Lance Ashworth KC and Dan McCourt Fritz KC acted on behalf of the successful appellants, THG plc and others, in this unfair prejudice petition, instructed by Catherine Naylor and Tom Cox at Gowling WLG (UK) LLP.

The Court of Appeal held that they were not bound by the ratio of the earlier Court of Appeal decision in Bailey v Cherry Hill Skip Hire Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 531 and that contrary to “over 40 years’ received wisdom”, limitation periods do apply to unfair prejudice petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006.  The limitation period is 12 years under section 8 of the Limitation Act 1980, unless the claim is one for compensation or monetary relief where the limitation period is 6 years under section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980.  The Court of Appeal also held that the provisions of section 35 of the Limitation Act 1980 and CPR 17.4 apply to applications to amend an unfair prejudice petition.

The detailed judgment of Lewison LJ will be of great interest to anyone practising in this area as well as anyone seeking to address the ratio of a prior decision. 

Paul Chaisty KC (instructed through King’s Chambers) represented the respondent.

To read the judgment, please click here