- Ord v Belhaven Pubs Ltd
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Ord v Belhaven Pubs Ltd 
Court Court of Appeal Citation(s) [1998] 2 BCLC 447 Keywords Lifting the corporate veil Ord v Belhaven Pubs Ltd [1998] 2 BCLC 447 is a UK company law case concerning piercing the corporate veil.
Contents
Facts
Mr and Mrs Ord ran the Fox Inn in Stamford, Lincs. They were in an ongoing dispute with the freehold owner, Belhaven Pubs Ltd, for misrepresentation about the level profitability of the pub. However Belhaven Pubs Ltd was part of a company group structure that had been reorganised, and had no assets left. Mr and Mrs Ord requested that a company with money, Ascott Holdings Ltd, be substituted for Belhaven Pubs Ltd to enforce the judgment. At first instance the judge granted this order. Belhaven Pubs Ltd appealed.
Judgment
The Court of Appeal overturned the judge and held that the reorganisation was a legitimate one, and not done to avoid an existing obligation. Hobhouse LJ argued that the reorganisation, even though it resulted in Belhaven Pubs Ltd having no further assets, was done as part of a response to the group's financial crisis. There was no ulterior motive.
Hobhouse LJ also held, specifically, that the earlier case of Creasey v Breachwood Motors Ltd was wrong.
See also
Corporate personality cases Case of Sutton's Hospital (1612) 77 ER 960Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22Macaura v Northern Assurance Co Ltd [1925] AC 619Gilford Motor Co Ltd v Horne [1933] Ch 935Lee v Lee’s Air Farming [1961] AC 12Jones v Lipman [1962] 1 WLR 832Wallersteiner v Moir [1974] 1 WLR 991DHN Ltd v Tower Hamlets LBC [1976] 1 WLR 852Woolfson v Strathclyde Regional Council [1978] UKHL 5Adams v Cape Industries plc [1990] Ch 433Lubbe v Cape Plc [2000] UKHL 41Chandler v Cape plc [2011] EWHC 951 (QB)- UK company law
- Lifting the corporate veil
Notes
References
External links
Categories:- United Kingdom company case law
- United Kingdom corporate personality cases
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