A survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire has said she is in ‘utter disbelief’ after discovering a contractor banned by Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) is appealing the decision through the courts. Emma O’Connor, who escaped in a lift from the 20th floor with her partner, said she was shocked to hear of Siderise Insulation Ltd’s legal challenge.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “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.”. Siderise Insulation Ltd, which manufactured some of the cavity barriers used in the 2015-16 refurbishment, launched judicial review proceedings against Kensington and Chelsea Council on Tuesday (February 18), arguing the ban on their products was ‘unwarranted’. In December, the manufacturing firm was added to a list of five other firms the council said it would no longer work with as a result of the fire.
In 2021, the council banned Rydon, Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan from its projects. Siderise claims its products do not meet the council’s own criteria for the ban. A 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.”. A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea Council said the local authority stands by its decision. 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. Siderise said its products were and still are fit for purpose. They said 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, and thus was ambiguous.
Siderise also said it expressed its heartfelt sympathy for all those affected by the tragedy but said it was not in any way to blame. The company said it is a professional British manufacturer and was recently recognised by the Sunday Times Best Places to Work survey.
The company has previous said there was ‘no finding’ by the inquiry that its cavity barriers should not have been used in the refurbishment, nor any finding they had caused or contributed to the spread of the fire. In December, the government kickstarted plans to ban firms involved in the Grenfell Tower tragedy from public procurement.
Junior housing minister Alex Norris said at the time Prime Minister Keir Starmer had written to 49 firms, adding that it was ‘the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts’. Siderise said it has not received a letter from the government and does not expect to be part of any restriction in the Government’s forthcoming announcements on the matter.
It comes after the Government announced that Grenfell Tower will be taken down in works lasting around two years. Parts of the building, scene of one of Britain’s worst tragedies, will be kept for inclusion in a memorial if that is the wishes of the local community.
