We have a pub, what can we do to protect our business from bailiffs?

Own the pub contents and furnishings in a separate company from the pub.

This does not include alcohol and perishable foods because bailiffs are not licensed to sell them.^[1]

A pub can recover damages if bailiffs interfere or disrupt the business, the kitchen or its foodstock.^[2][3]

To protect your pub or (or other open-house business, such as a retail outlet, restaurant or coffee shop), the business should be structured as follows.

Create two separate companies at Companies House.^[4]

We will call them Company A, and Company B.

Give Company A a different postal address away from Company B and Company B can be the pub or business trading address.

The address for Company A can be a private house, because residential addresses are protected by law from bailiffs because they cannot enter any domestic property using reasonable force, or breaking and entering, to recover a High Court Writs, council tax, or traffic contravention debts.^[5]

You can even use an off-the-shelf address ^[6] for Company A, but remember that you pay a small fee for forwarding mail.

Company A creates a leasing contract and leases all the movable goods to Company B operating the pub.

Now you have all the movable goods owned by Company A and the pub business operated in the name of Company B.

When bailiffs enter the pub and start removing goods, Company A makes a third-party claim.^[7][8]

Company A is entitled to recover damages for the loss of use of the leased goods, including loss of leasing payments the cost of any repairs or safety inspections to the goods,^[2] together with costs.^[9][10][11].

Company B, the pub, may also recover damages for the interference with its leased goods,^[2] together with costs.^[9][10][11].

If Company B is incurring losses because bailiffs are preventing the pub from its normal course of business, it may apply for an injunction.^[12][13][14] This is called interlocutory relief

^{[1] Section 16 of the Licensing Act 2003
[2] Section 3 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977
[3] Huntress Search Ltd v Canapeum Ltd & Anor [2010] EWHC 1270 (QB) (28 May 2010)
[4] See Companies House, Create a company
[5] Paragraph 17 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
[6] See Companies Made Simple, 22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU
[7] Civil Procedure Rule 85.6
[8] See Making a claim against executed goods
[9] Civil Procedure Rule 46.5
[10] Practice Direction 46.5 Rule 3.1
[11] Civil Procedure Rule 44.2
[12] Section 4 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977
[13] Paragraph 66 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
[14] See, Applying for an injunction against bailiffs taking control of hired goods}