Payments Pro Ltd & Ors v Freelancer and Contractor Services Association Ltd

Facts

Freelancer and Contractor Services Association Ltd (FCSA) is a company limited by guarantee that acts as a trade association and voluntary accreditation body for the professional resourcing sector. The four claimants are umbrella employers under common ownership, and all were members of FCSA. It was common ground that FCSA membership is a "kitemark" in the industry. The claimants said that 70–75% of their clients will only contract with FCSA members. FCSA objected when the first claimant moved to an "SPV Model". The parties then agreed "SPV Terms", and the first, second and fourth claimants signed them in January 2025, together with revised Terms and Conditions containing a new Section 4(q). On 1 August 2025 FCSA alleged that the first and second claimants had breached the SPV Terms and gave them 21 business days to rectify the breaches. On 27 November 2025 it terminated all four memberships. It relied on Section 12.3 of the SPV Terms for the first and second claimants and on a group-withdrawal provision, Section 10(i) of the Terms and Conditions, for the third and fourth. The claimants said FCSA had no power to terminate on that basis, or could not do so without following its Disciplinary Process or complying with a Braganza duty. By an application dated 8 April 2026, they sought summary judgment on this "membership issue", or strike-out of the Defence, on four grounds. FCSA asked the court to use its case management powers to strike out the claimants' case on the issue of its own motion.