Godwin Group Directors Sued For £155M, Assets Frozen

The directors of collapsed property companies in the Godwin Group have been sued for around £155M and have had their assets frozen by the high court.

Administrators from MHA last week told investors in Godwin companies that are owed more than £150M that a claim was lodged in the High Court at the end of May. 

“The Joint Administrators issued claims and obtained freezing and proprietary injunctions against the directors and associated companies in the High Court of Justice on 22 May 2026,” MHA administrators said in the letter to the more than 2,000 individual investors who put money into Godwin companies. 

“The claim is valued at c.£155M and is in respect of their mismanagement of Godwin Capital No.8 Ltd.”

The letter says the legal proceeding incorporates the following heads of claim: breach of directors’ fiduciary duties, fraudulent trading, and knowing receipt and dishonest assistance. 

“Pursuant to the injunctions, the directors’ assets are now frozen until the claims are determined or until the Court orders otherwise,” the letter says.  

Records on the website of the High Court show that proceedings have been brought against the four directors of Godwin Capital No. 8: Richard Johnston, Andrew Mitchell, Stephen Pratt and Stuart Pratt. 

Five companies that the quartet either individually or jointly control are also listed as defendants. The details of the claim are not yet publicly available. 

The directors and MHA did not respond to requests for comment on the legal claim. 

Godwin Capital No. 8 was one of several Godwin companies that raised money from individual investors in the form of loan notes that promised fixed returns of 10% to 12% after two years. It said the money would be invested in property developments and investments across the UK, particularly in roadside retail and small single-family housing developments. 

Altogether, Godwin raised £162M between 2019 and 2024 from individual investors across the world, some of whom put their life savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds into special purpose vehicles managed by the company.

In early 2024, investors raised concerns about the company’s performance, and that autumn, investors were told repayment of their interest and capital would be delayed — the market slowdown meant projects had not been completed and sold as anticipated. Then, in June 2025, the company went into administration. 

As revealed by Bisnow, administrators initially identified just £5M of assets that could be used to pay investors back. 

They found that investors’ money had not been secured on property assets as promised and that some money from later investors had been used to repay earlier investors. 

In the letter to investors this week, administrators at MHA said recoveries might rise to as much as £6M after their appointment to another two companies within the Godwin structure. 

An investigation by Bisnow found that Godwin was still raising money as late as September 2024 — nine months after internal concerns surfaced and after directors had already begun telling some investors their repayments would be delayed.

Many investors were brought in by salespeople and advisory firms earning hefty fees and commissions — sometimes well above industry norms. Emails obtained by Bisnow show these “introducers” competing on internal leaderboards, with top performers awarded bonuses including a Tuscany trip driving supercars like a McLaren 720S or Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder.