THE owner of a well-known home improvements business has guaranteed that customers will not lose out after he was locked out when rent negotiations with the landlord broke down.

Dean Palmer and his staff have been unable to get into the Posh Windows and Conservatories store in Hedge End for five days after the landlord repossessed it without warning.

As a result, he said “irreparable damage” was being done to the brand and that this could spell its end.

Posh Windows and Conservatories installs windows, doors, conservatories and home extensions and has been running for 21 years.

Dean Palmer, who owns the brand, said a company called Business Contracts, which was trading as Posh Windows and Conservatories, went into voluntary liquidation in February this year.

The landlord of the store, on the Hamilton Business Park, allowed the business to stay on and negotiations had been taking place to assign the remaining months of the lease, which runs out in December 2014, to the new company trading under Posh Windows and Conservatories, SDP South Coast Ltd.

Mr Palmer said SDP South Coast Ltd had been trying, on advice, to renegotiate a lease at the current market value at £60,000 per year – the current rate is £84,000 – but this offer was declined.

Mr Palmer claimed that he had received a text message from the landlord, property managers Hargreaves, at 7am on Thursday telling him that it had taken peaceful possession of the property.

Although Mr Palmer accepts that the landlord has every right to take this action, he claims that the materials, including stock and customers records, were owned by a third party and therefore did not belong to the landlord or the company in liquidation that held the lease.

Since then communications have been made between solicitors to try to facilitate entry to the building, but as yet this has not happened.

Mr Palmer claimed he has provided confirmation of third party ownership.

He said that, without their records, staff have been unable to get in touch with clients who they are due to be doing work for to let them know the situation. Some jobs have been left partly done.

Mr Palmer said they had been letting down existing customers and potentially losing new business and that all this, as well as the empty premises and signs outside, was doing “irreparable damage” to the business.

“We can’t get the message out to the public,” he said.

“It’s just been a very difficult situation.

“It could be the demise of the Posh Windows brand after 21 years.

“For every hour that our clients think we have gone bankrupt, we’re losing money, potentially tens of thousands of pounds.”

He added: “This is totally out of our control, it’s nothing untoward.

“SDP South Coast Ltd is fully trading, we have no issues, nothing whatsoever.

“The issue here is the negotiations on the rental agreement.”

Hargreaves did not want to comment.

Any customers are asked to email sales@posh.co.uk, though the company hopes to contact customers this week.

Mr Palmer said existing customers who they were not able to provide a service for would not receive a refund as the materials had already been manufactured, but a new date would be arranged as soon as possible.

When the Daily Echo asked Mr Palmer if he could guarantee that outstanding work would be completed, he replied: “Yes”.