Foreman wins motel battle

Diane Foreman established the Emerald Group investment company. Photo / Richard Robinson

Multi-millionaire Diane Foreman has been awarded nearly $60,000 after a Rugby World Cup booking went bad at her Auckland motel.

French travel agency Groupe Couleur took Foreman's Emerald Inn on Takapuna beach to the High Court after its accommodation booking for the cup was cancelled.

The Lyon-based firm agreed in April 2010 to rent all but two of the inn's rooms for 42 days during the cup. They were intended for use by journalists from a French television station. Under the agreement, Groupe Couleur was due to front up with 50 per cent of the accommodation costs as a non-refundable deposit, which was to be paid in instalments and amounted to more than $340,000.

Although $136,000 was paid, there were delays with the remainder and changes to the booking.

By November 2010, Emerald Inn "had run out of patience" with the agency and told it the "agreement was at an end and the deposits that were paid were forfeited", according to court documents.

A director of Groupe Couleur, David Chevalier, disputed this and said Emerald Inn "had no right to retain the deposits" and that it would be dishonest to do so. The row ended up in court where as well as suing for the return of the deposit, the travel firm also sought $202,840 in damages and legal costs.

Emerald Inn, in turn, argued that Groupe Couleur had breached its contract and filed a counterclaim for damages.

Although the inn relet rooms for the cup after cancelling the booking, it argued it did not get the amount it would have under the Groupe Couleur agreement.

In his decision, Justice Murray Gilbert found in favour of Foreman and ordered that Groupe Couleur pay $58,658 to Emerald Inn in addition to the deposit already paid.

Emerald Inn is wholly owned by Foreman's Emerald Group.The motel's website says Takapuna's "best-kept secret" offers studios, cottages and poolside suites.

Foreman has been in the corporate world for more than two decades. In 1996, she negotiated the $130-million sale of Trigon to United States buyers and went on to establish the Emerald Group investment company, which exports the New Zealand Natural icecream brand across the world.

She was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in the New Year honours.