Arthur Harris, CEO of the collapsed supermarket chain Haldanes Stores Limited, has vowed to press ahead with a personal legal claim against The Co-operative Group.
In a Statement of Administrators Proposals, made available at Companies House last week, administrators The P&A Partnership said they had asked the company to review its £7.2m legal action against The Co-op, which Harris launched in May, claiming The Co-op had "materially breached key terms of the agreements" when it sold former Somerfield stores to Haldanes.
But a spokesman for Harris told The Grocer that Harris was planning to launch a "substantial, personal claim" against The Co-op.
"Arthur Harris has arranged meetings with his own personal lawyers and proposes to do everything in his power to secure his position and reclaim the damages he believes he is owed due to the cessation of his business," the spokesman said.
"This will obviously involve issuing new proceedings and will represent a substantial, personal claim. Arthur is absolutely adamant that The Co-op has benefited massively from the demise of Haldanes Stores by having its own stores just around the corner which will now pick up most, if not all, of the Haldanes business."
The Co-op Group continues to dispute Harris' claim and started its own legal proceedings against Haldanes in April to recover unpaid rent.
Meanwhile, the State-ment of Administrators Proposals also revealed for the first time just how much Haldanes Stores was struggling before collapsing into administration.
The Statement revealed that, before taking over the stores, Haldanes had forecast that most would trade profitably even allowing for a 20% decrease in sales. However, "the majority of stores did not trade profitably".
P&A was also appointed prior to administration to review Haldanes' "financial position".
In a Statement of Administrators Proposals, made available at Companies House last week, administrators The P&A Partnership said they had asked the company to review its £7.2m legal action against The Co-op, which Harris launched in May, claiming The Co-op had "materially breached key terms of the agreements" when it sold former Somerfield stores to Haldanes.
But a spokesman for Harris told The Grocer that Harris was planning to launch a "substantial, personal claim" against The Co-op.
"Arthur Harris has arranged meetings with his own personal lawyers and proposes to do everything in his power to secure his position and reclaim the damages he believes he is owed due to the cessation of his business," the spokesman said.
"This will obviously involve issuing new proceedings and will represent a substantial, personal claim. Arthur is absolutely adamant that The Co-op has benefited massively from the demise of Haldanes Stores by having its own stores just around the corner which will now pick up most, if not all, of the Haldanes business."
The Co-op Group continues to dispute Harris' claim and started its own legal proceedings against Haldanes in April to recover unpaid rent.
Meanwhile, the State-ment of Administrators Proposals also revealed for the first time just how much Haldanes Stores was struggling before collapsing into administration.
The Statement revealed that, before taking over the stores, Haldanes had forecast that most would trade profitably even allowing for a 20% decrease in sales. However, "the majority of stores did not trade profitably".
P&A was also appointed prior to administration to review Haldanes' "financial position".
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