[2025] EWHC 1859 (KB)

The final ground of appeal, not pressed orally, is that the Judge failed to assess the Claimant’s business losses. This is not reasonably arguable. The Claimant’s particularisation of loss of profit amounted to a single page setting out turnover and profit from April 2019 to March 2020. Notwithstanding the disclosure of other documents (none of which were marshalled or summarised in any coherent way), the Judge was clearly entitled to conclude that this was wholly inadequate to establish an actual loss of profit claim, not least during a period which almost entirely coincided with the global pandemic, lockdown and the devastating impact on businesses around the country.

It may also be noted that if, as I have found, this ground of appeal is not reasonably arguable, the lack of effective proof of loss constitutes a complete answer to the appeal. Even if the Applicant were correct in relation to any of the other grounds which go to liability, the Judge’s conclusion that the Applicant had not discharged the burden of proof in respect of loss of profit means that even if the Respondents had been in breach of the lease, the claim would still stand to have been dismissed.

For these reasons, the renewed application for permission to appeal is dismissed.