Prebend Gardens Garage Owner Blames TfL for Closure

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Frey Clement had been servicing cars under railway arches for 30 years

Frey Clement's service centre was near Stamford Brook station

December 29, 2023

A car repair garage based in Prebend Gardens is blaming Transport for London (TfL) after it was forced to closed having operated in the area for 36 years.

Frey Clement, which is located in the railway arches near Stamford Brook station, served its last customer on 22 December.

The business was set up in 1987 by Adrian Frey and John Clement and had been based at its current location for over 30 years.

John Clement said, “This is not a situation I have chosen lightly and is mainly due to TFL’s (my Landlord) refusal to offer me new workable lease terms. On top of this there is an increase in business costs and changing vehicle technologies. My/The time has come.

“May I take this opportunity to whole heartedly thank you for your unending trust and confidence in my repairing of your vehicles over the last 36 years. I could not have achieved this without you and I wish you all the very best for the future.”

Frey Clement serviced and repaired vehicles as well as doing MOTs.

The property portfolio of TfL is managed by a wholly owned subsidiary called Places for London. It says that Frey Clement’s lease expired in October 2019 and it had been in discussions with the company about a new lease on the same terms which was rejected. In 2023 a revaluation of its assets was undertaken which indicated that a higher local market rate should be charged and this was communicated to Frey Clement.

Places for London says it has capped the annual rent review for small and medium businesses in its arches rather increase by the full RPI level for the last two years. During the pandemic, TfL says it offered full rent relief across its estate from 25 March 2020.

A spokesperson for the company said, “We have 1,500 tenants across London, and we are proud that 95 per cent of those tenants are small businesses. We work with our tenants to help support their businesses and we treat each tenant fairly based, considering their individual context.

“We have been in discussions with Frey Clement Garage since their lease initially expired in 2019 and enabled them to stay in their location while these continued. During the pandemic, we also provided them with rent relief. However, despite these ongoing discussions, in this instance, Frey Clement Garage has made the decision not to renew their lease.”

It is understood that pressure from the government for TfL to generate an operating surplus has required it to increase the revenue it is generating from its property portfolio both in terms of yield through rents and capital gains through the development of its landbank.

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