London shop fights closure

A retailer is calling for a change in the law as his 20-year-old business is being forced to close by Transport for London this month.

TfL has given Ravi Raveendran and three other small businesses until December 19 to vacate their properties at London’s Alperton tube station, but he claims it is using a break clause in the contract as they fall outside the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. 

“The law must be changed, it should be illegal what they’re doing,” Raveendran said. “They have a huge legal team so, for them, it’s nothing. For us it’s everything: our families are in trouble and we have no protection.”

To raise awareness of the threat to his business, he held a protest outside his shop on December 6, inviting his local MP Barry Gardiner, other retailers and members of the community. He is also plans to petition TfL.