A textile millionaire couple have accused their dead daughter’s husband of a ‘smash and grab’ raid on their fortune amid a bitter court battle over ownership of the family firm.
Natalie Berg built Fabric Land over five decades after starting out as a market trader in 1971 – going on to develop a multimillion-pound business with husband Jeremy.
The couple’s daughter Marnie and her husband Darren Hill later joined the family firm, with Marnie dedicating 30 years of her life to it.
But following her suicide aged 49 in 2022 – at which time Marnie was estranged from her spouse – a family war erupted between her parents and their son-in-law.
Mr Hill is suing the couple for ownership of the business, which he values at £10million – claiming he was promised the company would be handed down to him and Marnie before he agreed to start working for it in 2007.
He claims he endured years of ‘long and unsociable hours’ on the basis he would be left in control of the firm when his parents-in-law retired at the age of 70.
But Natalie, 73, and Jeremy Berg, 75, insist no such promises were ever made, branding the lawsuit ‘an attempt by Darren to orchestrate a spectacular “smash and grab” of [their] assets’.
Fabric Land became a thriving textiles chain after starting out as a market stall in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Natalie and Jeremy Berg outside Central London County Court after a hearing in dispute over shares in Fabric Land
Darren Hill and his late wife Marnie Hill (pictured at a party), who took her own life aged 49 in May 2022
It now boasts an HQ near Bournemouth, has online and high street outlets, and supplies theatrical departments of several well known cruise companies.
Marnie joined the family firm when she was 16, working there for three decades before taking her own life in May 2022 following a decline in her mental and physical health during Covid, Central London County Court heard.
Her husband Mr Hill worked for the company between 2007 and 2022 as an executive manager, having sold his interest in the business he was working in, the court was told.
However, he now alleges he only did so because his parents-in-law made promises about the future of Fabric Land during a holiday in Vietnam more than 20 years ago.
According to Mr Hill, the couple said he and Marnie would eventually take over the business when they retired.
He claims to have worked ‘during annual leave, over holidays and through ill-health, tolerating a verbally abusive working environment from 2018/19’.
He also claims he was promised ownership of two warehouses in Ringwood, Hampshire, which the couple own but lease to the company, following their deaths.
Mr Hill’s barrister James Saunders told the court: ‘The family, including Natalie and Jeremy, holidayed in Vietnam in December 2003, at which time Marnie and Darren had been together for eight years and married for 18 months.
‘During this holiday, it is Darren’s case that the family discussed the future of the company and that assurances/promises were made to Darren that, if he were to join the business, he and Marnie would be the owners and controllers of that business when Natalie and Jeremy ultimately retired.
‘That position was maintained, and further like assurances made, during the subsequent years and Darren ultimately decided to join the company in April 2007.’
Mr Hill outside Central London County Court after the hearing about ownership of Fabric Land
Fabric Land’s shop in Kingston. The company also boasts an HQ near Bournemouth
Mr Saunders added: ‘It is Darren’s case that he took this decision and made this move, relying on the promises made to him by Natalie and Jeremy.’
However, Mr and Mrs Berg claim no such promises were made and that Mr Hill joined the firm because Marnie asked them to offer him a job.
Mr Hill’s barrister labelled the couple’s ‘total denial of any promises or assurances’ as ‘extreme’, suggesting the couple may be motivated by hostility towards their son-in-law because they both ‘blame Darren for their daughter’s death’.
And while Mr and Mrs Berg insist he was ‘never fit for management,’ Mr Hill claims he and Marnie were acknowledged to be the ‘future of the business,’ Mr Saunders added.
The couple’s barrister, Pepin Aslett, said they claim no such promises were ever made, branding the lawsuit little more than a calculated raid on the assets they have built up over many years.
‘Mr and Mrs Berg will say that the true reason for this claim is no more than an attempt by Darren to orchestrate a spectacular “smash and grab” of Mr and Mrs Berg’s assets,’ he said in his written arguments to the court.
He also dismissed Mr Hill’s claim that Fabric Land could be worth up to £10million as ‘pie in the sky’.
Their son-in-law never had a pivotal role in the company, he added, pointing out that ‘at no time was he a shareholder or a director’.
He also ‘walked out of the company,’ formally resigning in June 2022. In the same year, Marnie was ‘estranged’ from him and instructing divorce lawyers.
Taking a job with Fabric Land was a step up for Mr Hill, the barrister claimed, adding he also picked up a range of benefits while working there.
In court, Mr Hill gave evidence about his role with Fabric Land, saying he had an ‘executive role’.
The Bergs’ barrister, however, pressed him about the daily aspects of his work at the company, including having to ‘sign off pay’ for the workforce.
‘What does signing off really mean?’ asked Mr Aslett, suggesting he simply had to confirm figures and press a button to authorise payments.
‘I authorised wages for a team of 100-plus staff,’ replied Mr Hill. ‘I didn’t just press a button, I had to double and triple check the figures.’
The trial, in which Judge Nigel Gerald will decide whether the couple made binding promises about handing over the company, continues.
