Claims of “inducing breach of contract”, “unlawful interference”, and “conspiracy” are often thought of as more at home in litigation between warring oligarchs than in a construction dispute over works to a Devon manor house. But the extraordinary way these works were procured and brought to a premature end, and the tactics used to avoid subsequent claims, justified the use of those claims in Palmer Birch vs Michael Lloyd and Christopher Lloyd.

The defendants were two brothers, Michael and Christopher Lloyd. Michael owned the manor house through a Cypriot company, SHL, in which he was the sole shareholder. He wished to renovate, but for tax and domicile reasons decided to set up a company, HHL, through which the works would be procured. Christopher would be HHL’s sole shareholder and sole director.

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