TAILOR SUES OVER WINE CHILLER DEFECTS AT MARYLEBONE FLAT

Tom Reimer, a master tailor, is suing International Food Services Equipment Ltd for approximately £550,000 at Central London County Court, claiming that faulty wine chillers installed at his Marylebone apartment damaged his wine collection. The three units, installed during a 2021 refurbishment of his £8 million flat, contained a 1-centimetre gap in their doors, according to Mr Reimer's case. He states that this gap allowed warm air to enter and cool air to escape, resulting in condensation and mould growth on bottle labels and potentially rendering some of the 1,500 bottles in his London collection "corked" and significantly reducing their value.

Mr Reimer is seeking £500,000 for the reduced value of his collection and a further £50,000 in other costs and losses. He holds a 20,000-bottle wine collection across his homes in London and Germany, comprising primarily rare Bordeaux and Rhone Valley reds. The tailor, from a wealthy German family, built his reputation in Hamburg during the 1990s and once outfitted opera singer Luciano Pavarotti with a white silk tailcoat. Industry experts confirm that damage to wine bottle labels substantially reduces their value on the collectors' market, as purchasers become cautious about the wine's integrity.

International Food Services Equipment Ltd, based in Croydon, denies liability. The company states that it did not design the doors and characterises the gap as a "hairline" feature representing industry standard design. The firm also contests Mr Reimer's account of the collection's value and blames any label damage on his repeated switching off of the units in response to noise complaints from neighbours.