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An auction was announced for the lease and goodwill of certain industrial premises to be sold by the order of Laythoarp, the proprietor who was retiring from the trade. Bryan (D) signed a memo of the purchase at the back of a paper containing the particulars and conditions of sale. The auctioneer knew who D was and thus he did not require D to pay a deposit. P’s solicitor sent D an abstract of P’s title and called upon him to proceed with the purchase. D refused to complete the purchase and returned the abstract. All further attempts to consummate the transaction were rebuffed. P then sold the premises again for a lesser sum of money and then sued D for the difference in price. P got the verdict. D moved to set the verdict aside on the ground that P’s name was not in the contract and it was not signed by P, and thus the contract was not binding upon D for want of mutuality and under the statute of frauds.

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