UK High Court upholds restraint on ex-franchisee

Ms Read carried on trading in the oven cleaning business in her former territory following termination, again a fact she did not deny. Ms Read (who appeared in person at the hearing) admitted to the judge that she wanted to carry on trading in her former territory as it had taken 18 months to build up the business within that area and she would have to start again if she was prohibited from working in that territory. 

As the judge pointed out, Ms Read was openly admitting that she used her franchise business as a springboard to set up her own, competing business which is precisely what restrictive covenants are designed to prevent and it is the goodwill in the franchisee's territory that a franchisor is entitled to protect.