Phones4u founder must pay partner £500,000

The billionaire founder of Phones4u has lost a court battle against his former financial adviser and must pay her £500,000 for her wrongful dismissal.

John Caudwell and Nathalie Dauriac, a former Coutts banker, became embroiled in a dispute after setting up a wealth management firm.

The company accused her of fiddling expenses and said she was guilty of gross misconduct in dismissing her.

However, Mr Justice Marcus Smith at the High Court concluded that Ms Dauriac had been “constructively dismissed”, and that there had been “no proper determination” of the value of her shares, to which she was entitled about £500,000.