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The Claimant, Dwyer (UK Franchising) Limited, appeals paragraph 3 of the order of Jones J sitting as a High Court Judge at the Business and Property Courts dated 17 May 2021 by which he declared that the restrictive covenants contained in clauses 18.2.1.1, 18.2.1.2, 19.3.1 and 18.3.2 are unenforceable as between the Claimant and each of the Defendants to whom those sub-clauses apply and the Claimant’s claim for injunctive relief is dismissed.
The Claimant is the franchisor of the `Drain Doctor’ plumbing and drain repair services franchise. On 4 October 2018 it entered into a franchise agreement with Fredbar Limited (D1) as franchisee and Mr Bartlett (D2) as guarantor. The Claimant claimed that D1 committed a repudiatroy breach when it purported to terminate the agreement by letter dated 16 July 2020 and no longer accepted it was bound by its terms. The Claimant sought damages for breach of the agreement and also sought injunctive relief to prevent the operation of a new business of D1 called `Daily Drains’.
Jones J gave judgment on liability for the Claimant but found that the restrictive covenants were unenforceable and dismissed the Claimant’s application for injunctive relief.
To access the Court of Appeal’s YouTube Channel, click here.
Read the previous article on this case here: Dwyer v Fredbar: when to designate Covid-19 as force majeure
David E Grant QC is a chancery and commercial practitioner with specialist expertise in pensions, trusts, tax, will and estates, professional negligence, financial services, asset recovery, insolvency and employment.
He has extensive advocacy experience in courts and tribunals up to the European Court of Justice. He has also attended numerous mediations and round table meetings in a wide variety of cases. David is happy as sole advocate, being led and/or leading a junior and enjoys the process of working in a team with his instructing solicitors.
David has been recommended in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 since 2007 and is described as “The go-to junior for Part 8 and professional negligence claims concerning pension schemes.”
His clients have included many leading business including the Atos Group, British Airways, BT, ITV, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, Aegon and Transport for London. He has also acted for the Pensions Protection Fund, the Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Ombudsman as well as leading professional service companies such as Aon, Mercer and Barnett Waddingham as well as various high net worth individuals.
David studied law at undergraduate and post-graduate level at the University of Oxford and lectured and tutored as SOAS and Queen Mary and Westfield College respectively. He has spoken extensively at domestic and international conferences
To find out more, contact Matt Sale +44 (0)20 7427 4910 for a confidential discussion.
Anson Cheung practises in international arbitration, construction and commercial litigation including financial services, professional negligence and pensions.
She was awarded a full-ride merit-based scholarship, the Swire Scholarship, for her undergraduate degree, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a Double First in Jurisprudence. She then achieved a Distinction on the BCL at Oxford. During her studies, Anson represented the University of Oxford twice in international moots, and won the Herbert Smith Freehills Oxford Disability Mooting Championship 2017. She was a research assistant to Professor Timothy Endicott and contributed to comparative law reports that were submitted to the US Supreme Court, as organised by Oxford Pro Bono Publico.
Prior to starting the BPTC, Anson worked in the Legal Office of the UN World Food Programme in Rome. For the BPTC, Anson was awarded the most prestigious scholarship at Gray’s Inn, the Bedingfield Scholarship, and an Advocacy Award for aptitude in advocacy from BPP University. She was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 2019.
To find out more, contact Sam Carter on +44 (0)203 989 6669 or Colin Bunyan on +44 (0)20 7427 4886 for a confidential discussion.
News 23 May, 2022
Call: 1999 Silk: 2022
