negotiation made more difficult because the
previous holders of the sub-lease were no longer in the UK.
The premises had been empty for six months and Chris needed to
open the new restaurant to catch the Christmas trade and so time
was tight.
Andrew said: "There were problems but after we managed to
unravel the difficulties surrounding the sub-lease we finally
agreed on a 25-year term and rental and Chris opened Essence at the
end of October".
Essence is based on a British and modern European menu served in
contemporary surroundings.