Styles Wood Ltd v GE CIF Trustees

[2020] EWHC 2694 (TCC) 

In Issue 244 we looked at the first case in the TCC following the Supreme Court decision in Bresco (see Issue 241). There the court held that the claimant John Doyle, who had been in liquidation for over six years, could not enforce an adjudicator’s decision in its favour.

Here the facts were very different from Bresco and John Doyle. S&W commenced a final account adjudication on 14 February 2020, but went into administration on 28 February 2020. The adjudicator awarded S&W some £700,000. Here, the administrators offered to ring-fence the adjudicator’s award, and also offered an ATE policy as security for the potential arbitration costs. There was also no third-party funder. 

As a result, the Judge granted summary enforcement and did not impose a stay. This was on the condition that the ATE policy was provided, and sums to be paid over were ring-fenced as offered, with such ring-fencing to continue until the conclusion of any appeal process from the arbitrator’s award.

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