ULSTER Rugby sponsors Kingspan have been heavily criticised by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, who found the company “knowingly created a false market in insulation”.
Seven years after 72 people were killed in the west London tower block fire, an inquiry blamed “decades of failures” from central government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials used for high-rise buildings.
Kingspan had provided its K15 insulation product for Grenfell, but claimed it made up just 5% of the insulation used – and that the exterior cladding which they had not provided was the main cause of the fire.
But Wednesday’s inquiry report made clear that K15 had not been properly tested and “knowingly created a false market in insulation”.
“As Kingspan knew, K15 could not honestly be sold as suitable for use in the external walls of buildings over 18 metres in height generally, but that is what it had succeeded in doing for many years,” the report said.
Kingspan continued to rely on their flawed test results after changing how K15 was made in 2006.
Even after “disastrous” tests of the product in 2007 and 2008, Kingspan kept K15 on the market “despite its own concerns about its fire performance.”
Kingspan later made “a calculated decision” to rely for many years on a 2009 safety certificate that contained false claims about K15′s suitability in high-rise buildings.
Further tests of K15 had also used modified or trial versions, rather than the product available on the market.
The inquiry said Kingspan “cynically exploited” the building industry’s lack of detailed knowledge, and “relied on the fact that an unsuspecting market was very likely to rely on its own claims about the product.”
Grenfell United, which represents some of the bereaved and survivors of the fire, has demanded that some of the construction firms involved – including Kingspan - should now be banned from government contracts.
Insulation firm Celotex and cladding firm Arconic were also heavily criticised in the report.
Arconic was found to have “deliberately concealed” from the market the true danger of using its cladding product, especially on high-rise buildings.
Celotex was accused of trying to break into the market created by Kingspan and “embarked on a dishonest scheme to mislead its customers and the wider market.”
Responding to the report, a Kingspan spokesperson said that the type of insulation used in Grenfell was “immaterial,” and the main reason for the fire was external cladding, which Kingspan did not make.
“Kingspan has long acknowledged the wholly unacceptable historical failings that occurred in part of our UK insulation business,” they said, while claiming this was “in no way reflective of how we conduct ourselves as a group, then or now”.
“While deeply regrettable, they were not found to be causative of the tragedy,” they said.
Having “emphatically addressed” any safety issues, the company said they would continue to work with government and industry partners.
An Ulster Rugby spokesperson said: “We note the comments expressed by Sir Martin Moore-Bick in the Phase 2 report published today, along with its detailed findings. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.
“As was announced at the beginning of the year, Kingspan’s sponsorship of Ulster Rugby will come to an end in June 2025, following an agreed 12-month transitionary period.”
