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He is basing his claim on the fact that we said we would pay him, (and have paid him £2500.00) for work that he did on equipment that was then taken out to Dubai & Pakistan. What was never made clear was that he was going to charge us for his time out there.
We, probably naively, thought that time out there would be beneficial to his small business, contactwise and in experience gained, and that paying for his trip was sufficient.
Any orders won through this trip would earn him further work too. The other person who went on the trip and had his flights and expenses paid was always working uder this premise, and has not invoiced us for his time away.