Tiles tycoon who bought his 'favourite' grandson a house and paid for his luxury wedding loses £850K court fight after he sued to try and get the money back

Published: 09:16, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 09:17, 1 July 2026 A 90-year-old tiles tycoon who bought his 'favourite' grandson a house and funded his five-star wedding has lost an £850,000 court fight after suing him to take the money back. Businessman Robert Stokes is the fourth generation of family decorating supplies firm Stokes Tiles, which he turned into a 'substantial company' through his hard work, now operating from a 100,000 sq ft base in Sheffield. With three generations of the Stokes family in the business, he had hoped his grandson Sebastian, 31, would be the one to take the helm in the coming years and 'indulged' him with huge sums, a court heard. He stumped up over £720,000 towards Sebastian's £1million home and tens of thousands of pounds more, including over £10,000 for flowers for his luxury wedding to wife Olivia, 34, at five-star Grantley Hall in North Yorkshire. But despite Robert being 'guest of honour' at the wedding, the pair ended up locked in a court fight following a family rift, with the businessman demanding his grandson sell his newly refurbished house in order to return the money, claiming it had been loaned. Sebastian insisted the money had been given to him as 'gifts' by his grandfather, with his lawyers blaming 'jealousy' from other parts of the family over his 'favourite' status for stoking the feud. The case reached the High Court in Leeds in March, with Judge Richard Carter now dismissing Robert's claim to the cash, having found it was indeed a series of gifts to the grandchild he considered 'the future' of the business. Although he had several grandchildren, Sebastian had been Robert's 'favourite' and was being set up to take over the business, which has been in the family since 1895. Sebastian Stokes, who fought the court case over a 'loan' against grandfather Robert Stokes Olivia Stokes, who also fought the case against her husband Sebastian's grandfather The house in Dore, Sheffield, at the centre of court row between Robert and Sebastian Stokes Dismissing his claim for repayment, the judge also said it was 'quite possible' that Robert had simply later 'revisited his previous indulgence of Sebastian' and tried to get it back. Stokes Tiles grew out of a decorating supplies firm, which began in 1895 before expanding in the following decades and moving into tile manufacture and supply after Robert took over. It now operates from a warehouse in the Rother Valley near Sheffield, supplying tiles from all over the world, as well as its own. The court heard the relationship between grandfather and grandson had previously been harmonious, with Sebastian giving up a banking career to join the family business. The alleged 'loans' at the centre of the dispute totalled about £850,000 and were made between 2020 and 2022, said the judge in his judgment. More than £720,000 of it went towards Sebastian and Olivia's purchase of their six-bed detached stone-built home in the affluent Dore suburb of Sheffield. Much of the rest went towards their wedding, including £25,000 paid directly to Grantley Hall - a country house and five-star hotel set in 38 acres of grounds - and over £10,000 for flowers. Robert began his claim after first demanding that Sebastian sell his house, on the basis that it had been their plan together all along. The five-star Grantley Hall in North Yorkshire, where Sebastian and Olivia Stokes were married He said the purchase had been an investment between them and that their intention was to 'flip' it for a profit, with Robert getting back his money. In his written evidence to the court, he said the first time he suspected that his grandson wasn't intending to sell was when he learned of the extensive refurbishments being carried out there. 'I did not understand why so much money was being spent on the property in circumstances where the plan was to flip it,' he said in his witness statement. 'I was extremely distressed and upset. I felt like I had been taken advantage of and deceived by [Sebastian] who had taken advantage of me in a vulnerable state. 'Above all, I felt foolish for letting myself get drawn into his plans.' Robert was supported in his case by his son Richard - Sebastian's uncle - and Richard's wife Helen, who the judge said both believed that Sebastian had been taking advantage of his grandad. In her evidence, Helen accused Sebastian and Olivia of living a 'lavish lifestyle at Bob's expense,' describing their wedding as 'clearly a very expensive affair' for someone earning £40,000-a-year in a family business. But the couple, who were both defendants to the claim, fought back, insisting in court that the house was bought as a 'family home' for them and that other money was gifted to help pay for their wedding. Their lawyers suggested that, with their involvement, Richard and Helen were 'being vindictive towards Sebastian and jealous that he had been Robert's favourite.' The Stokes family's Stokes Tiles HQ in the Rother Valley near Sheffield Giving judgment, Judge Carter said: 'Sebastian and Olivia both gave unchallenged evidence that Robert was treated as the guest of honour at the wedding - presumably because he had funded it. 'Although Sebastian was questioned about the payments to Grantley Hall, and it was suggested that they were payments for him and Olivia to stay there, not for the wedding, it is clear from the evidence that payments related to the wedding. 'In the absence of any evidence to support the contention that the monies advanced by Robert to pay for Sebastian's wedding were a loan and that Robert was expecting to be repaid, I dismiss his claim for repayment of those sums. 'I am satisfied that at the time that the advances were made, the relationship between Robert and Sebastian was still positive, and that it is more than likely that Robert would have been keen to help pay for the wedding. It is reasonable, therefore, to approach the rest of Robert's case with considerable caution.  'If his claim can seek to recover from his grandson money which I have already found was given to him for his wedding, and for which he has not provided any good contemporaneous evidence, it is quite possible that he has revisited his previous indulgence of Sebastian and chosen to pursue this claim - with or without the encouragement of Richard and Helen. 'There was no agreement that the money would be repayable on demand or on the sale of Fernleigh Mount, nor was there an agreement that Fernleigh Mount was purchased to 'flip' in 2022 and that the profit would then go back to Robert. 'The claimant's claim must therefore be dismissed as I am satisfied that the advance was a gift to Sebastian to purchase a family home for him and his family. 'I also dismiss the claim for the other payments - they too were gifts by Robert to Sebastian, predominantly to pay for his wedding.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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