Commercial lease
Negotiation on entry, renewal, decapping, recharging of service charges and works: in this sector the lease is often the largest fixed cost and the main component of the value of the goodwill.
On the Basque coast and in Pau, retail premises are scarce and expensive. The result is tense leases, contested sales of goodwill and a seasonality that concentrates turnover — and therefore employment tensions — into a few months.
We act for hoteliers, restaurateurs, café owners and retailers, independent or within a network, from setting up to selling on, working with their accountant and, where the financing calls for it, with their bank.
Negotiation on entry, renewal, decapping, recharging of service charges and works: in this sector the lease is often the largest fixed cost and the main component of the value of the goodwill.
Audit of the business, drafting the deed, escrow of the price, joint tax liability, informing the employees: we run the transaction on both sides and check what is actually being bought — the turnover, the lease, or only the walls and the equipment.
Transfer of the licence, operating permit, terrace authorisation, hotel classification: these authorisations govern whether the business can trade at all, and are checked before signature, never after.
Pre-contractual disclosure document, term, territorial exclusivity, royalties, post-contractual non-affiliation clause: we review the contract before you commit, and step in when a break-up is in prospect.
Seasonal contracts, extras taken on by the day, overtime, fixed-hours and fixed-day arrangements, the HCR collective agreement for hotels, cafés and restaurants: employment tribunal litigation in this sector is almost always about working time and how it is proved.
Brewery tie agreements, exclusive supply arrangements, abrupt termination of an established commercial relationship, unpaid invoices: we handle these disputes with a preference for the negotiated solution, which keeps the business trading.
Hygiene, fire safety, accessibility, noise nuisance, administrative inspections and closures: we assist the operator during the procedure and before the court with jurisdiction.
Separating the premises from the business, holding the property in an SCI, preparing a sale or a handover within the family: the structure chosen when you set up determines the tax on the way out, ten years later.
The right moment
A lease reviewed before a business is bought costs one consultation. The same lease, found after the purchase not to be renewable, loses the whole of the investment.
The subject is the same. It is when it is dealt with that makes the cost.
How we work
You set out the situation, we say frankly whether we are the right people and what the work would involve. No commitment at this stage.
It describes what is done, what is not, the basis on which fees are calculated and the timetable. Nothing starts without your written agreement.
One lawyer holds your file; each question is dealt with by whichever of us handles it every day. You have only one person to call.
Formalities, filings, deadlines: the firm takes over and keeps you informed until the file is closed.
Frequently asked questions
The lease first of all — the term left to run, the permitted use, the conditions for assignment, the renewal date — then the licences and authorisations, the contracts of employment that transfer as of right, the supply contracts in force, compliance with standards and the reality of the turnover announced. A proper audit takes a week and avoids most of the bad surprises.
No. Its transfer follows rules of its own, in particular as to geographical area, and requires a declaration to the town hall. The operating permit is personal to the operator and must be obtained before opening.
A seasonal contract presupposes a regular and foreseeable variation in activity, independent of the employer’s will. It cannot cover a permanent need. Systematic use year after year risks reclassification as a permanent contract, with back pay and compensation.
A terrace on public land depends on a municipal authorisation, precarious and revocable, separate from the lease. On a private part of the building, everything depends on the lease and on the co-ownership rules. Since the value of the business often depends on that terrace, the point deserves to be checked before the purchase.
By first checking the term left to run, the conditions for early termination and the scope of the non-affiliation clause applying after the contract, whose validity requires it to be limited in time, in space and in subject matter. A badly prepared exit can bar you from continuing the business in the same place.
Where the operator owns the building, holding it in a separate SCI protects personal assets, makes it easier to sell the business alone and allows a gradual handover. The arrangement requires a lease on market terms, failing which the tax authorities will challenge it.
Sign nothing without reading it, ask for a copy of the report, observe the time limits for appeal — often very short — and document the corrective measures immediately. An administrative closure can be challenged, but time works against the operator.
Practice areas involved
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