Mr D Williams and others (see schedule) v Mrs Caroline Timmons t/a Hillside Care Home and 3 others — 2019

This was a preliminary hearing to decide whether Mr Paul Williams and Mrs Catherine Williams should remain respondents in claims brought by former Hillside Care Home employees. The underlying claims, as described in the reasons, were for holiday pay, unpaid wages and notice pay after the home closed on 5 October 2018 and the staff were made redundant.

The tribunal accepted that Paul and Catherine Williams were actively involved in running the home and had supported the business financially, including by guaranteeing the bank loan and making loans to the business. It held, however, that those facts did not make them partners. The tribunal relied on the purchase documents, CQC registration, financial accounts, HMRC material and a joint expert report, all of which identified Donn Timmons and Caroline Timmons as the partners. It also found there was no evidence that Paul and Catherine Williams took drawings from the business, and that they were paid by salary through PAYE instead.

The tribunal found that Donn Timmons’ correspondence in late 2015 and early 2016 referred to him as a partner and to the business as jointly owned, and that the March 2016 settlement document was between Donn Timmons and Caroline Williams only. It held that the document did not show a dissolution of the existing partnership or the creation of a new partnership including Paul and Catherine Williams. The tribunal concluded that Paul and Catherine Williams were not partners at any time up to the claimants’ dismissals and therefore removed them as respondents. The claims were to proceed against Mrs Caroline Timmons and Mr Donn Timmons only. No substantive remedy was decided at this hearing.