Prepacked administration and place of work

[ps1968]

My employer has went through prepacked administration and immediate sale and transfer, to avoid rent liability on commercial lease transferring to new employer. My understanding is that lease effectively terminates and new employer would have no right of entry, yet employees are being told to continue to use building as place of work, for 10 days or so, to allow assets to be removed. Could I personally be breaking the law by entering building? I do not know if landlord is as yet aware that the legal entity undertaking lease, a UK Ltd company, has gone into administration.

[ULA]

Do you know whether the lease has been assigned to the pre-pack buyer?

[ps1968]

Lease definitely not assigned to pre pack buyer. Buyer refused to buy with lease, cost of rent was deal breaker that forced this course of action.

[ULA]

Is it your new employer who has not taken on the lease asking you to attend that site?

I am not sure this is an employment question but my view would be that if the new employer does not have a lease and therefore does not have permission for access, then business cannot be carried on from these premises.

Tag atticus - can you assist on this one?

[atticus]

I agree with ULA in not understanding why you are being asked to attend these premises if they are not being taken on by the buyer. Might there be some short term arrangement?

You ay ask what is going on.

[Manxman]

I agree with ULA in not understanding why you are being asked to attend these premises if they are not being taken on by the buyer. Might there be some short term arrangement?

You ay ask what is going on.

Isn't the OP being asked to attend in order to remove from the premises "assets" that used to belong to the old employer and have now been bought by the new employer?

The OP is concerned that in the circumstances (their new employer has not taken over the lease) that he no longer has authority to enter the premises and may be breaking some law if he does so.

The OP might feel that if he does ask what is going on, that he might not get a truthful answer...(?)

[ULA]

If the old employer has given up the right to the lease and the new employer has not taken it on then what springs to mind is the landlord saying anyone on the site is trespassing. The landlord may have given permission for people to enter to remove assets but I think that needs to be confirmed.

[atticus]

In the absence of information, all we can do is speculate.

[Manxman]

There might be several very good reasons why the landlord be extremely unhappy about stuff being removed from the premises if the tenant is in administration...