Application for actions to be tried together refused

In Stonewater Ltd v BAM Construction Ltd and Stonewater Ltd v RPS Design Ltd [2020] EWHC 2226 (TCC) O’Farrell J rejected the claimant’s application for two separate actions to be tried together. Although there was a substantial degree of overlap between the two claims, the disparity in the parties’ readiness for trial in the two claims, the lack of an adequate explanation for the delay in pursuing one of the claims, together with the fact that the defendant in the first action would lose its trial date combined to persuade O’Farrell J that the balance of the competing considerations came down in favour of refusing the application. O’Farrell J also rejected an application by the defendant in the second action for the determination of a preliminary issue.