Shift ordered to pay £1.5m in Yodel ownership dispute

Logistics company Shift has been ordered by the High Court to pay £1.5 million in “security for costs” within 28 days, as part of an ongoing legal battle over who controls parcel delivery firm Yodel.

Deputy Judge of the High Court Simon Gleeson also ordered Shift and its partner company Corja to reveal the names of anyone funding their legal case.

The case, heard at the High Court in London on July 9, with the ruling handed down on July 23, centres on a dispute over who really owns Yodel.

Shift and Corja argue they have rights to take a majority share in the company, more than 60%, through a set of agreements they claim were signed while Jacob Corlett, Shift’s founder, was a director of Yodel.

InPost bought Yodel in April 2025 for £106m through a debt for equity deal.

The acquisition built on the partnership established between InPost and Yodel in October 2024, when Yodel began providing last-mile services through InPost’s “locker-to-door” service.

Shift said the deal with InPost ignored the share rights it still holds and has taken legal action to enforce those rights.

The security for costs that have been ordered means Shift will have to pay the £1.5m into the court to be held in case they lose the case and need to pay InPost’s legal bills.

Deputy Judge Gleeson ruled that Shift failed to provide full financial details to prove it could cover legal costs if it lost.

The judge also noted that the company hadn’t paid previous court-ordered costs of £248,000.

The main trial was expedited by the High Court in June in order to settle the dispute quickly and is due to start in late October 2025. It will decide whether the share rights claimed by Shift and Corja are valid and whether any agreements made by Corlett when he was involved with Yodel should still be honoured.

InPost has said it carried out full due diligence before acquiring Yodel and continues to make changes within the business following the June court ruling that dismissed an earlier injunction aimed at stopping the integration of the logistics businesses.

A spokesperson for InPost told Fleet News: “The judgement speaks for itself.”

Shift and Corja declined to comment on the details of the ruling, or whether they would appeal the decision.

However, a person close to the matter said: “The court has made a procedural order which has no bearing on the merits of the warrant holders’ case and will not deflect them pursuing their claim to trial in October. This case is all about who owns Yodel.”

At the time of InPost’s Yodel acquisition, Neil Kuschel, InPost UK chief executive, said: “The acquisition is a game-changer for InPost’s operations in the UK.

“Combining doorstep deliveries with our locker network, we are reshaping the future of parcel delivery.

“We will be able to provide customers and e-commerce retailers with the reliability, flexibility, and efficiency they expect.”