The Crown Estate, which manages the sovereign’s property portfolio, has struck a compromise on a prime retail outlet in London’s Piccadilly Circus after opposing the opening of a discount clothes seller for not being of sufficiently high class.

TK Maxx had agreed with the leaseholder, Criterion Capital, to open a new flagship store on the site, but the deal was heading to the high courts after it was blocked by the Crown Estate. The terms of the lease insist on a ‘high class’ retail unit.

Instead, Criterion, which owns the nearby Trocadero, will open its own souvenir store for the tourist market, called Cool Britannia. The store was previously occupied by Virgin Megastore.

Financial Times