Hunters is parting company with a long-standing master franchisee after a dispute involving lawyers.

Stephen Berson, the master franchisee in Leeds since 2009, says he may now sue the company, alleging breach of contract.

Berson signed the original master franchise agreement in May that year. In 2014, he signed a new master franchise agreement, with the option for two further renewals.

Under this, he should have grown the Leeds territory by the recruitment of more franchisees.

However, he says that each time he suggested a new recruit in the form of an existing agent in a vacant location willing to rebrand to Hunters, this was turned down.

He claims that last year Hunters took initial legal action against him, threatening to terminate the existing agreement unless he remedied the breaches.

He claims that he was given a deadline of just one month in which to propose a remedy for allegedly failing to open four new branches in his territory.

However, Berson says he instructed solicitors and Counsel last summer, and won the initial arguments.

Since then he claims that Hunters offered to renew his master franchise, but has done it in such a way “as to set me up for a certain fall”. He has turned down the new contract.

Berson said that Hunters had “unilaterally sought to alter the master franchise to such a degree that I concluded it was no longer commercially viable”.

A spokesperson for Hunters said: “Due to the ongoing nature of this isolated matter, we are unable to comment too extensively.

“With regard to the Hunters franchising model, both the traditional and master model, there are criteria that we apply to the recruitment process to ensure we are offering the very best service to our customers and existing network.

“This approach has resulted in widespread success in various parts of the country.

“We are keen to continue the master franchise model alongside our traditional model, which continues to deliver fantastic results and bring independent agents under the Hunters brand.

“We have already seen eight Hunters branch openings this year, with a further 37 in the pipeline.”

Berson said: “If Hunters’ existing approach has resulted in widespread success, why change it now? That success has been built on the old form  of master franchise, not the new one.”