Limitation periods, amendment and substitution of parties

In Cameron Taylor Consulting Ltd and Cameron Taylor One Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 31 the Court of Appeal refused permission to the claimant to amend its claim in order to add an additional defendant because it was reasonably arguable that the relevant limitation period had expired by the time that the amendments were made. The claimant could not avoid this conclusion by seeking to constrain the case it put to the court to matters it believed were within the relevant limitation period. This conclusion rendered it unnecessary for the Court of Appeal to consider whether the claimant was entitled to substitute another party for the defendant named in the proposed amendment, but consideration was nevertheless given to the issue, and it was held that this was a case in which substitution would have been permitted had the limitation period not expired because the mistake made by the claimant was one of nomenclature and, but for the mistake, the amended claim would have been brought against the party who it was proposed to substitute for the named defendant.