Cladding boss denies contributing to Grenfell disaster

Claude Wehrle worked for cladding manufacturer Arconic

A cladding company boss heavily criticised by the Grenfell Tower inquiry has denied playing a part in the disaster.

Claude Wehrle, the former head of the technical sales support team at manufacturer Arconic, told BBC News the deaths of 72 people was "a tragedy".

He said he was “not the one making decisions” about the sales of flammable Reynobond PE cladding.

The inquiry's final report said Mr Wehrle resorted to “deliberate dishonesty” to sell the product, including to firms in the UK.

Mr Wehrle prompted outrage among Grenfell victims by refusing to give evidence to the inquiry in person, saying he was prevented from doing so by French law.

The inquiry’s final report criticised him and two other Arconic employees for putting “the debatable requirements of French law above the interests of the survivors".

The report found that following successive fire performance tests in the 2000s, Mr Wehrle realised the cladding was more likely to burn if it was folded into box shapes, a standard design in the building industry, and the form that was used on Grenfell Tower in west London.

In 2010 Mr Wehrle sent an email to colleagues pointing out that, in this shape, the Reynobond PE product would not meet European fire standards for tall buildings, adding “we have to keep [this] as ‘VERY CONFIDENTIAL’”.

The same year he wrote to a customer that the box shape would be safer.

The Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry said this comment demonstrated “his willingness to resort to deliberate dishonesty in order to support the sale of the product”.

Arconic also withheld the test results from a British body which issued product safety certificates used in the construction industry.

Asked by the BBC why, Mr Wehrle - who has since left Arconic and lives in eastern France where he volunteers as a firefighter - insisted it had not been his decision.

He said: “There are people in that company who were better placed than me to make that kind of decision.”

Responding to the fact his name appears more than a hundred times in the inquiry's final report, Mr Wehrle said: “I can’t say whether it is fair or unfair. That’s about justice.”

He said the deaths in the tower were “a tragedy and more than a pity".

“I feel the same way any other human being would, whether bearing no responsibility at all or not," he added.

• EXPLAINED: Key findings from the public inquiry

Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said on Thursday that it was "not acceptable" that over 2,000 buildings in the UK still need to have cladding removed.

She vowed to put pressure on the developers to carry out the works following the release of the damning report into the fire.

Ms Rayner did not set out a timeline for the works to be completed by or announce specific measures for speeding up the process.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said earlier that, “if building owners are not prepared to act… then we will change the law to compel action.”

Downing Street has also said central government does not hold any contracts with any companies involved at Grenfell.

No 10 said there will be a review into whether any of the companies still have a sub-contracted role in government supply chains.

Guidance will be issued to public-sector organisations to exclude them where necessary.