Businessman loses £27m fight over ‘betrayal’

Window firm boss faces huge court bill

A BUSINESSMAN involved in the window installation industry who claimed that a former associate owed him nearly £27m has lost a High Court fight.

John Ross, who turned down a £1m settlement offer from Mitu Misra, has been left to pick up lawyers’ bills likely to run into several million pounds.

He claimed that Mr Misra had “reneged on their deal” and said that “betrayal” pushed him into insolvency.

Judge John Kimbell dismissed his claim against Mr Misra yesterday after analysing evidence at a High Court trial in London late last year.

The judge said Mr Ross and Mr Misra had founded Safestyle UK – a company which floated on the stock market in 2013 and was the market leader in the sale and installation of uPVC windows – in Bradford during the early 1990s.

Mr Ross said Mr Misra held £26.9m worth of shares on trust for him. He said Mr Misra had “orally agreed” to hold the shares a decade ago.

But Mr Misra denied that he held shares on trust and denied “any betrayal”.

He said the shares were transferred to him under a share and purchase agreement and said Mr Ross had become insolvent owing to the failure of other business ventures.

Judge Kimbell said he was satisfied, on a balance of probabilities,

that the share and purchase agreement was genuine and it had been intended by both men for it to be binding.

He said he was “more than satisfied”, on a balance of probabilities, that Mr Misra had not promised to hold any Safestyle shares on trust for Mr Ross.

Lawyers had told the judge how at an early stage of the litigation Mr Ross turned down a settlement offer.

Judge Kimbell said there had been a “£1m offer in an envelope, which was rejected”.

The judge said Mr Ross had failed in his claim and would have to pick up Mr Misra’s legal bills as well as his own.

Lawyers acting for Mr Misra told the judge that their total bill would be £1.8m.

The judge said Mr Ross, who is in his 50s and from Leeds, described himself on a Linked-in profile as being “an astute and driven businessman”.

He said Mr Ross had worked 18-hour days at the height of his involvement with Safestyle, which by 2005 had sales of £100m a year and 2,300 staff.

The judge said Mr Ross had “led the lifestyle of a millionaire” and had expensive sports cars, a large house, a chauffeur, a farm and a wine bar.

He added that Mr Ross had recovered from insolvency in 2010, and was now back in the window installation trade at director level.

Safestyle UK warned in October 2018 that it would make an annual loss of more than £8m after facing stiff competition from a new rival, Safe Glaze, which later closed down.

But Safestyle said its workforce had grown significantly as agents returned in large numbers following the closure, leading to a rise in its share price.

The judge said John Ross had ‘led the lifestyle of a millionaire’ and had expensive sports cars.