Harley Facades is a British construction company that designs and installs external cladding on buildings. Ray Bailey, the owner and managing director, founded the first Harley business (Harley Curtain Wall) in 1996, operating from home and "offering a limited range of aluminium windows and curtain wall products". In 2002, Harley obtained its first major cladding contract, with Wates Construction to over-clad four 11-storey tower blocks in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, which led it to establish a specialist cladding division focused on local authority and housing association blocks in London and the south-east. The company moved to purpose built office in December 2013 - Harley House, Brooklands Park, Farningham Road, Crowborough, East Sussex.

Grenfell Tower

In 2015, Harley secured a £2.6m contract from

Rydon Rydon is a British construction company which was founded in 1978 and employs over 650 people. Its head office is in Forest Row, East Sussex, and it has offices in Bristol, Dartford, London and Preston. Controversies Grenfell Tower Rydon was th ...

to design and supply the ACM panels at

Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to ...

. In September 2015 the company Harley Curtain Wall Ltd (Company Number 03244209) was formally placed into administration, owing around £1m to its unsecured trade creditors and had appointed

Begbies Traynor Begbies Traynor () (until 1997 known as Traynor & Partners) is a firm specialising in corporate restructuring. They were formed in 1989, expanded through mergers and organic growth and were floated in 2004. The company employs over 700 people and ...

as administrators. Within days, as part of a

Pre-packaged insolvency Pre-packaged insolvency (a "pre-pack") is a kind of bankruptcy procedure, where a restructure plan is agreed in advance of a company declaring its insolvency. In the United States pre-packs are often used in a Chapter 11 filing. In the United Kin ...

deal, the company's assets were purchased for £24,900 plus VAT by Harley Facades Limited, a similarly-named company, also owned by Ray Bailey since 2001 but which had been dormant until 2015. The

contract was subsequently novated to the new company independently of the administration. The original Harley company remains in liquidation (as of October 2019) pending the outcome of negotiations with HMRC concerning a £1.6m claim surrounding allegations of the use of

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...

schemes. Although

was the main contractor responsible for the 2015-2016 refurbishment of the

Chalcots Estate Chalcots Estate is a council housing estate on Adelaide Road and Fellows Road in Swiss Cottage in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed by Dennis Lennon and Partners. The Chalcots Estate was built on land owned by Eton College, which ...

and

( destroyed by fire in June 2017), it sub-contracted the "design and installation of the external cladding" to Harley Curtain Wall (later Harley Facades). In response to a request filed on behalf of several invidividuals and companies linked to the

refurbishment (including both

and Harley Facades), the

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

, confirmed that witnesses would be immune from prosecution based on their statements to the enquiry.

References

External links

{{Official, http://www.harleyfacades.co.uk/ British companies established in 1996 Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1996