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English courts can issue powerful freezing injunctions that prevent defendants from dealing with their assets, both domestically and worldwide. Understanding the four key requirements for obtaining such orders—including proving a good arguable case and demonstrating real risk of asset dissipation—is essential for overseas businesses involved in cross-border commercial disputes, whether pursuing claims or defending against them.

A construction materials supplier sought to enforce a personal guarantee against a former director for debts arising from a 2013 services agreement, but the director argued the guarantee only covered goods supplied under an earlier 2008 credit facility. The court examined whether the guarantee's broad language extended beyond its original purpose and whether subsequent contractual changes affected the guarantor's liability.

The UK Supreme Court has clarified that damages for loss of bargain may be recoverable even when a contract is terminated under an express contractual right, rather than for repudiatory breach. This landmark decision in Great Asia Maritime Limited v Orion Shipping and Trading LLC examines the interpretation of compensation clauses in standard form contracts and challenges long-held assumptions about the availability of future loss damages following contractual termination.