Ulster-Kingspan deal's end is 'calculated move' say Grenfell families

Kingspan is a shirt sponsor for Ulster and holds naming rights to the club's home stadium

A Grenfell fire relatives group has branded the end of Ulster Rugby's association with the insulation company Kingspan as a "calculated move".

Ulster's home ground in Belfast has been called the Kingspan Stadium for the past decade, but that will end in June 2025.

Grenfell United claimed the move was not a "moral" one but a "calculated, strategic move, centred around money".

Seventy-two people died in a fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017.

During the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, Kingspan's business practices were criticised.

Grenfell United said that "by not making a stand, by continuing to partner with Kingspan whilst knowing the evidence, we believe Ulster Rugby have been complicit in a system that killed 72 innocent people".

For 14 years Kingspan's insulation was sold for use on high-rise buildings without a relevant large-scale fire test.

Its insulation passed a test in 2005 but Kingspan changed the product a year later. Subsequent tests turned into a "raging inferno". Kingspan continued to sell its insulation using the 2005 test on the old material.

This test was only withdrawn in October 2020 after the company accepted it did not represent the product on sale.

But the company said its products made up only 5% of the insulation at Grenfell and were used without its recommendation.

Ulster had previously defended its links to Kingspan and there was no reference to Grenfell in the announcement that the sponsorship deals were not being renewed.

The government previously called for Ulster Rugby to reconsider its relationship with Kingspan, which sponsors the team's jerseys as well as its home stadium.

Earlier this year graffiti was daubed on Ulster Rugby's Kingspan Stadium overnight

A spokesperson for Kingspan said during the Grenfell Inquiry "certain process shortcomings were identified" and correspondence involving a small number of UK insulation employees emerged which contained "wholly unacceptable sentiments about fire safety".

However, the company said these shortcomings were not "causative of the Grenfell Tower Fire".

In July, the families group said Ulster Rugby had shown "absolute disrespect" by agreeing a one-year extension to Kingspan's shirt sponsorship.

Reacting to Wednesday's news, Grenfell United said the partnership had "sickened" relatives.

The group said the fact that the move had come ahead of of the Phase Two report was "no coincidence".

"This is not a moral decision. This is a calculated, strategic move centred around money," it said in a statement.

"They have raked in the profits of their partnership, held on for as long as they can, and now they think they can walk away with their hands clean.

Grenfell United thanked supporters in Northern Ireland and fans of the club who had supported the relatives.

"Your support kept us going," the group said.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said Ulster Rugby's decision to end the sponsorship deal was right, but it "should never have taken this long."

In a letter to Ulster Rugby's chief executive Jonny Petrie, Mr Gove said he hoped the move would prompt others to reflect on their association with the company.

Earlier, Mr Petrie said he wanted to extend his thanks to Kingspan for the company's long-term investment "which has allowed us to build a strong foundation for the club in the future".

Siobhan O'Dwyer, global head of marketing at Kingspan, said it felt like "a natural stepping off point" after 20 years of partnership.

"It has been our privilege to partner with Ulster Rugby, and we are pleased to continue that support during a transitionary phase to June 2025," she said.

Ulster is now seeking new sponsors.

• What happened at Grenfell Tower?

Earlier this year graffiti was daubed on the Kingspan Stadium in protest at the partnership between the club and the company.

Protesters opposing the sponsorship deal outside Ulster's Kingspan Stadium in January 2022

Conchúr Mac Adaim, of Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) in Belfast, said the news that the relationship was coming to an end was welcomed.

However he expressed regret that it was on a phased basis rather than the immediate termination of the sponsorship.

Since June 2021 the organisation has been involved in the "Kick out Kingspan" campaign.

"Ulster Rugby supporters, inside and outside CATU, care deeply about the lives lost at Grenfell in 2017," he said.

The group accused Ulster Rugby of continuing to "disregard the victims of the Grenfell disaster by ignoring the calls of families and survivors to end the relationship with Kingspan".

"Rather than heeding these calls, this relationship appears to have ended on Kingspan's terms," he added.

"We firmly believe that the parties responsible for the Grenfell disaster should and will be brought to justice," he added.