Haldanes Stores has hit back at claims made by The Co-operative Group in the legal dispute between the two UK retailers.
Earlier this week, Haldanes started legal proceedings against The Co-op over stores it bought from the UK’s number five grocer in 2009 and 2010.
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The outlets were among those The Co-op were ordered to sell by The Office of Fair Trading to allay competition concerns over its acquisition of Somerfield.
Haldanes has claimed that The Co-op made “material breaches” of the agreement that covered the deal between the two retailers. The Co-op also breached the underatkings it gave to the OFT, Haldanes said.
The Co-op countered and said it had already begun legal action against Haldanes last month over unpaid rent.
Today (13 May), Haldanes CEO Arthur Harris said he had attempted to avoid litigation, instead seeking mediation with The Co-op.
Harris said The Co-op’s claim that it had been the first to launch legal action was “technically correct”.
However, Harris said that, in attempts to organise a meeting with The Co-op, Haldanes had sent a “Letter before Claim”, which set out the basis of its issues with the retailer three weeks before The Co-op served any notices or proceedings.
Today, Harris said The Co-op’s own legal move was a “direct result” of Haldanes already having issued the letter before claim.
Harris claims The Co-op’s actions left Haldanes “with no option” but to issue formal proceedings.
“Even up to half an hour before we issued those, I emailed the Co-op once again to request a meeting,” Harris said. I still believe we can sort this out, if only they would meet with me.”
Harris admitted that Haldanes owes The Co-op rent but said the amount owed was just a percentage of the claim being made. “If The Co-op were so concerned about their rent, why not have a meeting with us to understand our position and why we are making the claims?” he said.
The Haldanes boss suggested that a number of other “well-known and well-respected retailers” who purchased other stores as part of The Co-op’s sale programme also “suffered similar problems and in quite a number of cases had to close those stores down”.
“We are in contact and have the support of a number of those retailers” he emphasised.
