Lilian and John met at the recent football match between Manchester United and Barcelona. While speaking during the first half of the match, a friendship/relationship developed between them, and they exchanged contact numbers before they left the stadium. A week after the match, they met at a restaurant to have dinner. While waiting to be served, Lilian told John that she was selling her Westfield grocery shop. Two days later, without any knowledge that John would be interested in buying the shop, Lilian advertised the sale of the grocery shop for £870,000 as a going concern on LinkedIn and jobs.co.uk. Later, on the day of the advertisement, Lilian made an offer to sell the grocery shop to John for £800,000 as a going concern. Lilian went on to state that if John wishes to buy the shop, he must communicate his acceptance 'personally' to her by the 29th of April at 12 pm. On the 27th of April, John posted a letter to Lilian stating that he instructed his solicitors to accept the offer. The letter was delayed and only reached Lilian at 11 am on the 29th of April. Lilian didn't open the letter. By 1 pm, on the 29th of April, Brian emailed Lilian offering to buy the grocery shop at the stated price of £870,000 or a £2000 extra payment beyond any offer received, if any. Uncertain of whether John would accept the offer, Lilian went on to accept Brian's offer by replying to his email immediately. At 1:30 pm, John sent Lilian an email highlighting that he had sent a letter by post on the 27th of April. However, Lilian ignored John's email having already accepted Brian's offer. John is threatening to seek redress before a court of law. 

Advise Lilian.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The above scenario can be analysed on the basis of contract law This is shown below Offer an... View the full answer