Our Social Impact
Emmaus UK: Negotiating with landlords for a fairer deal
Images courtesy of Emmaus UK
Covid-19 lockdowns put an extraordinary strain on the finances of homelessness charity Emmaus. Emmaus UK is a federation of 34 independent member charities providing safe homes, community support and meaningful work to formerly homeless people across the UK. The member charities derive a large part of their funding through social enterprises, primarily charity shops; however, at the height of the pandemic, the shops were forced to close, cutting off a vital source of income.
As a result, Emmaus UK’s Head of Communications and Fundraising, Clare Hunter turned to Charles Russell Speechlys to assist the charity on a pro bono basis in its discussions with landlords around rent payments and lease terms. “We've got lots of properties and the Firm helped us navigate some of the legalities around new leases and lease negotiations,” says Clare. To make matters worse, although many of the charity’s shops were insured against closures, because of the unusual circumstances created by the pandemic, some insurance companies refused to pay out on business interruption policies. “Charles Russell Speechlys worked with us on a pro bono basis to deal with some of the insurance policies and where they couldn't help us themselves, they used their networks to put us in touch with other pro bono solicitors who could,” says Clare.
Support in tough times
“The Firm was just brilliant throughout the pandemic,” says Clare. “The team even gave us advice on things like data protection and making sure our policies and procedures are up to date. Nothing is too much trouble for them and the support they have given us has been invaluable.”
“Having this partnership provides us with the kind of legal support that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.”
Clare Hunter, Head of Communications and Fundraising, Emmaus UK
Emmaus North Staffs: Navigating a complex real estate move
In addition to the work we have been doing with Emmaus UK, we have also been able to extend our help to some of the local community charities that are part of its federated network. In late 2021, Emmaus North Staffs decided to vacate a long-held warehouse showroom in Hanley. This gave John Webbe, Executive Lead at Emmaus North Staffs, just six months to find Emmaus North Staffs a new home. Despite several attempts to find a new warehouse, an offer on a premises wasn’t accepted until six weeks before Emmaus needed to vacate its existing premises. This meant the charity needed two licences to occupy — one for the new building to allow Emmaus to take occupation pending agreement of the new lease and one for the existing building to give Emmaus sufficient time to get everything in order before vacating the existing premises. Ben Butterworth, Associate, and Georgina Bernard, Trainee Solicitor, both in Real Estate, worked closely with Oliver Park, Associate in Real Estate Disputes, to advise Emmaus North Staffs on this potentially complicated process. The licences to occupy and the new lease were agreed in a smooth and timely manner, meaning that the charity was not left without crucial premises.
In early 2022, Emmaus North Staffs also entered into a further new lease on a 5,000 sq ft retail unit at the Potteries Centre in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, with Ben Butterworth providing advice on the lease. From these new premises, which opened to the public in May 2022, Emmaus will sell new and used furniture, and household goods, and will also provide workshops for the public.
John Webbe was incredibly grateful for the continued support of colleagues and Charles Russell Speechlys. “The team at Charles Russell Speechlys patiently guided me through exiting the existing lease and negotiated hard on our behalf for the leases for both of the new premises,” he says. “We are hugely grateful as we could not have achieved all this without their assistance.”
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