Grenfell contractor to challenge ban in court

A contractor involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower before the 2017 fire is mounting a legal challenge to a ban by Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC).

It comes after RBKC extended a ban in November on contractors involved in the tower's refurbishment including Kingspan, Celotex, Arconic and Rydon - with more companies, including Siderise Insulation, added later.

Siderise said the council's decision was "without foundation or justification" because its products do not meet the council's own criteria for the ban.

However, a spokesperson for RBKC said the council stood by its decision.

Emma O'Connor, who escaped in a lift from the 20th floor with her partner during the fire, said she was shocked to hear of Siderise Insulation's legal challenge.

"My first thoughts were 'they can't be serious'. We didn't ask for our lives to be disrupted by this fire. It's complete and utter disbelief," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Siderise manufactured some of the cavity barriers used in the tower's 2015-16 refurbishment.

However, the company launched judicial review proceedings against the council on Tuesday, arguing the ban on its products was "unwarranted" because they did not meet the council's own criteria for the ban.

A Siderise spokesperson said: "While Siderise products were used in the Grenfell refurbishment, the Grenfell Inquiry report is clear that neither Siderise nor its products contributed to the tragic fire or its spread, and there is no suggestion that Siderise was not candid before the inquiry, and therefore this exclusion is unwarranted.

"The RBKC decision is therefore without foundation or justification.

"Siderise is acting to protect its reputation as a British manufacturer which supplies its products globally."

The Grenfell Inquiry's Phase 2 report found no evidence of Siderise acting dishonestly on its part but said some aspects of the company's marketing materials "gave cause for concern".

It also found Siderise had supplied cavity barriers for use in voids larger than those for which they had been tested. The firm manufactured the Lamatherm cavity barriers used in the refurbishment.

However, the spokesperson for Siderise said its products were and still are fit for purpose and that criticism of Siderise's marketing literature is not that it stated something incorrectly, but that it did not state further information that would have been helpful so was ambiguous.

In December, the government also started plans to ban firms involved in the Grenfell Tower fire from public procurement.

Junior housing minister Alex Norris said at the time the Prime Minister had written to 49 firms, adding it was "the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts".

Siderise said it had not received a letter from the government and did not expect to be part of any restriction in the government's forthcoming announcements on the matter.

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