JD Wetherspoon: 'We lost £3m in property link'
Pub company JD Wetherspoon is claiming that its former property consultant Van de Berg caused it to lose £3.35m, according to a writ lodged at the High Court.
The writ centres on 10 properties which JD Wetherspoon says it was advised by Van de Berg to lease, often at high prices, although the properties were available to buy.
Instead, according to the writ, Van de Berg's directors arranged for the freeholds to be bought by a network of companies, and lied to JD Wetherspoon about the nature of the sales.
Wetherspoon is suing Van de Berg, its only current director, Christian Braun, and former directors Richard Harvey and George Aldridge.
Interestingly, Van de Berg is owned by a company called Fastbuck, which in turn is owned by Mr Braun.
Van de Berg's remit was to find potentially suitable properties, either with or without planning consent, for use as licensed premises, to advise on the merits of particular sites, to prepare feasibility studies and to negotiate with vendors.
The company, which worked for Wetherspoon between 1989 and March 30 2005, was paid an annual retainer of around £20,000 plus a success fee of between £15,000 and £20,000 per site.
The writ states that it owed a fiduciary duty not to make secret profits and to act in Wetherspoon's best interests.
Properties involved in the alleged fraud between 1994 and 1998 include those at Chequer Street in St Albans, Guildhall Walk in Portsmouth, the Parade in Leamington Spa, Burgate and North Street in Canterbury, Kent, High Street in Burton-upon -Trent, Staffordshire, Midland Road in Bedford and Rendezvous Street in Folkestone, Kent.
Tim Martin claims that Van de Berg's directors lied to him about the availability of freeholds, lied in various letters to Wetherspoon and arranged for a press release to be amended to avoid Martin discovering the wrongdoing.
Wetherspoon puts its losses at more than £3.35m and is demanding damages for fraud, breach of contract and negligence, and an account of profits. Van de Berg denies all the allegations in the writ and a full High Court hearing is expected to take place later this year. The legal action follows the break-up of a working relationship between Wetherspoon and Van de Berg that lasted 15 years.
Martin first employed Van de Berg in 1990 when he acquired a property from it. Between 2002 and 2003, when JD Wetherspoon was opening around 100 new pubs a year, Van De Berg was paid an annual retainer of about £2m.
In November last year Wetherspoon told the City that it expected the trial to start on 1 October.
The company also said it had reviewed 3,000 property files belonging to Van de Berg while preparing its claim.
