London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 25, 2025

Businessman loses court battle against parents over caravan empire

Businessman loses court battle against parents over caravan empire

Ivy and Alldey Loveridge, 75 and 78 respectively, have succeeded in overturning a High Court ruling that granted their son Michael, 50, interim control over the family caravan empire.

Multimillionaire businessman, 50, who tried to jail his elderly parents and take their home loses bitter court battle over their £10 million caravan empire

* Ivy and Alldey Loveridge overturn High Court ruling giving control to their son
* The 50-year-old operates five caravan parks based in Bewdley, Worcestershire
* Michael still trying to jail mother for alleged breaches of partnership injunction

A multimillionaire businessman who threatened to take his parents' home away from them has lost a legal battle after they appealed against a High Court ruling granting him control of the family caravan empire.

Michael Loveridge, 50, and his parents Ivy, 75, and Alldey, 78, are fighting for control of the family's chain of caravan parks and caravan sales business based in Bewdley, Worcestershire.

The 50-year-old is a director of several of the family companies involved in the fight, one of which controls £5m worth of assets and another which has almost £5m more in capital, according to Companies House.

But his parents are majority shareholders in most of the companies, which, until earlier this year, gave them control over the empire.

Ivy, 75, and Alldey, 78, (both pictured) have succeeded in an Appeal Court fight to overturn a High Court ruling which gave Michael interim control over the family's caravan empire


50-year-old Michael Loveridge (pictured with his wife Suehelen) is a director of several of the family companies involved in the fight, one of which controls £5m worth of assets and another which has almost £5m more in capital



The High Court granted two court orders, in April and May, which gave Michael interim control over the three business partnerships and five family companies.

The court orders could also have seen Michael's parents sent to jail if they tried to interfere.

Now though, Ivy and Alldey have succeeded in an Appeal Court fight to overturn the High Court ruling.

Lance Ashworth QC, who represented Ivy and Alldey, said: 'In an email dated 10th June 2020, Michael's solicitor suggested that the eponymous site owned by Riverside 'should be sold first'...and said that Ivy and Alldey, Michael's parents, 'will be required to give up vacant possession' of their home, a bungalow located on the Riverside site, when that site was 'disposed of'.


At Birmingham High Court earlier this year, Michael's parents tried to have him removed as director of that company. It was during this court battle that he was granted interim control of the day-to-day running of the caravan empire



'This threat to take their home off them was undoubtedly an attempt to apply pressure on Ivy and Alldey and/or to provoke them. It is hardly the sort of act one would expect of a son towards his parents.'

Mr Ashworth argued that the High Court's decision to grant Michael sole interim control over the family businesses was baseless and that Judge McCahill had acted in 'a way no reasonable judge would have'.

He said: 'The Loveridge business empire was founded by Ivy and Alldey around 1973, when Michael was about three years old. Michael claims much of the credit for the businesses' growth and success.

'Ivy and Alldey deny Michael's version of events. A great deal regarding the history of the businesses, and the roles and conduct of various members of the family in relation to them, is hotly disputed.

'Michael has fallen out with Ivy and Alldey and his siblings. The reasons for this are again highly contentious.'


The court orders could also have seen Michael's parents sent to jail if they tried to interfere



However, David Stockill who represented Michael, said that Judge McCahill had made the right decision because his client was now the driving force behind the business.

He said: 'Michael was the driving force of the expansion of the business... Michael was the person who was exercising day-to-day control of the business and had principally been responsible for their strategic development.

'It is not that Alldey and Ivy have not contributed. So far as the acquisition, ownership and management of sites is concerned, Michael had a good starting point.

'His parents had thus contributed the 'seed capital'. They have been well rewarded with the significantly larger interests in the partnerships and companies which Michael allowed them, and does not challenge.

'He did this out of filial loyalty and family responsibility in circumstances where many other individuals would have considered their own interests further.'


The Loveridge family run a chain of caravan parks and caravan sales business based in Bewdley, Worcestershire. Pictured: Riverside Caravan Park

Despite this legal defeat, Michael still intends on going ahead with his attempts to have his mother, brother and sister sent to jail for allegedly breaching the partnership injunction while it was in place. Pictured: Bewdley Caravan Sales


The Court of Appeal ruled that both the partnership order and the companies order imposed by Judge McCahill were to be discharged.

Lord Justice Lewison, Lord Justice Floyd and Lady Justice Asplin will give their reasons at a later date.

Despite this legal defeat, Michael still intends on going ahead with his attempts to have his mother, brother and sister sent to jail for allegedly breaching the partnership injunction while it was in place.

Mr Ashworth said: 'Eighteen counts of contempt are alleged. Ivy denies that she is guilty of any of them.'

The fight for control of the empire is now set to go back to the High Court for a full trial on a date yet to be set.

Mr Ashworth said the bitter feud initially flared up when Ivy and Alldey accused Michael of having 'misappropriated' £1.25m from one of the family companies to purchase another caravan park for himself.

At Birmingham High Court earlier this year, Michael's parents tried to have him removed as director of that company.

It was during this court battle that he was granted interim control of the day-to-day running of the caravan empire - including the winding up of two business partnerships which would have seen his parents forced to leave their home, said Mr Ashworth.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
Corrupt UK Politician Ed Davey Demands Elon Musk’s Arrest for Supporting Democracy
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
Documents Reveal Mandelson Failed to Declare Epstein-Funded Flights as MP in 2003
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Harris Memoir Sparks Backlash from Democrats for Blunt Critiques in ‘107 Days’
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Japan’s ‘Death-Tainted’ Homes Gain Appeal as Prices Soar in Tokyo
Massive Attack Withdraws from Spotify Over Daniel Ek’s €600M Defence-AI Investment
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
Why Google Search Is Fading and AI Is Taking Its Place
×