Former colleagues Laura Thurgood and Danielle Laight areA dog groomer who says her £90,000-a-year business went bust because of interference from a rival is locked in a High Court fight with her over rights to the name 'Wash Wiggle & Wag'.
Ms Thurgood's barrister Ian Silcock told Judge David Stone that she set up her thriving dog grooming business under the 'Wash Wiggle and Wag' name in 2018. In June 2018, she and other family members teamed up with Ms Laight, another local pet groomer, to help grow the enterprise - using her as a contractor as part of a business agreement, she says.Ms Thurgood says her business began to take off over the next two years as Wash Wiggle and Wag's reputation took root in the community, pulling in more than 700 clients, with Ms Laight carrying out about 2,600 grooming sessions for the firm.
But the defamation allegations were not given permission to proceed to trial after a judge in February this year ruled that the cost of trying those accusations would be greater than any potential benefit to Ms Thurgood should she win. But giving evidence at London's High Court last week, Ms Laight insisted she had every right to use the name, denying claims of 'misrepresentation'.
'They would have understood that while working with them I would still be working at home separately, and independently offering different services. Read More Dog groomer sues her rival for £50,000 in the High Court claiming she stole her firm's name and carried out smear campaign Ms Laight replied that her bosses had told her to use the brand name 'Scruffy 2 Fluffy' with customers and not the disputed name.
But Ms Laight denied that, adding: 'The dogs I was doing independently would not be involved in the claimant's business because I was dog grooming for two years before.'