Two brothers in one of Britain’s oldest travelling funfair families have launched a bitter legal battle against their parents over fears they will not inherit the theme park business.
Joseph and Clayton Manning are suing their elderly parents over what they allege is a broken promise to give them the Old Macdonald’s Farm and Fun Park in Brentwood, Essex.
The pair said they ran their lives on the basis they would inherit the family business, which also runs London‘s Winter Wonderland, working tirelessly to keep the theme park and its travelling funfair going.
They allege they were always promised the company over the years, but are taking legal action over recent fears of being cut out of the will and the inheritance being passed on elsewhere – claims their parents deny.
Legal documents lodged with the High Court accuse parents Joseph Manning Snr, 65, and Sindy Manning, 68, of breaching promises and ‘failing to act in good faith’ by letting their personal interests conflict with their duty to their eldest son.
Mr and Mrs Manning, who own the farm with its rides, animals, and food outlets, have denied the claims and are set to mount a defence in court against the allegations.
The cultural norm in the showman community is that family businesses are passed down the male line, the court will hear.
The brothers allege that their father regularly stated that his daughters Shannon, 33, and Chanel, 40, would ‘become their husbands’ responsibilities when they married’, and so were encouraged into higher education.
Shannon undertook business studies, while Chanel apprenticed to the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, the brothers said.
Meanwhile, Joseph Jnr and Clayton put work into the farm under the impression they would inherit the Carnival Funfairs business, as ‘promised’ by their parents.
The brothers say they relied on their parents’ assurances to their detriment, working at weekends and during school holidays before leaving school to go into the family business, working between eight and 16 hours a day in the season.
They allegedly also paid for some of the rides used at the farm and travelling fair.
Joseph Jnr, 43, said he was not paid any wage until June 2022 when he received £2,000 a month, while Clayton, 33, was paid £500 per month from about 2013.
However, these payments are said to have stopped in August 2024 without any explanation, although they continued working for the business.
Joseph Jnr assumed he would carry on living at The Bungalow at Old Macdonald’s Farm, and that Clayton – whose twin sister is Shannon – would own a property being developed at Chequers.
But when the relationship with their parents broke down in December 2024, Clayton had to buy a new property, finding it difficult to get a mortgage as he had a low credit score without a regular income.
Joseph Jnr was refused a mortgage for properties nearer the farm, and obtained a mortgage with extremely high interest rates.
The men say it would be unconscionable for their parents to renege on their promises and change their wills so that their sons will no longer inherit the family business or properties.
Alternatively, Joseph Jnr says he has been in partnership with their parents since 2003, when he took out a mortgage to buy the farm with his parents, and was responsible for one third of the mortgage payments. The mortgage has since been paid off.
Their parents have taken unequal drawings from the partnership over a long period of time, substantially prejudicing their son, who was not given copies of the partnership accounts until 2024, the claim says.
Joseph Jnr says he and his parents should have received equal shares of profits, but in some years he received nothing, or just 20 per cent, while they had drawings of up to £245,801.
Joseph Jnr accuses his parents of contravening his right and entitlement to share equally in profits, wrongly excluded him from the profits and failing to act in good faith towards him.
He says he has been excluded from decision-making at the farm, with outside catering units being sublet rent-free to companies run by his sisters.
He has not been allowed to go onto the farm, or to use rides, plant and equipment owned by companies he has a share in, he says.
The brothers are asking the court to ensure that they will inherit shares in Old Macdonald’s Farm and various companies, as well as ownership of The Bungalow, and Chequers to be transferred to them, and access to the depot.
They are asking for the partnership to be dissolved, as well as accounts and inquiries, orders for them to have copies of books and records, and an order for payment of sums found due.
But their parents have hit back in a stinging defence, saying they have given their sons assets worth millions of pounds, from which they each have an income of hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.
They also gave their sons a string of luxury cars, diamond rings, designer clothes, luxury holidays, and the deposits on a Z4 BMW and an Audi.
Mr Manning Snr says he gave each brother a 33 per cent share in two companies in 2020, and these shares are now worth up to £7million. He says they did not work for minimal compensation, and are extremely wealthy, largely because of his generosity.
Joseph Jnr, he says, has a £1million collection of cars including an Aston Martin, an E-type Jaguar, and a Hummer housed in a garage his father paid for.
They accuse their sons of making a false claim about the nature of the ‘family business’, which is a group of companies, each with their own ownership structure.
And the younger men also exclude their own companies from their conception of a family business, it is claimed.
Mr Manning Snr disputes some of their claims, saying Chanel spent just a week at Vivienne Westwood and both daughters worked tirelessly in the industry. Clayton was a gifted pupil at school and his parents encouraged him to train to be a vet, but both sons left school to work in the fairground industry.
The parents say that their son Joseph has lived in the bungalow in breach of planning permission for many years, and is not entitled to seek an order to dissolve the partnership, as his parents hold a majority 70 per cent share and have offered to buy him out.
Joseph Jnr did help his father put up attractions at the farm but this cannot have been more than 21 days of labour over 20 years, the defence says.
The couple say son Joseph arranged for Clayton to transfer shares in Carousel Bars to him at a significant undervalue, selling a 20 per cent shareholding to his brother for £100,000. The company, which runs bars in a carousel which rotates around a central counter, is now worth around £4million, he says.
In a series of meetings in the farm café in 2020, they claim that son Joseph demanded that all his parents’ business assets, except those owned exclusively by Sindy, should be transferred to him and Clayton, referred to the farm as ‘my farm’, threatened to use lorries to block the entrance to the farm, and threatened to assault Shannon’s husband.
The brothers also objected to the idea that their sisters should receive any of their parents assets when they died, the defence says.
Mr and Mrs Manning say their sons are not entitled to have the partnership dissolved or to be awarded any money.
The defence was written by Thomas Grant KC and Hugh Jeffery, and filed by Boodle Hatfield.
