Grenfell building firm criticised by inquiry handed contracts worth millions after fire

Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower fire. Rydon was subsequently blocked from a London housing development initiative and the government’s help-to-buy scheme. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Observer

The building firm found to have borne “considerable responsibility” for the Grenfell fire with its “casual attitude to fire safety” was handed contracts worth tens of millions of pounds by councils, colleges and NHS trusts after the tragedy.

Property group Rydon was the lead contractor overseeing the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower between 2014 and 2016, including the installation of combustible cladding. The inquiry found that the firm should have been aware of “the risks of using combustible materials in the external walls of high-rise buildings”.