Mr Hunt v W1 Hardware Limited — 2025

The hearing was a preliminary issue on whether Mr Hunt transferred to W1 Hardware Limited on or after 7 January 2023 under regulation 3(1)(a) TUPE following the alleged purchase of F.S. Blake & Sons Limited. The tribunal found that FS Blake was not sold to W1 Hardware Limited: the share purchase agreement showed a share sale to Saz Bek and Pasar Saleh, and there was no documentation or oral evidence of any subsequent acquisition of the business by W1 Hardware Limited.

The tribunal accepted that W1 Hardware Limited paid Mr Hunt's wages and SSP between January and March 2023 and later issued a P45 naming it as employer. It found those arrangements were explained by payroll practicalities while FS Blake lacked PAYE facilities, and that they did not show W1 Hardware Limited had taken over the day-to-day running of Blakes of Belgravia or stepped into the shoes of the employer. Mr Kawa's involvement was more likely in his capacity as a director of FS Blake than on behalf of W1 Hardware Limited.

Because there was no transfer to W1 Hardware Limited, all of Mr Hunt's claims against that respondent were dismissed. The tribunal also refused to add FS Blake as a substitute respondent under rule 35, citing delay, unfairness to FS Blake, and the overriding objective. The judgment records that section 218 ERA 1996 was not pursued, and the tribunal did not reach the merits of the dismissal, contract, wages, working time, or disability discrimination allegations.