A manufacturer and supplier of heating, water and ventilation systems claims three former employees − including two former directors − have secretly and systematically colluded in a premeditated strategy to obtain and use the firm’s confidential information to undermine and damage its business.The claims are made in High Court proceedings by the Dublin-based Joule Group Ltd and a subsidiary, Chewbay Ltd.The defendants are former Joule director of operations in Ireland, the UK and Poland, Daniel Ryan, its former specification and commercial sales manager and director, Darren Sweeney, and former research and development engineer, Darren Carty. It is alleged the three got the information, in breach of their contracts with Joule, to assist a rival firm called Neru Ltd in order to gain an unfair advantage over Joule. Neru is also a defendant.Ian Barrett and Ronan Ginnell, who founded Joule in 2008, set up a company in 2025 called the Collection by 2210 Ltd, which later changed its name to Neru, it is claimed.The Dutch firm, Inventum Beheer BV, took a majority stake in Joule in 2016 and later merged with the Joule Group.The case against the three former employees and Neru was entered into the Commercial Court list on Monday by Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy on the application of Andrew Fitzpatrick, barrister for Joule. Martin Hayden, barrister for the defendants, did not consent or object to entry but said his clients’ view was that this was an employment matter.Fitzpatrick, who said his client estimates the value of a contract related to the confidential information is €154 million, sought the continuation of an interim order granted last week restraining the defendants from using the information in their possession and handing over devices in their possession for examination by an independent IT expert. Hayden, who disputed the valuation given by Fitzpatrick, said the devices had already been handed over to the defendants’ solicitor in compliance with the order.The judge adjourned the injunction application until later this week to allow the defendants to supply details to Joule of how it proposed to deal with access by its expert to the devices and information.In an affidavit seeking entry of the case to the commercial list, Joule Group chief executive Caroline Floor Kwik said the three personal defendants were among a group of employees and former directors who have resigned from Joule over the last 12 months. In total, 18 employees from various divisions have resigned and are moving to or gone to work for Neru or companies related to it, she said.The contractual information exfiltrated from Joule’s system by certain of the defendants will enable Neru to poach customers, suppliers and employees from Joule, she said. Research and development reports and risk reporting data which was also taken will enable Neru to develop and improve its product, she said. Floor Kwik also said much of the work on a project to identify and engage a supplier in China, called Project Echo, costing some €163,000, had been carried out by Sweeney, Ryan and a third former employee. It was entirely prejudicial that Neru may now gain from this investment, development work and expertise shared with the chosen supplier, she said. It had been curated by Joule and was close to completion but Neru was interfering with the potential supply to Joule by the chosen supplier, she said.Among the reliefs sought by Joule is that the defendants confirm whether the confidential information was transferred and its current location. It also seeks that the defendants deliver up all passwords, usernames and other security information to enable the forensic expert to access and examine it.