Citation:
Accolade Wines brought a property damage and business interruption claim of £170M against a warehouse and production facility. A number of defects were identified in the property, including cracks in the concrete floor slabs. These made the warehouse unusable. Accolade Wines alleged that the cracking was caused by defects in the design and construction of the floor slabs. Further to this other defects in the design were averred, including:
- Inadequately designed/constructed piles which impacted the loads which could be applied to the slabs.
- Contaminated imported concrete fill material which resulted in sulphate attack. This caused ground heave to the car park.
The case settled before trial. This case was one of The Lawyer's Top 20 Cases of 2014. Members of Keating acted for the following parties: For the claimant: Alexander Nissen QC, Calum Lamont, Sarah Williams For the defendant, GJ3 Ltd & GJ4 Ltd: Marcus Taverner QC, Jonathan Lee, Jane Lemon, Ben Sareen, David Sheard For the defendant, Goodman Logistics Development: Simon Hargreaves QC, Samuel Townend For the defendant, Volkerfitzpatrick Ltd: Brenna Conroy (whilst at Hardwicke Chambers)
