MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 553
law case notes

Facts
Rock Advertising (Rock) was the licensee of managed office space owned by the licensor (MWB). It had fallen into arrears with its monthly licence fees. MWB served a notice to terminate the licence. Rock argued that an oral agreement had been reached between MWB’s credit controller and a director of Rock to reschedule the monthly licence fees (so that Rock would pay at a lower rate for a number of months and would then pay at a higher rate for the remainder of the licence). Issues
Did the anti-oral variations clause in the licence mean that the oral variation to reschedule the monthly licence fees was of no effect?
If an oral variation could still be effective, was it supported here by sufficient consideration provided by Rock?
Decision
The clause in the licence did not prevent oral variations to it. The court endorsed the obiter comments from a case a couple of months earlier that such a conclusion was consistent with the principle of party autonomy (i.e. the freedom of contracting parties to agree whatever terms they wish and the freedom of those parties to vary those terms as they may decide).
Even though Rock’s promise to pay was essentially a promise to pay what was already due, there were practical benefits in Rock’s promise that could constitute fresh consideration (i.e. MWB not being left with an empty property and recovering the arrears over time without the need for court proceedings).
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