Beloved Greater Manchester bakery forced to suddenly CLOSE amid parking row

The owner of a hit Altrincham bakery forced to close suddenly after a landlord dispute has issued a warning to other small businesses.

Lisa Bindahnee, 56, opened Bread Bin Bakery on New Street in December last year after spending nearly four months kitting the previously empty space out. She says the business was running 'successfully' until a small dispute over parking spaces led to her temporarily witholding rent until her allotted spaces confirmed in a deed of variation by a new landlord.

But last week, Lisa's pastry chef arrived at work to find the premises locked and a sign on the door saying she had been evicted for breaching her lease. She has now been forced to close her beloved bakery and says she is fighting to get back every piece of equipment she invested £350,000 of her own money into. Speaking on behalf of the landlord, the property manager said they were left with 'little choice' after a 'lack of communication' from the tenant and a 'strict legal timetable'.

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"I was actually in Majorca on holiday, just having three days away, and my pastry chef arrived at work in the dark, as we do early in the morning," she told the Manchester Evening News. "She phoned me and said, I can't get in. And then there was a sign slapped on the front door saying that the landlord to take possession of the premises due to breaches of the lease by the tenant.

"I went and looked at my lease and my lease says that they can do this. So I'm not disputing that they can."

Lisa, who used to be a lawyer, said she had been aware that non-payment of rent for more than 14 days would give her landlord the right to evict her, but it 'never crossed her mind' that they would actually do it.

"We improve the building because we're a cool bakery," she said. "They're trying to sell flats in the building and we only increase their value, it makes it a cooler place to live. So it never crossed my mind that they would just kick me out.

"I paid my rent up to date, the whole time I'd been there. I had a ten year lease. They didn't give me any warning. Being a woman as well - everyone is always a middle aged man and I just thought, they're bullying me. So I did the only thing I could do, and misjudged."

She told the M.E.N that, while she knows legally the landlord did not have to issue any warning over the eviction, she feels they have moved quickly to force her to leave so they can rent the space out - with the improvements she paid for - for more money.

"I've spent £350,000 pounds on that bakery," she said. "Which is a lot of money - £200,000 of which was the fit out. Because when I took the space it was a shell, so I literally had to pour the floor. All the walls, electrics, water, everything in there I've put in there.

"Then I spent £150,000 on equipment."

But she wants 'as many people as possible' to know the dispute is not about money. "I didn't run out of money, everyone will be paid," she said.

She added there has been a strong response to the bakery closing, and that 'a lot of people are gutted'. "We already had quite a loyal following," she added. "The best part about the job was getting to know the customers by their name and their order.

Lisa said it can be 'common' for small businesses not to pay rent on time. She is now hoping to warn others of how easy it can be to lose your business if you are late by even a matter of days.

"It's gone now, my business is done and eight people have been made redundant," she told the M.E.N. "But I want to tell every small business out there who have signed a lease to dig it out the filing cabinet and make sure they know what's in their forfeiture clause.

"They need to have that in the back of their mind to make sure that they always do it [pay rent] before that could happen," she continued. "Otherwise, they're all incredibly vulnerable to have the same thing happen to them as is happening to me. And I don't think many people know that."

In a statement, the landlord said: "The tenants commercial lease included rights to use two car parking spaces on the estate, with the landlord right to relocate if required, for the purpose of estate management.

"Their original allocated spaces had been requested by Trafford Council for disabled bays. The tenant was then given two spaces closer to her unit. When the property sold mid September 2024, the new landlord agreed that the tenant could retain the two spaces the tenant wanted, this was recorded by way of email and a plan marking the two spaces.

"The tenant requested a Deed of Variation (DoV) to remove the Landlords rights to relocate the spaces and to essentially demise them. The tenant clearly advised they would withhold paying the rent until they had a DoV. No commercial landlord would agree to remove their own rights to their property. There was no legal requirement for a DoV as nothing had changed and in fact we had offered the tenant the two car spaces she requested.

"The tenant then requested a licence for the two spaces. Again, this is not possible as the lease already provides for the two spaces.

"The tenant was advised 4 times that their rent was overdue, that it needed to be paid and that the car parking spaces was a separate matter and not legal grounds to withhold rent.

"The landlord also prepared to offer a side letter to provide comfort to the tenant that the two car spaces she wanted were hers and that there was no reason for this to change other than for unforeseen circumstances. However, we were clear that the rent needed to be paid first. We failed to receive a response.

"Forfeiture is a provision within all commercial leases and there is a legal process. A tenant is not be contacted after the number of days specified in the agreement. The Landlord /Agent is not permitted to advise or communicate to a tenant they are intending to change the locks. If there is any contact, the position is jeopardised. If possession had not been taken at this stage, the next time would have been January 2025 and by then there would have been 6 months arrears.

"On taking possession, the tenant has 7 days to remove all items. The tenant requested to have access the following day which we granted and met with the tenant. They then requested Friday but it could not be facilitated due to prior commitments. The tenant arranged for the removals on Tuesday (day 7) which we agreed. The tenant then emailed to advise that the removal company needed to come on the Wednesday. This is one day after the 7 day expiry . The Landlord agreed to the extension. The unit was cleared of all items that were not fixed. The Landlord had agreed to arrange for additional access so a door/frame/architrave could be removed, so that the tenant could remove a piece of machinery that would not fit through the door.

"Any landlord would look to avoid this situation if at all possible. Many tenants approach us with rent issues, upon which we agree payment plans, disposal assistance etc. The lack of communication on the tenants front coupled with the strict legal timetable left us with little choice."