Mr. C Bailey Second Claimant: Ms. A Lapkiewicz First v Secretary of State for Business and Trade Second Respondent: Goldsmith (London) Ltd (in creditors voluntary liquidation) Third Respondent: Powder Mill Projects Limited — 2026

The tribunal found that, before 8 February 2025, the Second Respondent was an economic entity comprising an organised grouping of resources pursuing economic activity through quantity surveying and project management services on large construction projects. Its business had reduced significantly following a dispute with Berkeley Homes, and it stopped trading on 7 February 2025.

Applying regulation 3(1)(a) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and a multifactorial assessment, the tribunal found no evidence that this economic entity retained its identity and transferred to the Third Respondent. The Third Respondent undertook different work for private clients, took over none of the Second Respondent's projects or ongoing work, employed no quantity surveyors or project managers, and took approximately a year to build up its business. The later acquisition of assets for £6,000 plus VAT, the use of the same group address, and the commencement of work by the directors and accounts manager for the Third Respondent did not establish a transfer in the circumstances found.

The tribunal therefore held that there was no relevant transfer under TUPE from the Second Respondent to the Third Respondent. No monetary remedy was determined in this judgment; the £6,000 figure concerned an offer to acquire company assets and was not an award to either claimant.