Dwyer (UK Franchising) Ltd (claimant/appellant) v Fredbar Ltd & anr (defendants/respondents)

Tuesday 24 – Wednesday 25 May 2022

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.

C 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. C claimed that D1 committed a repudiatroy breach when it purported to terminate the agreement by letter dated 16 July 202 and no longer accepted it was bound by its terms. C 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 C but found that the restrictive covenants were unenforceable and dismissed C’s application for injunctive relief.

View hearing:

Day 1

Part 1

Part 2

Day 2

Part 1 (final part)