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moot court help

Supaprint PlcvWitherton Ltd1In January 2009, Witherton’s, a company that owned a chain of 200 large pubs across the UK, contracted with Supaprint, a commercial printing company, to print 2,000 copies of posters and 5,000 flyers for a new promotional campaign, designed to allow them to compete better against their rivals in times of economic downturn. The posters included details of the chain’s ‘new and improved menu’ and various attached promotions (such as curry night, where customers could get one of a selection of four curries plus a pint of beer for £5.50). The contract price was £250,000 and Supaprint’s logo and web address was to be included in small print on the bottom right hand corner of each poster and flyer. Witherton’s paid £50,000 in advance in order to secure priority over Supaprint’s other commitments.Before the printing of the posters and flyers was complete, the Government banned all advertising of cheap alcohol promotions. The Government was acting in preparation for the fact that a European Directive requiring EU member states to ban all alcohol advertising was to come into force in 2012, but had brought in this part of the ban three years earlier than expected, following pressure from health campaigners concerned about the impact of ‘binge drinking’. When this happened, Witherton’s contacted Supaprint saying that they no longer wanted the promotional material but Simon Powell, the managing director of the company said that as the print run had started, they had to complete it, and they would then deliver the goods and claim the balance of the contract price. Witherton’s argued that the contract had been discharged and said they wish to recover the £50,000 that they had already paid to Supaprint.Supaprint completed the work and delivered the posters to Witherton’s head office. They spent £180,000 printing the posters and flyers which now cannot be used for any other purpose. As a result of prioritising Witherton’s work, they also were a week late in completing a lucrative contract for Tenco’s supermarket, with the result that they had to pay a £30,000 liquidated damages penalty.Supaprint claimed the contract price from Witherton’s, saying that they had been entitled to complete performance and deliver the goods under the principle established in White