Thanks for the link Sandpiper.

It's clearly unfortunate for the business that new tenants have recently come into the parade on very high rents, which has prejudiced their prospects of getting the rent review they wanted, and even though the landlord has, in accordance with their mandate, made some allowance for them as a long-standing tenant - and in the interests of the community as a whole - it's left me wondering if they could have done a little bit more.

As I see it the bottom line is this:-
Even if the rent increase is out by £5,000 pa, that's roughly £100 pw, which is £16 per day (Mon-Sat) that they'd need to find in extra profit to cover the unforeseen and less comfortable part of the increase. If there's no scope for the business to cover this £16 per day by adapting slightly (perhaps by using the internet or by opening an extra hour or two per week or by negotiating a slightly better deal with their suppliers) to generate that additional profitability then that is very unfortunate for them and, possibly, for the community as well.

I feel some sympathy for both parties because I'm sure they will have both tried very hard to do the right thing. It's tough out there.