Dutch steel contractor hires extra help as Cleveland Bridge wins adjudication case against Multiplex

Wembley steel subcontractor Hollandia has taken on a team of staff from Canary Wharf Contractors to help it complete the project’s steelwork.

The news came in the same week that the project’s previous steel contractor Cleveland Bridge won an adjudication against main contractor Multiplex.

Hollandia took over the steel contract in July after Multiplex dismissed Cleveland Bridge from the site.

A senior project source said the Canary Wharf Contractors team, which consists of six people with steel industry experience, was working with Hollandia on a secondment basis. The team will help to co-ordinate the site’s steel supplies.

The source said: “Canary Wharf Contractors approached Hollandia with the offer of supplying the staff as the two firms have an ongoing relationship and have worked together extensively before.”

It is thought that the recruitment of staff from Canary Wharf Contractors could aggravate the dispute between Cleveland Bridge and Multiplex.

In the adjudication, Multiplex had pursued Cleveland Bridge for £14m but was this week ordered to pay the steel contractor £430,000. The dispute centred on money owed for work carried out before Cleveland Bridge was sacked.

In a statement, Cleveland Bridge said it was waiting for further clarification from the adjudicator and hoped the result would mean that it received further payments from Multiplex.

Multiplex still owes Cleveland Bridge a significant sum of money

Cleveland Bridge statement

The statement added that the outcome supported Cleveland Bridge’s view that Multiplex did not honour agreements made in June this year.

It said: “Multiplex still owes Cleveland Bridge a significant sum of money for the work completed on the Wembley Stadium site.”

Cleveland Bridge said that it was still awaiting the results of two further adjudications in relation to its contractual agreements with Multiplex.

A spokesperson for Multiplex said the company was delighted that the dispute had been resolved but would not be drawn on the details of the case.

The public row between Cleveland Bridge and Multiplex turned nasty last month when Multiplex warned the steel firm that it could face legal action over its disparaging remarks about the Wembley project.

Following Cleveland Bridge’s dismissal, more than 200 of its workers were transferred to an employment agency, but were subsequently sacked over disputes about working hours and redundancy selection criteria.

Most of the Cleveland Bridge workforce is now back on the project after unions stepped in to negotiate a solution.