Edwardian Group Limited (EGL), the parent company of Edwardian Hotels London, has successfully defended a claim for over £2 million brought against it in the High Court by the Claimant, Parker Lloyd Capital Limited (formerly Parker Lloyd Capital Plc).
The claim was based on an allegation that an oral agreement had been entered into between Edwardian Group Limited and Rajnikant Hansraj Mehta and Pravin Mokar Shah from Parker Lloyd, under which it was alleged that EGL agreed to pay the Claimant 1% ‘finder’s fee’ if they introduced Edwardian Group Limited to a significant lender.
On 16th October 2017 the High Court accepted the evidence of Edwardian Group Limited’s witnesses, finding that no contract had been entered into, and dismissed the claim in its entirety.
In his judgement Mr. Justice Lavender stated: “I acknowledge, in reaching the conclusion that there was no contract, that it may well be that some or all of the Claimant’s witnesses were lying in some of the evidence which they gave. It is unnecessary for me to decide whether and, if so, in what respects, they were being deliberately untruthful, or were mistaken in their recollection or had subconsciously convinced themselves of the truth of matters which were in fact untrue. All of these would affect the reliability of their evidence, and I have already identified a number of grounds for regarding their evidence as unreliable.”
In conclusion he said: “For these reasons, I conclude that there was no contract between the parties and therefore no fee is due from the Defendant to the Claimant. I dismiss the Claimant’s claim."
