Sara Murray, the founder of electronic monitoring firm Big Technologies, has agreed to a court order not to move or sell assets worth up to £320 million, as she faces a major High Court lawsuit over alleged undisclosed links to offshore companies.
The legal battle has placed Murray, 56, at the heart of a corporate governance scandal that has rocked the company she founded and once led as chief executive. Big Technologies — best known for providing electronic tagging services to police and probation authorities — dismissed Murray in March after alleging she extracted “significant sums” from the company through offshore entities.
In a stock market announcement, Big said Murray had undertaken not to “dissipate her assets” to the value of the £320 million claim against her. The order was reportedly made at the High Court, marking a significant escalation in a case that is now also attracting regulatory scrutiny from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Takeover Panel.
Murray, through a spokesman, said that public statements made by the company — including remarks in its latest annual report by chairman Alex Brennan — were potentially in contempt of court due to an existing privacy order. “The statements are also misleading. It follows that we will not respond,” the spokesman added.
Big Technologies, however, rejected that claim. A company spokesman said: “The company has accurately reported the undertaking given to the court by Sara Murray and has explained to her lawyers why they are wrong in seeking to suppress it.”
At the heart of the dispute is Big’s claim that Murray had a concealed interest in four offshore companies that collectively held over 17 per cent of Big’s shares at the time of its 2021 stock market float — a stake that earned £113 million on listing. The company now argues that Murray’s direct and indirect holdings may have exceeded 30 per cent, which under City rules would have triggered an obligation to make a formal buyout offer.
Big’s disclosures represent a dramatic reversal from its previous position. Until recently, the company had categorically denied any link between Murray and the offshore entities. But its latest filings now claim Murray “verified” earlier court statements that it believes were false. The company alleges that she controlled the disputed companies either personally or via a family trust.
Separately, a group of shareholders is suing Big for £70.1 million, plus damages, alleging they were unfairly pushed out when the company acquired Murray’s previous business, Buddi, in 2018. Big said it will now apply to add Murray as a defendant in that case, with the aim of recovering any losses directly from her if the shareholders’ claim succeeds.
Murray’s personal assets, which may now be under the court’s asset-freezing order, are understood to include a Belgravia townhouse purchased for £7 million in 2019 and an Oxfordshire farmhouse acquired in 2008 with her then-husband, Michael Jackson, former chairman of Sage Group.
Big Technologies is currently valued at about £340 million — down sharply from its £1 billion valuation at peak. The unfolding legal battle, which could drag on for months or even years, has placed the company under intense scrutiny and threatens to reshape its governance and leadership structure for the long term.
