Galliard Homes signs post-Grenfell safety contract three weeks after deadline

At the time, Stephen Conway, executive chair at Galliard Homes, accused Mr Gove of acting like “the mafia” in his pursuit of developers.

“It’s a complete nonsense the way they’ve handled it,” Mr Conway told The Sunday Times.

One of Galliard Homes’ developments, New Capital Quay in Greenwich, east London, previously featured prominently in the building safety crisis as one of the first private blocks to discover it had aluminium composite material – similar to that used on Grenfell Tower.

A warranty claim was accepted, with the National House Building Council agreeing to pay for the work on the 12-block development in 2018. 

In its last reported full-year to March 2022, Galliard Group posted a pre-tax profit of £4.6m on turnover of £203.8m.

The group’s bottom line was hit by £15.2m of exceptional costs, which included a £6.8m provision to cover remediation works on “current and historic developments”, accounts filed at Companies House showed. 

The costs also included an £8.3m “termination payment” to outgoing chief executive Don O’Sullivan, who left the company last year after 21 years. He had served as chief executive from 2017. 

Mr O’Sullivan joined troubled house builder Inland Homes late last year as its boss, but spent just five weeks on the job before stepping down by “mutual agreement”.

Explaining its decision to sign the remediation contract, Galliard Homes said it has always supported the principle that leaseholders should not have to pay for the remediation of life-critical fire safety issues in their buildings. 

A spokesperson said: “Prior to government intervention, we completed, in 2021, a comprehensive scheme of recladding across 11 buildings, comprising 1,100 homes, at our development at New Capital Quay in Greenwich, at no cost to leaseholders.

“We have been actively working to gain EWS1 [External Wall System 1] forms across our sites, and to date have gained certification for 29 developments. We have a specialist department and this work is ongoing.”

Galliard Homes said the government and developers together with the whole supply chain should "take responsibility and share the burden" of remediation works, including suppliers, manufacturers, contractors, architects, overseas developers and investors.

The spokesperson added: “Galliard Homes is a responsible business, we want to create better connected communities and a better standard of living for those who live and work in the capital and beyond. We operate ethically and champion integrity in all our dealings.

“We engage with the communities in which we work encouraging employment, education, charity and environmental sustainability. We are committed to deliver a positive and enduring impact for all our stakeholders.”