Thread by @PeteApps

Remember when Gove kicked Grenfell contractor Rydon off the Help to Buy scheme?

Well the company which supplied the combustible insulation is still raking in sales from the public purse, and bragging about it

Saint Gobain is a global building materials firm, which owns Isover - a company which mostly makes non-combustible insulation. But in the 2000s, it decided it wanted a piece of the plastic insulation market as well, and targetted a purchase of UK company Celotex:

Saint Gobain was aware through its due diligence that this sort of plastic foam insulation could be a fire hazard, particularly due to the toxic smoke which was released when it burned. It went ahead with the acquisition anyway.

Following the take over, Celotex staff were tasked by Saint Gobain with finding new markets for the product. They identified high rise buildings - an area where their material was currently restricted by regulations. They needed to pass a large-scale test to get into the market

This test should have cleared the one specific wall build-up tested for use on high rises. Instead, Celotex - like its main rival Kingspan - deliberately implied that its product was suitable for use on tall buildings in general. Former staff accepted this was 'dishonest'

Not only that - the company had passed the large-scale test with the help of a fire-resisting board to reinforce the external cladding. They made no reference to this board in their marketing or the report of the test. It didn't emerge until the start of the inquiry in 2018

The companies sales people then deliberately targetted Grenfell Tower - sold the material at discount of nearly 50% and requested to use it in marketing as a case study to get more high rise orders in

Saint Gobain continues to be a lobbyist over govt insulation policy, including through the sponsorship APPG. Lobbying was a part of their role before the fire, as Sky News revealed:

Anyway, this company is yet to see any accountability for the Grenfell fire, or to make any major contribution to the remediation of other buildings where its product is installed. I wonder why the govt was content to move on Rydon (a pretty small fish commercially) but not them

Sources:







insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-to…
insidehousing.co.uk/insight/grenfe…
insidehousing.co.uk/insight/68678
news.sky.com/story/long-rea…