Who owns the signage!?

dnalsrammaj

Hi, i recently gave up my lease on a shop after 6 months of being there. The lease had break clauses after each 12 months and was signed in the name of a limited company.

When i was in the property i spent £900 on signage, approximately £300 of this was for the aluminum boards of the signs.

I have seen that there is a new tenant in the shop now and they have taken the vinyl of my signs off the boards so they are obviously planning to use my boards for their own signs.

Do these boards legally belong to me as it is 2 months since i was in the shop and it didn't cross my mind upon leaving to take them with me.

Thanks for your help

redped

If you bought and paid for the signage (including the boards), then yes they do belong to you. I assume the new tenant isn't aware of that, but if you can show proof that you paid for it, then hopefully they'll understand. Do you want the boards now? If the tenant accepts they belong to you, are you planning on selling the boards to the tenant, at a reduced price?

dnalsrammaj

thanks for your reply. i did pay fully for the boards. to be honest i was planning to sell the boards cheaply to a signmaker but they wouldn't be more useful to anyone than to the tenant would they!

easyhost

i would visit the unit with the proof that you paid for the signage etc in full and speak to the new tenant in a polite manor and try to come to some sort of arrangement for some payment for the signage as with them using your boards would have saved them some money.

david39

You'll need to have an answer to the possible follow up .... "I am not prepared to pay you for them so please have them removed and I will use my own...."

Would removing them present a problem to you now?

lincroft1710

Check your lease doesn't have a clause which says that any improvements/alterations/additions etc made by the tenant, become the property of the landlord when the tenancy ends.

dnalsrammaj

david39 wrote: »

You'll need to have an answer to the possible follow up .... "I am not prepared to pay you for them so please have them removed and I will use my own...."

Would removing them present a problem to you now?

No David, removing them wouldn't be a problem, I have people who are prepared to help me and knowing the value of them i'm sure a local sign maker would take them off my hands.

chalkie99

To be honest I would be very surprised if a signmaker would buy them, I know I wouldn't. They are bespoke items and of little value to anyone else. Most of the cost will have been in time rather than materials and removing existing designs, refurbishing and then trying to find someone who wants the exact type and sizes will be more trouble than it's worth.

It will take the signmaker longer to do this than make brand new items which he can sell for more than a second hand refurbished item.

As you have vacated the premises I think you have probably lost the chance to retrieve them anyway.

Probably best to write it down to experience and move on. Sorry.

Searcher

dnalsrammaj wrote: »

No David, removing them wouldn't be a problem, I have people who are prepared to help me and knowing the value of them i'm sure a local sign maker would take them off my hands.

I am a signmaker and I highly doubt I would buy them back.

You know the value of the finished item and what you paid for it but as Chalkie99 said the bulk of the cost is in time for production and fitting.