Where’s Hot And Not: Q2/2018 + £5.00 + VAT for bringing a cup of coffee into our own meeting room ?!!

Where’s Hot And Not: Q2/2018 + £5.00 + VAT for bringing a cup of coffee into our own meeting room ?!!

I thought I’d seen the lot in more than 40 years in real estate but even I was amazed when a highly valued US client received this email from their landlord – one of London’s leading co-working providers:-

‘The (£5.00) corkage fee is applied if you purchase your own external catering for the meeting room or you have gone to a coffee shop and purchased a round of refreshments specifically for the meeting. If one of your guests comes in with a ‘Starbucks’ coffee or any other external brand then of course we won’t charge a corkage fee for this as this is out of your control.’

Wasn’t that nice to receive within their first couple days in occupation despite having negotiated a 30 hour per month meeting room package as part of the deal ?

Look, service providers are in business and would monetise the air we breathe if they thought they could get away with it. In this instance they didn’t !

Just don’t get carried away by the glass, glitz and glamour surfing the co-working wave. Alright, it wasn’t a 60 page lease but it paid off handsomely for their solicitors and I to review the licence and the menu of ‘additional services’.

Before anyone else gets hurt, call me on 07968 191 233 for a personal perspective on the benefits of transparent, objective and conflict-free representation that will have landlords and building owners competing for your business.