Scientologist farmer at war with family over control of £80m business

A farming dynasty worth £80million is engaged in a venomous civil war amid accusations one family member was sidelined by his cousins and uncles because he is a Scientologist. 

Thomas Abrey claims his cousins Giles and Matthew and their fathers Richard and Robert have unfairly chipped away at his authority and badmouthed him to employees due to his belief in the teachings of L Ron Hubbard.

However, they in turn allege that Thomas has created a 'toxic working environment', has an 'overbearing style' around the farm and his conduct borders on 'bullying', with relations between them deteriorating badly since 2021.

Things have got so bad that the three scions of the family, have ended up in the High Court as Thomas fights to keep his role in their Norfolk mega farm business, RG Abrey.

He is suing his cousins and uncles after he was removed as a director of the company in September and claims he has been 'wrongfully excluded' from the family partnership which has been in place for nearly 100 years.

Battle lines have been drawn between the six members of the 6,500-acre farm dynasty, which was launched almost a century ago by Russell Abrey and currently produces around 100,000 tonnes per year of potatoes, onions and carrots.

The vast holding near East Wrexham, Thetford, has a reported £80million in assets and had a turnover of £25million in the last financial year. 

Russell passed the farm onto his three sons Christopher, Richard and Robert Abrey, who are now at the helm of the business alongside their respective three sons: Thomas, Giles and Matthew Abrey.

But cracks emerged in the family, with Giles - who once flew solo from the UK to South Africa in 2019 using a homemade plane - and Matthew, along with their fathers Richard and Robert, being pitted against Thomas and his father Christopher. 

Chronic discord developed with Thomas, who runs the company's onion division, accused of having an 'overbearing style' around the farm and creating a 'toxic working environment'.

Thomas has denied throwing his weight around and insists that his partners have unfairly chipped away at his authority, and that negativity towards him stems from his Scientologist religious convictions.

The family rift has now spilled over into legal warfare with Thomas' lawyers asking Judge Nicola Rushton at London's High Court to make a ruling barring his relatives from obstructing him in the business.

The judge explained that all involved agree that relations between the six partners have broken down, and have been 'deteriorating badly' since at least 2021.

'Thomas claims that he has been progressively excluded from the partnership business, culminating in his removal as a director of the company on 27 September 2024 for the stated purpose of preventing him from giving directions to employees,' she said.

'He claims that his authority has been undermined by Robert and Giles, by criticism of him in front of employees, and that information about the business has been withheld from him.

'He also claims that his belief in Scientology has motivated the negativity of the other partners against him.'

The feud over running the farm partnership sets both generations of the family against each other, the court heard, with Thomas' dad, Christopher Abrey, supporting his position, and Giles' and Matthew's fathers supporting them.

Thomas is now suing his two uncles and two cousins on grounds that he has been 'wrongfully excluded' from the family partnership, whilst they say he has become too difficult to work with and that his conduct borders on 'bullying'.

Sketching out the family dynamic, Judge Rushton explained: 'In practice I am told that Christopher, Richard and Robert have stepped back from much of the day-to-day management of the farm, although they are involved in significant management decisions.

'Thomas and Giles are involved in day-to-day management. Matthew is said to be on long term sick leave, although there are also suggestions that he has withdrawn from working on the farm because of the dispute with Thomas. Giles says that Robert has covered some of Matthew's work.'

While Thomas complains of a 'chipping away of his authority by the other partners,' they insist he is awkward to work with and want the partnership, which dates back to the 1930s, simply 'dissolved'.

Explaining Thomas' rival partners' position, the judge said: 'On behalf of the defendants, Giles says in his statement that Thomas is extremely difficult to work with and has been the subject of a large number of complaints from employees about his behaviour, which is said to be overbearing and potentially bullying.

'Giles says that Thomas' behaviour is causing serious day-to-day issues in running the business and is causing a toxic working environment.'

He said Thomas' partners had formally sought dissolution of the long-established partnership 'based on allegations that Thomas had an abusive style with employees, poor personnel management and interfered excessively with employees' work'.

Thomas Abrey disputes all the misconduct claims, the judge said, maintaining that they have never been 'properly and independently investigated,' and that 'complaints against him have been instigated by the other partners as a means of trying to remove him'.

'He relies on statements from other employees, who work in the onion division with him, to the effect that it is Robert who is angry and difficult and causes problems and that they have not had difficulties with Thomas,' said Judge Rushton, adding that Thomas has highlighted a comment from staff about an alleged move to oust him and his dad, Christopher, from the business.

Thomas says that one ex-employee claimed that Robert Abrey had 'referenced Thomas' Scientology as a cause of problems and a reason not to trust him,' the judge added.

After protracted legal argument during a pre-trial hearing, the judge ruled in favour of Thomas, making a temporary injunction preventing rival partners 'from impeding the claimant's participation in the business of the partnership'.

However, she also directed that Thomas cannot contact 'certain specified people who have asked not to be contacted by him' and observed that she was making no findings about the factual disputes between the partners, which must be decided at a future court hearing.

'I was persuaded on the evidence before me that, if an injunction was not made, there was a clear risk that Thomas would increasingly be excluded from the partnership business in a way which breached his rights as a partner, and which would make it harder and not easier for a final settlement to be reached or an arbitration to proceed reasonably swiftly, because he would feel his position to be increasingly vulnerable,' said the judge.

The issue of partnership dissolution is the subject of separate arbitration, the court also heard.

Giles Abrey's 7,750-mile solo flight was inspired by the epic endeavour of pioneer aviator, Alex Henshaw, who flew from London to Cape Town and back in 1939.

Interviewed after his trip, he said he had been overwhelmed by the challenges of flying at times, having previously only flown at a maximum height of 4,500 ft and suddenly having to overfly the Alps.

While en route to the Cape he also risked running out of oxygen when forced to climb above heavy turbulence while flying over the Skeleton Coast in Namibia.

In all he raised over £40,000 for charity due to his epic flight.