Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Kingspan employees kept fire test results 'secret'

A public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire heard employees at Kingspan who conducted fire tests on their products kept the reports "secret".

Andrew Pack is a Global Technical Support Manager at the Irish building materials company,

He has been giving evidence to the public inquiry into the Grenfell fire disaster in London in 2017.

Kingspan's K15 insulation was used in part of the flammable cladding system mounted on to Grenfell Tower.

During his evidence on Monday, Mr Pack was questioned about the company's processes for testing products in the past.

When asked if fire test reports were "almost kept secret" he replied: "Yes, correct."

"Throughout my career at Kingspan, when people do fire testing, it has been a case that those test reports have been kept within the people that do that testing," he said.

"You'd have to ask the people who do that testing why that is, I don't know."

Counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Troup, pursued the issue: "Well, have you ever asked that question?"

"I have asked the question in the past," Mr Pack said.

When pressed on what the answer was, Mr Pack said: "I cannot recall the answer from that time."

Mr Pack also said he could not recall who he had asked.

72 people lost their lives when the Grenfell Tower caught fire on 14 June 2017

The first phase of the Grenfell Inquiry concluded that cladding put on the tower block during refurbishment fuelled the fire which killed 72 people.

Last year, the Inquiry heard that the K15 insulation which Kingspan was selling had turned into "a raging inferno" when it was subjected to a fire test.

The hearing was told that the company continued to sell K15, using a test result from a previous version of the product.

Giving evidence to the inquiry last November, a former technical project lead at Kingspan, Ivor Meredith, admitted he was involved in a deliberate calculated deceit carried out by the company - aimed at achieving the best possible sales for its insulation products.

When one company questioned Kingspan's approach to sales, technical manager Philip Heath wrote to friends to say they had confused him "with someone who gives a damn".

Last October, Kingspan withdrew three large scale fire test results for K15 after admitting the product tested did not represent what they were selling.

'Determined to learn lessons'

Kingspan has said: "The Inquiry has highlighted historic process shortcomings and unacceptable conduct within a part of our UK Insulation business, for which we have apologised unreservedly and which we are treating with the utmost seriousness.

"These matters do not reflect the organisation that we are or aspire to be, and significant actions have been taken and are in progress, that further underpin our commitment to fire safety and to professional conduct. We continue to support the Inquiry in its work and are determined to learn all necessary lessons."

The company has also said: "Kingspan Insulation had no role in the design or planning of the cladding system at Grenfell Tower, and provided no advice to those working on Grenfell Tower around the suitability of K15 for use in the installed cladding system."

Kingspan insists that "K15 constituted 5.2%" of the rainscreen insulation boards ordered for use on Grenfell Tower.

The company also said: "Kingspan Insulation had no knowledge that its product was being used until after the fire. The system used on Grenfell Tower was not compliant with Building Regulations, was unsafe, and should not have been used."

It also pointed out that the Phase 1 Inquiry report did not identify the Kingspan product as the principal reason for the flames spreading so rapidly.

In December, the company announced that Peter Wilson had notified the board of his intention to retire from his roles as divisional managing director of the Group's Insulation Boards business and as a director of Kingspan Group PLC.

Kingspan said Mr Wilson's decision to retire "reflects his view that now is the right time to hand over to new leadership at an important time for the Insulation Boards Division".

• The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast

The Kingspan headquarters are in in Kingscourt, County Cavan, where it was founded in 1965.

The Irish company is a market leader and currently employs up to 15,000 workers in 70 countries around the world.

In Northern Ireland, it employs 450 workers at operations in Ballyclare, Portadown, and Newry.

The company also has a high profile presence at sports grounds, including the homes of Ulster Rugby and Cavan GAA.

As Kingspan continues to deal with the fallout from the evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry, Group Chief Executive, Gene M Murtagh, has told its workers across the world that "rebuilding trust will take time and decisive action".