AVANTON CAPITAL CC LTD v LUC CONSTRUCTION LTD

[2026] EWHC 2630 (TCC), Technology and Construction Court, Constable J, 15 October 2026

Adjudication – Stay of execution – Financial position of the parties

The claimant applied for summary judgment in order to enforce the decision of an adjudicator. The defendant applied for a stay of execution pursuant to CPR 83.7(4). The application was made on the basis that the claimant would probably be unable to repay the judgment sum at the end of the substantive trial or arbitration in the event that the adjudicator’s decision was reversed and that the claimant’s financial position had substantially deteriorated after entry into the contract with the defendant. Reliance was also sought to be placed on the fact that the defendant’s financial position was such that it would likely be forced to cease trading and would not be able to continue to a final determination of the account by the arbitration which it had commenced, that the defendant was the beneficiary of adjudicator’s decisions in which it was found that the claimant’s valuation of the notified sum was overstated and that it was likely to be the net payee after account was taken of the arbitrations which it was pursuing.