A trendy upcoming fashion house. Eager to impress his bosses, Anthony is keen to secure new business for Rocco.

On Monday, Anthony visits ��House of Style’ Department store and meets Joyce to discuss an offer to supply them with the full range of ladies evening wear from Rocco’s new collection ��Midnight’. Garments from the Midnight range will retail from £1,000 upwards. Anthony knows that he needs to secure a deal to supply the garments for at least £500 per piece, however, desperate to make a sale and to establish a relationship with this large department store buyer, Anthony offers to supply the first 100 pieces at just £350 per piece. He gives Joyce until mid-day on Wednesday to respond to his offer.

Feeling happy with the way the morning’s meeting went, Anthony then visits a high street boutique called ��Jewels’. He agrees with Taz, the owner of Jewels, that he will supply Jewels with 20 garments from the Midnight range at £500 per piece, to be delivered the following Monday.

On returning to his office and checking Rocco’s sales targets, Anthony no longer feels so sure of himself and regrets having offered to supply the House of Style with 100 pieces at the low price of just £350 per piece. He immediately tries to contact Joyce by telephone to withdraw the offer but she has already left for the evening. He decides to withdraw the offer by letter at once, and he posts the withdrawal letter by first class post on Monday evening.

The following morning, Tuesday, Joyce arrives at her desk and types a letter of acceptance to Rocco Ltd as she realises the profit making potential of the deal. She asks her secretary to pop out and post it immediately. After she returns to her desk she notices an unopened letter bearing the logo of Rocco Ltd. She opens the letter
Joyce immediately telephones Anthony and informs him that she had already posted her letter of acceptance before she had opened her morning mail and that as far as she is concerned they have a deal.

Angry at the situation Anthony finds himself in, he immediately telephones Taz at Jewels boutique, and informs him that Rocco will not be delivering the 20 garments at £500 each next Monday as promised. Instead he tells Taz that if he still wants the garments, Taz will now have to pay £900 per piece. Taz is furious with this news. He has already taken 3 orders to sell dresses at £1500 per item from longstanding customers and felt sure that the range would be a big hit for Jewels and bring him large profits.

Advise Anthony as to whether or not he has reached a legally binding contract with Joyce to supply the full range of ladies evening wear.

AND

Assume Anthony has agreed a binding contract with Taz. Advise Taz as to the legal consequences of the telephone call he received from Anthony, refusing to supply the garments to Jewels on the following Monday at the price they had agreed.

Ensure you use relevant case law and persuasively apply relevant precedent to support your reasoning.

Please note that relevant case law and legislative provisions are available through Westlaw.