Yorkshire businessman barred from selling £3.5m home, two racehorses and Porsche 911 by court order

Mr Nicholson has not been charged with any criminal offence and denies any wrongdoing.

The order, which has now been provided to The Yorkshire Post by HM Land Registry under public inspection laws, was made by Judge Sean Morris at York Crown Court following an application by the Crown Prosecution Service. The order was made without a hearing or notice being given to Mr Nicholson.

A separate Land Registry document confirming the restraint order on the Harrogate property, which was purchased in 2022 for £3.515m, says it cannot be sold without the consent of the CPS or a further court order.

The court order refers to Mr Nicholson as an “alleged offender” but does not specify any offence he is accused of. When contacted by The Yorkshire Post, Mr Nicholson said the newspaper’s information about the matter is “outdated and isn’t correct”.

He added: “There were no charges in the matter and [I] denied all wrongdoing from the start of the relevant enquiry.”

Court confirms order has not been amended

An order against a Yorkshire businessman preventing him from selling his house, two racehorses and a sports car remains in operation, a court has confirmed.

Grant Nicholson was made subject to the order, which has now been seen by The Yorkshire Post, last April. He denies any wrongdoing and has said the newspaper’s information about the case is “outdated and isn’t correct”.

The Land Registry restriction on the sale of the property under the restraint order made on April 25 remains listed against the property.

When this was put to Mr Nicholson, he again said the newspaper’s position was “incorrect” but did not respond to a further question about why this was the case.

York Crown Court has confirmed to The Yorkshire Post that the order has not been varied or discharged since being made.

The order prohibits Mr Nicholson removing any assets from England and Wales including money held in three bank accounts, as well as the house, car and two racehorses. The Land Registry has redacted the names of the horses in the copy of the order provided to The Yorkshire Post.

The order allows Mr Nicholson to spend up to £250 per week on ordinary living expenses. It stipulates: “Before spending any money, the alleged offender must tell the prosecutor where the money is to come from.”

Under the terms of the order, prosecutors are required to update the court every six months on the progress of its investigation, with the requirement stopping “if and when proceedings are started against the alleged offender for any offence arising out of the investigation”.

In March 2023, Mr Nicholson was asked by The Sun about whether his Wikipedia entry listing his estimated wealth at £350m was accurate. He said in response: “On a good day that would be about right, on a bad day it would be about £30m.”

Mr Nicholson is separately named as a defendant in an ongoing High Court breach of contract case involving his former firm Houli Dragonfly Capital Limited, which went into liquidation last year and was previously known as Rainman Collateral Limited.

The company and Mr Nicholson are the subject of a claim from The Student Energy Group Limited in a case that was filed in July 2023, with other named defendants being the Solar Investment Group Limited, Hortor Limited and Energy Finance and Acquisitions Limited.

A statement of affairs report from August 2024 said Houli Dragonfly Capital owed £14.2m to 42 trade and expense creditors. Mr Nicholson is owed £3.7m as a creditor.

Another one of his companies, Planet-U Energy Limited, went into administration in 2021. A January 2025 progress report on the administration said unsecured creditors were owed £4.7m by the company but there is only £245,583 to share between them. They each will receive 5.21p for every pound owed.

Another of his companies, Pharaoh Capital, is a renewable energy sector investment firm. It reported revenue of £20.6m and profit of £668,000 for the year to June 30, 2023.