Those who have been blamed for causing the devastating Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people have continued to earn hundreds of millions of pounds.
The final report released yesterday revealed a culture of ‘dishonesty and incompetence’ within construction firms led to highly flammable cladding used on the 24-storey block of flats.
What started as a kitchen fire on June 14, 2017, rapidly spread throughout the tower leaving hundreds trapped in 1,000C heat.
A public inquiry which was opened immediately after the fire found almost every organisation involved in the construction and refurbishment of the building was partly responsible.
It also said construction companies displayed an attitude of indifference towards fire safety.
Yet it was revealed earlier this year that 10 bosses who helped build the doomed tower block had banked more than £300 million since the fire in 2017.
Arconic
Arconic was one of the main firms found to be at fault with the inquiry finding the company was ‘determined to exploit what is saw as weak regulation in the UK’.
The report found the French construction company which sold cladding panels with a polyethylene core for the exterior of Grenfell Tower were aware the material was ‘extremely dangerous’.
Firefighters even likened the material to ‘petrol’, saying it made it impossible to stop the spread and put out the flames in time.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who chaired the inquiry, said these panels were the ‘principle reason’ the fire spread throughout the building.
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The Reynobond PE panels failed a fire test when it was bent to hang from a wall, but did not reveal this when obtaining a certificate from the British Board of Agrément.
The president of Arconic Claude Schmidt accepted when he gave evidence to the inquiry staff had ‘misled and lied’ to customers after refusing to be a witness for seven months.
But bosses have continued to profit, with chief executive Tim Myers cashing in shares £22.3million on top of £23.9million in pay since Grenfell.
Chief financial officer Erick Asmussen and chief commercial officer Mark Vrablec made a further £9.2 million from the share sales plus £9.2 million in pay.
The company has recouped nearly all of their legal expenses relating to Grenfell from their insurers, their accounts reveal.
Arconic said: ‘The fire was a terrible tragedy and as Arconic remembers the 72 people who died, our thoughts remain with the families, friends and all of those affected.
‘AAP was a core participant in the Inquiry and has acknowledged its role as one of the material suppliers involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
‘The company respects the Inquiry process. AAP cooperated fully with the work of the Inquiry and will continue to engage with further legal processes.
‘Together with other parties, AAP has made financial contributions to settlements for those affected, as well as to the restorative justice fund.’
They added they ‘reject any claim AAP sold an unsafe product’ and ‘did not conceal information from or mislead any certification body, customer, or the public’.
Celotex
Manufacturer Celotex which supplied the majority of the insultation boards was also found to have been ‘dishonest’.
But chief executive Pierre-André de Chalendar £11.7 million while former senior vice president Benoit Bazin earned £15.8 million, The Times reports.
The Inquiry found the firm which is owned by parent company Saint-Gobain had manipulated testing on the material.
The panels they had installed released toxic gases including hydrogen cyanide as it burnt.
But in order to pass safety testing, in 2014 the company added fire-resistant boards to a test rig which they concealed in its official report and marketing material.
Jamie Hayes, a former technical services officer at Celotex, said he came up with the plan but denied knowing the company would try to conceal it.
He admitted it was a ‘failure of moral fibre’ that stopped him challenging the company after he became aware.
One employee wrote in an email in 2013: ‘Do we take the view that our product realistically shouldn’t be used behind most cladding panels because in the event of a fire it would burn?’
Celotex said in its own review they found ‘unacceptable behaviour’ but six employees had already left and they have tightened their controls.
They added it had ‘reviewed and improved process controls, quality management and the approach to marketing within the Celotex business to meet industry best practice’.
Kingspan
Irish company Kingspan manufactured some of the insulation which was used in the tower block’s external renovation.
The K15 product was tested in 2007 and 2008 and the results were ‘disastrous’. but they did not withdraw the product from the market.
The company’s billionaire founder Eugene Murtagh has banked £149.3million from share sales, dividends and pay.
He stepped down as chairman in 2021, with his son Gene remaining as chief executive and earning £26 million and buying a €7.5million seafront mansion just one year after the disaster.
Despite knowing its dangers, bosses at the company joked about failing safety tests and repeatedly lying to cover their backs.
Arron Chalmers, technical project leader at Kingspan texted ‘all we do is lie here’ while joining with a colleague about the product being marked as safe.
When facade engineering firm, Wintech, questioned whether Kingspan’s insulation was suitable for high-rise buildings, technical manager Philip Heath wrote in an email to colleagues: ‘Wintech can go f*** themselves and if they are not careful we will sue the a— [off] them.’
Sir Martin said in the inquiry: ‘Kingspan cynically exploited the industry’s lack of detailed knowledge about (its products) and relied on the fact that an unsuspecting market was very likely to rely on its own claims about the product.’
The company denies liability for the disaster, saying the insulation was only used on 5% of Grenfell’s exterior in a non-compliant ststem without their knowledge.
Responding to the report Kingspan said they had ‘long acknowledged the wholly unacceptable historical failings that occurred in part of our UK insulation business’ but these were ‘in no way reflective of how we conduct ourselves as a group, then or now’.
Rydon
Rydon was the lead contractor for the building’s £10 million renovation.
The inquiry heard they tried to cut costs and switch the cladding from the original zinc option to ACM.
In 2020 it was found Rydon’s profits had increased by 60% in two years, with the company’s owner Robert Bond enjoying a salary increased to £473,000 over the same period.
He has used his wealth to buy an Aston Martin with a James Bond-inspired number plate and lives in a £3 million mansion on a private estate in south- east London.
Images on Facebook show him holidaying on a yacht and posing in front of a ferrari.
Rydon was told by cladding contractor Harley Facades could make savings of up to £576,973 if they swiched the classing.
But Rydon told Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) the the savings would be up to £376,175 when it presented the plans.
Simon Lawrence, contracts manager at Rydon, told the inquiry: ‘I would suggest by that, although not my area of expertise, that Rydon took some of the saving for themselves.’
A 2014 email from the company’s commercial manager Zak Maynard said: ‘We are quids in!!’
Maynard would later tell the inquiry he was joking.
Earlier this year The Guardian revealed ‘life critical’ fire safety issues had been found in 56 per cent of blocks built by Rydon.
The company told the inquiry it ‘relied on others’ to ensure the cladding system at Grenfell complied with building regulations.
Metro has contacted Rydon for comment.
Harley Facades
Harley Facades was the cladding contractor for the refurbishment.
An email exchange in March 2015 showed manager Daniel Anketell-Jones discussing ‘fire stopping’ measures with director Ray Bailey whose 25-year-old son had been appointed as project manager despite having little experience.
Mr Anketell-Jones said: ‘There is no point in “fire stopping”, as we all know; the ACM panels will be gone rather quickly in a fire! The whole point is to stop ‘unseen’ fire spreading in the cavity.
At the time of the fire, Mr Bailey and his company secretary wife Belina lived in a house worth £1 million in East Sussex.
He told the inquiry he did not know the material could burn and accused the producers of the insulation of misleading his company.
Sir Martin’s final report said Harley Facades ‘failed in many respects to meet the standards’ expected of it.
He added the firm did not ‘concern itself sufficiently with fire safety at any stage of the refurbishment’.
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