REACTION Statement from Hartnell Taylor Cook 231121 Final

Simpson’s Tavern: Reaction Statement
Statement from Hartnell Taylor Cook, agents for 38.5 Cornhill, London, EC3V
9DR, which includes Simpson’s Tavern
November 23rd 2022
“We call on Mr Sarvindra Singh, the tenant of Simpson’s Tavern, to allow the manager Mr Ben
Duggan to come to the negotiating table together with Mr Singh to agree a deal that will allow
the Tavern to reopen and survive in time for the festive season.
“There are persistent allegations being made against the Landlord and Hartnell Taylor Cook
(‘HTC’) that are unsubstantiated, have no factual basis and are untrue. Despite being open
and transparent in our statement on November 10th 2022 (attached) when we gave a step
by step report on negotiations, there are regular and damaging comments to journalists and
on social media from Mr Ben Duggan, who may not have been privy to the negotiation details.
We have considerable sympathy for Mr Duggan and share with him the desire to reach an
amicable agreement to allow Simpson’s Tavern to reopen. However, Mr S Singh, through his
company Restaurant EC3 Limited, has consistently failed to engage meaningfully in
negotiations to settle all or part of his commitments over several years, has made no attempt
to meet his contractual obligations, and his actions have forced us to proceed with legal action
that will likely order him to hand over the tenancy on December 14 th 2022.
“The criticism that HTC has “failed to engage” is completely at odds with the facts. In the last
month alone several offers to talk made to Mr. Singh by HTC were not responded to. On 9 th
November 2022 the solicitors acting for Restaurant EC3 asked for access to the building and
a meeting, both for the next day. HTC arranged access on 10 th and offered a meeting the day
after on November 11 th . There was no response. Our solicitors Memery Crystal chased Mr.
Singh on November 16 th , and on 17 th Restaurant EC3’s solicitor said they could meet the next
day Friday 18th. Memery Crystal responded that we were indeed available that Friday
afternoon. Again no response. Yet Mr Duggan has been quoted as saying that they waited
on the line and we did not call. Had we been told the meeting was confirmed we would have
been there.
“The facts are that HTC has repeatedly attempted to engage with Mr S Singh to resolve the
situation, both before the advent of Covid-19, in 2017, when it offered a significant rent
reduction, and after Covid. HTC are continually chasing Restaurant EC3, and not the other way
round and multiple attempts have been made to reach a conclusion to settle some of the
debt and move forward. Mr S Singh, consistently broke all commitments and showed no
interest in finding an equitable solution. As we outline in detail in the timeline above, more
recently the Tenant has continued to fail to engage with any further negotiations despite the
efforts made by HTC and our lawyers Memery Crystal. We fail to understand why Mr S Singh
and Restaurant EC3 Limited are avoiding negotiation and we wonder if this is a tactic to keep
ignoring our efforts to talk until 14 th December 2022 – the date at which Restaurant EC3

Limited will be struck off. This would threaten the future of Simpson’s Tavern, as the
institution would be left with no backer, which would be entirely contrary to the wishes of
the landlord, whose interests are best served by Simpsons Tavern remaining an operational
and paying tenant.
“Mr. Duggan also says “There is an eminently achievable deal to be done here, but HTC are
hell bent on keeping us out”. Our response is that the landlord remains open to negotiation
if the tenant is serious and will stand by his word, and we believe the combined interests of
all parties would be best served if Mr Duggan is brought into those negotiations and receives
a true picture of the situation. We look forward to finding a solution so that Simpson’s Tavern
can be saved. If a fraction of the time spent raising the issue in the media had been devoted
to communication and negotiation with HTC then we might already have satisfactorily
resolved the situation.
“Notwithstanding the provocative and frustrating nature of Mr. Singh’s tactics, HTC remain
open to negotiation and we invite Mr Singh to give permission for Mr Duggan to be included
in the negotiations and to contact us to make a proposal to reach an equitable solution which
will allow Simpsons to remain open”.