Fashion tycoon’s £3m court fight with his ex-wife 10 years after split
A TEACHER who built a £30million fashion empire is battling a court order to share the fortune with his former wife – more than a decade after they divorced.
Glenn Briers was working full time as a teacher when he started his clothing business in 1988 with £81 of his own money.
By the time he separated from fellow teacher Nicola Briers in 2002 after 18 years of marriage and three children, the business was making £1million a year. And it has since grown into a major fashion chain, incorporating well-known brands Lambretta and Vision Street Wear – and turning over up to £30million.
When the couple divorced, Mr Briers gave his wife £150,000 to pay off the mortgage and let her keep their £700,000 family home, a court was told. She also got £10,000 a year, plus child maintenance – but he kept the business.
Mr Briers, 61, says they made a verbal agreement back in 2005 that their ‘settlement’ would represent a clean break. But, after her relationship with her new partner broke down, 58-yearold Mrs Briers asked the divorce courts for more.
And a judge found she deserved a £2.7million slice of his £10million fortune last year. Now Mr Briers, of Willenhall, West Midlands, is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn the ‘unfair’ decision.
He had offered his ex-wife an extra £562,000 to settle the claim.
Justin Warshaw QC, for Mrs Briers, insisted the judge’s decision should be allowed to stand, and that no legal settlement between the pair had been finalised ‘The whole process was dictated by the husband,’ he said.
He added that Mrs Briers had made a ‘huge contribution’ by caring for the children while the company grew.
Lady Justice Rafferty, Lord Justice Lindblom and Sir Ernest Ryder will give their ruling at a later date.