Business Law Case Analysis

This case study examines the legal proceedings of Blackpool & Fylde Aero Club v Blackpool Borough Council, focusing on the court's interpretation of tender invitations and the implications of unilateral contracts. The High Court's ruling in favor of the plaintiff was appealed, leading to a significant decision by the Court of Appeal regarding the binding nature of tender invitations. The case highlights the importance of clearly stated terms in tender processes and the potential for implied contractual obligations.

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Business Law Assignment
Conclusion and Court Outcome
16-Nov-17
(Student Details: )

CASE ANALYSIS 2
Part 3
Role of Court
In this case, the matter was first made before the High Court of Justice where the judge ruled in
the favour of the plaintiff. This led to the defendant appealing against this decision in the Court
of Appeal. The Court of Appeal was of the view that the invitation was an offer for considering
any such tender which had been submitted as per the requirements and the tenders which were
correctly submitted had to be deemed as an acceptance of such offer (Andrews, 2015). Thus, the
High Court of Justice played the role of deciding upon the matter and the Court of Appeal played
the role of holding if the ruling given by previous court was right or whether the same had been
erred.
Court Outcome
It was held by the Court of Appeal that a unilateral contract was present in this case, which
bound the defendant to consider the tender of the plaintiff. Lord Bingham considered the truth
behind the invitation to tender of the Council, which did not cover, in an explicit manner, that the
tender would be considered in time based manner or the conforming tenders. This is the reason
why the implications had to be considered. The Council also did no state that it would not be
bound by anything for doing anything. This meant that for a reasonable invitee he would
understand that the invitation meant that in case a timely and a proper tender was submitted, it
would be considered, as would be any other such tender. This decision elucidated only a few
number of invitations were sent for the tenders in a familiar, clear and orderly manner which
shows that a key part of the reasoning allowed the term to be implied (Bits of Law, 2012).

CASE ANALYSIS 3
Conclusion
Thus, the case of Blackpool & Flyde Aero Club v Blackpool Borough Council raised the question
before the court on whether the claims of plaintiff regarding a claim for breach of implied
promise by the defendant regarding time base tender not having been considered, had to be
upheld or not (Poole, 2016). The claim was ultimately upheld due to the factors considered by
the court.
To put it more clearly, there are some situations where an invitation to tender could result in
binding contractual obligations for the invitor, with regards to considering the tenders which
fulfilled the tender conditions (Swarb, 2017). As the tenders had been requested by the defendant
from certain selected parties, where all of these parties were known to the invitor, i.e., the
defendant, and the invitation of the defendant for tendering the stipulated clear, familiar and
orderly procedure, where the draft contract conditions were included and available for
inspection, though these were not open for negotiations, a stipulated common tender form, an
absolute deadline and the supply of the envelopes which were formed for preserving the
anonymity of the tenderers in an absolute manner, implied that where the invite submitted the
tender in the stated manner before the stated deadline, the tender sending party would have the
right, as a contractual right, for getting the tender opened up and also considered with the their
tenders which had been submitted in a timely manner and as per the prescribed conditions. As a
result of this, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the defendant in this case (Department
of Private Law and Law History, 2017).
This decision remains controversial even till date as it fails to give clarity on exactly when a
particular invitation for tender could be subjected to implied terms. Hence, when any person calls
for a tender, they need to clearly state the terms on which the tenders would be considered.

CASE ANALYSIS 4
Where there is a lack of express conditions, the Courts would continue to have the power of
implying a duty on the person who requested for the tender, to consider the tenders submitted
before them. This gives the right to the tenderers to get their tenders considered when they are
made in a time based manner and also fulfil the conditions which are put by the tender inviting
person (Doyles Construction Lawyers, 2015).

CASE ANALYSIS 5
References
Andrews, N. (2015) Contract Law. 2nd ed. UK: Cambridge University Press
Bits of Law. (2012) Offer: Tenders. [Online] Bits of Law. Available from:
http://www.bitsoflaw.org/contract/formation/revision-note/degree/offer-tenders [Accessed on:
16/11/17]
Department of Private Law and Law History. (2017) Blackpool And Fylde Aero Club Ltd V
Blackpool Borough Council. [Online] Università Degli Studi Di Milano. Available from:
http://www.diprist.unimi.it/fonti/831.pdf [Accessed on: 16/11/17]
Doyles Construction Lawyers. (2015) Blackpool And Fylde Aero Club Ltd V Blackpool Borough
Council. [Online] Doyles Construction Lawyers. Available from:
http://doylesconstructionlawyers.com/casewatch-list/blackpool-and-flyde-aero-club-v-blackpool-
borough-council/ [Accessed on: 16/11/17]
Poole, J. (2016) Textbook on Contract Law. 13th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swarb. (2017) Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council: CA 25 May
1990. [Online] Swarb. Available from: http://swarb.co.uk/blackpool-and-fylde-aero-club-ltd-v-
blackpool-borough-council-ca-25-may-1990/ [Accessed on: 16/11/17]