THIS week's contributor is Nicholas Galle, Legal Director of AP Group - Forgotten lease conditions: When negotiating their leases, business owners tend to focus on the commercial terms such as gross rental, rent reviews and options to renew. Unfortunately, too many owners miss the importance of the other terms in the lease and the impact that these terms can have on their businesses.
These 'forgotten terms' can affect a pharmacy owner's ability to honour their obligations to Medicare in providing continued supply of medicines to the community. These clauses can, in the most extreme cases, cause a Medicare approval number to be cancelled and completely destroy the goodwill of the business.
For example, a demolition clause without a suitable relocation clause can give your landlord the right to disrupt or, even force the closure of your business without providing you with compensation.
In the event you have borrowings for the business, you may find yourself unable to service your loan commitments, without an asset to realise.
In the event that your premises is eligible for a replacement Medicare approval number after the completion of works, your landlord may be able take the new premises to market post the works leaving you either without an asset or paying a significantly higher rental.
Regardless of your ability to negotiate, you should always use an experienced lease negotiator or solicitor to protect your interests.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 18 Feb 19
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 18 Feb 19
