// Sainsbury’s is taken to the High Court over claims it breached a contract for discontinuing £7m store proposal
// Judge Simon Monty QC said a verdict is expected in the next few weeks
Sainsbury’s has been taken to court over claims it broke the law when pulling the plug on building a new £7 million supermarket in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.
The High Court will rule on whether the Big 4 grocer breached a contract when discarding the store proposals.
Sainsbury’s said it determined that the proposal was no longer feasible in 2015 as it faced increased pressure from competition in the grocery market.
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Judge Simon Monty QC who attended the hearing in the Chancery Division of the High Court in London last week, said a verdict will be reached in the next few weeks.
A local developer Bruce Smith is suing Sainsbury’s over claims it failed to keep to the terms of a deal with his Whitacre Management development company.
Smith’s lawyers said Sainsbury’s sought to dawdle on the project so that it did not have to go ahead.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has denied the claims and has said in court that it had exercised a contractual right to terminate the contract.
The Retail Gazette has contacted Sainsbury’s for further comment.
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