Grenfell: Insulation firm seeks to overturn council ban

An insulation firm has initiated judicial review proceedings against a council to reverse a ban put in place after the Grenfell Inquiry.

Siderise Insulation, which manufactured some of the cavity barriers used on Grenfell Tower’s refurbishment in 2015, was blocked from carrying out future projects in Kensington and Chelsea by the council last year.

The firm was banned alongside Celotex Ltd, Kingspan Insultation Ltd, Arconic Architectural Products SAS and CEP Architectural Facades Ltd, following the final report of the Grenfell Inquiry in September 2024.

But, in a statement published on Wednesday, Siderise said the ban as “without foundation or justification.”

A spokesman said: “It is clear from the Grenfell Inquiry reports that Siderise does not meet RBKC’s criteria for excluding companies.

“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.”

Sidersie said the legal challenge is to “protect its reputation as a British manufacturer which supplies its products globally”. 

According to the Grenfell Inquiry final report, there was “no evidence of dishonesty” related to Sidersie. But, the company was said to have supplied cavity barriers for use “in voids larger than those for which they had been tested”.

Kensington and Chelsea council’s ban includes firms that had been “highly incompetent”, or conducted themselves in a way which was “misleading” when marketing products or complying with legal or contractual requirements.

A spokeswoman from Kensington and Chelsea said that the council “stands by its decision”.

Pictured top: A general view of the Grenfell tower on June 14, 2024 (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)