Reuben brothers hit back in Stratford City dispute

The Reuben brothers, part of the joint venture planning to develop the £4bn Stratford City development, have declared their continuing desire to push ahead with the scheme, despite the leaseholder terminating the joint venture agreement last week.

In an open letter to leaseholder London & Continental Railways and the government, the developer described last week's termination as "unnecessary" and that the brothers were "committed to the development". "We want to see it happen. It is the case that the partnership has had a lot of problems. We don't think it is helpful to try and aportion blame. We think it is more important to find a solution," the letter added.

The Reuben brothers backed the proposal of a shoot-out auction between themselves and joint venture partner Westfield to develop the whole project and declared their desire to win it. "We stand ready and are willing to participate in that auction and we require no preconditions," the letter said.