22nd October 2021
Reference IL Ref 0613

Dear friends of the Shepherd’s Bush Market businesses,

1)       It is upsetting to hear reports that the Shepherd’s Bush Market traders are suffering further duress due to Yoo Capital’s fictional deadlines, and misinformation.
2)       The SBMTA is grateful for the recent meeting with Hammersmith & Fulham Council, including two Council Officers, Councillor Andrew Jones, and MP Andy Slaughter on the 12th of October 2021, which has brought some clarity to various concerns.
3)       The message which the SBMTA takes away from this Council meeting, and now shares with each Shepherd’s Bush Market business is that tenants must not forfeit their negotiating position and not be pressurized into giving up their leases due to Yoo Capital’s insistence. Tenants must not succumb to making any hasty decision.  Tenants must exercise caution and must not sign any documentation which Yoo Capital may urge tenants to sign.
 
4)       Yoo Capital’s efforts to coerce market traders in supporting Yoo Capital’s potential planning application to gain traction to build a towering housing and office development block on Shepherd’s Bush Market land, prior to any the planning application being submitted to the Hammersmith & Fulham Council Planning department is viewed as inappropriate.  
 
5)       Every individual should retain their right to deliberate and comment on the details and terms of Yoo Capital’s planning application once the application is submitted to the Hammersmith & Fulham Council, and once the Hammersmith & Fulham Council initiates and conducts the official consultation.
6)       To date, Yoo Capital has not yet submitted its planning application and the detail of its intentions remain ambiguous. Therefore, Yoo Capital’s insistence on market traders to sign documents of approval for the planning application that has not yet been revealed may be viewed as wrong.
 
7)       As one tenant remarked, “how can we be expected to support a planning application when we have no idea as to what the detail of the planning application is?”
 
8)       All must appreciate that there is an order and process to be respected and honoured with any planning application. Yoo Capital’s projected haste towards the Shepherd’s Bush Market businesses is neither constructive nor fair.
9)       The Market tenants should not be placed under any duress before Yoo Capital’s application is submitted or approved.
10)      The Hammersmith & Fulham Council has assured the SBMTA that once Yoo Capital’s planning application is submitted, an official consultation will then be conducted by the Hammersmith & Fulham Council and it will be enabling and encourage all to submit their comments and worries.
11)      It has already been reported that Yoo Capital is allegedly isolating and pursuing individual market tenants to sign legal documents in order: 

• §  To encourage market businesses to sell up and leave or relinquish their leases,
• §  To commandeer the present leases,
• §  To alter the lease terms and conditions, bringing disfavour to the market businesses,
• §  To relocate the market businesses,

§  To gain written support for Yoo Capital’s potential planning application before drafting or submitting the planning application to the Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
 
12)      Yoo Capital is viewed to be acting inappropriately hasty and uncompromisingly towards the Shepherd’s Bush Market businesses.
13)      The Shepherd’s Bush Market Tenants’ Association (SBMTA) encourages every tenant to hear what Yoo Capital may be saying, however, be aware that much of what may be said, may not align with that which is written.
14)      Even if urged or threatened by Yoo Capital’s representatives, Tenants should NOT sign any of Yoo Capital’s documents.
15)      There is no reason for any market tenant to place their signature on any Yoo Capital document, at this moment in time.
16)      If Yoo Capital seeks a market tenant’s signature, then it is recommended that the tenant requests for a copy of the Yoo Capital document which they wish to be signed and forward the documentation to the tenant’s legal representative/solicitor, so the document may be examined and assessed. From that point on, the tenant’s solicitor may guide their client and may address the matter on behalf of the tenant. 
17)      Yoo Capital is viewed to be offering little compassion or patience towards the market traders.
18)      Individuals should not be pressed in supporting a planning application until they may thoroughly review the planning application details. As Yoo Capital have not even submitted their application to the Hammersmith & Fulham Council, Yoo Capital’s pursuit of acquiring market traders’ signatures may be considered to be unreasonable and improper.
 
19)      The words of Yoo Capital’s representatives may often be misleading.
20)      Yoo Capital’s wish to alter the terms and conditions of the leases, weakening the leases’ value, may subsequently leave tenants and their businesses in a compromised, awkward, and fragile predicament.
21)      The leases which Yoo Capital wishes to offer tenants are not the same as those which tenants may presently hold (and are entitled to renew).
22)      Market tenants must remember a lease with unfavourable terms and conditions may be a curse rather than a blessing. Again, the recommendation is to seek legal guidance before making any rash decisions.
 
23)      It sadly appears that Yoo Capital is unduly seeking for the market tenants to blindly agree to Yoo Capital’s planning application prior to Yoo Capital submitting the planning application proposals to the Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
 
24)      Yoo Capital’s ambitions rely on the ability to build their housing and office development on Shepherd’s Bush Market land and an area of ground owned by the Hammersmith & Fulham Council known as ‘The Old Laundry Site Area’ which is located east of Shepherd’s Bush Market. Due to this fact, the Hammersmith & Fulham Council may be considered as a potential associated partner with Yoo Capital.
 
25)      There are fears, regarding this development and therefore concerns must be collected, and the right for one to reserve judgment must be honoured so the official consultation may be conducted correctly and democratically.
26)      Examples of some of the worries are: -  

• (i)              the multi-story development shadowing the entire area,
• (ii)            the newly designed stalls and shops being movable, unsuitable, and of lesser value than the present structures.
• (iii)           a significant drop in the retail offer within Shepherd’s Bush Market and the area of land designated to the retail market businesses being reduced.
• (iv)           the future affordability of the market, the tenant retention, the retention of the multicultural and ethnic diversity of the market, and the retention of the social importance of Shepherd’s Bush Market.
   
  27)      Yoo Capital’s badgering of the tenants to hastily sign altered Heads of Terms relating to proposed leases has alarmed the market community and subsequent investigation has revealed that Yoo Capital’s proposals are a legitimate cause for concern.
  28)      A tenant should never be duped into signing Heads of Terms of a lease.
  29)      It is viewed that catching unsuspecting tenants off guard and urging them to sign documents whilst in a state of perplexity is neither appropriate nor acting in good faith.
  30)      A tenant should fully understand every document with which they are presented. If the language in which the document is written is not clear to the tenant, then it is essential that the tenant acquires understanding (and with reasonable time to do so).  It is recommended that a tenant is initially given the opportunity for their solicitor to thoroughly examine any proposed lease agreement.
   
  31)      The SBMTA has requested in writing, for Yoo Capital to act in good faith, and work with the SBMTA allowing for Yoo Capital’s proposed lease terms & conditions to be analysed by a legal professional so the differences between Yoo Capital’s altered leases stipulations may be openly identified from that of the present leases. This analysis could then be circulated amongst all of the market traders. However, Yoo Capital has not been forthcoming in actioning this request.
   
  32)      Yoo Capital’s proposed leases are evaluated as unfavourable in comparison to the existing TfL tenancy agreements which fall under the inclusion of the 1954 Landlord & Tenant Act.
  33)      For example (but limited to), Yoo Capital wishes to implement harsh rent increases at the midpoint of the next lease term, which may lead to adverse outcomes, jeopardizing the affordability of many of the market businesses and forcing tenants to abandon their livelihoods and leave Shepherd’s Bush Market prior to the year 2030.
  34)      Further to this, Yoo Capital wishes to implement several different service charge apportionment regimes over the one estate. This is considered to greatly compromise the future of the market businesses and the affordability of the Service Charge.
   
  35)      The SBMTA reiterate the sentiment expressed at the meeting with the Hammersmith & Fulham Council. 

• (i) There is no rush,
• (ii) tenants should not be intimidated by the demands of Yoo Capital,
• (iii) tenants should instruct a solicitor to represent and protect their business, and
• (iv) prepare for the Hammersmith & Fulham Council to initiate the official consultation.
   
  36)      Shepherd’s Bush Market had initially been created for the ex-servicemen in 1914. The care and consideration of the establishments in power had enabled Shepherd’s Bush Market to constructively serve many communities and families across the century.
  37)      It may be unfortunately expected for property developers to exploit the value of the market land and disregard the lives which Shepherd’s Bush Market affects. Yet it should be remembered that the Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s potential influence in this development project due to their ownership of the Old Laundry Site Area may be very significant.
  38)      Furthermore, the Hammersmith & Fulham Council holds ties with other developments with which Yoo Capital is associated, such as the development at Olympia. These associations may ensure that the Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the voters residing across the Shepherd’s Bush, Fulham, and Hammersmith areas may categorically insist on strong protections and safeguards for the  Shepherd’s Bush Market businesses.
   
  Kind regards,
  The Shepherd’s Bush Market Tenant’s Association