School to receive £500k payout (From Gazette & Herald)

Ampleforth College to receive £500k payout

9:33am Wednesday 10th October 2012 in News

A COURT has ruled that a North Yorkshire boarding school should be paid more than £500,000 in total following a dispute over a building contract.

Ampleforth College hired Turner & Townsend Project Management Ltd (TTPM) as project managers on three new accommodation blocks in 2000, to be built by construction company Kier Regional Limited.

The buildings were completed in 2004, significantly later than expected, and the Ampleforth Trust decided to take action against the project managers, after first settling a dispute with Kier.

TTPM denied allegations of professional negligence but, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court, a judge has ruled the project manager was at fault, and had not created an appropriate contract to protect the trust, despite requests from the trust to do so.

In August, Judge Andrew John Keyser QC ordered TTPM to pay the trust £226,667 to cover excess funds paid to the construction team. This week details have been released of a ruling that TTPM must make an interim payment of costs to the trust of £300,000 before Friday.

Judge Keyser also ruled in favour of a counter-claim by TTPM in August, for funds owed after it helped negotiate the dispute between the trust and Kier, and ordered the trust to pay TTPM £37,167.

A trust spokesman said: “As a charity it was only after careful consideration that the trust embarked upon litigation, and obviously we know now, since the judgement, we are going to receive £300,000 towards costs by the middle of October.

“It is hoped that the parties will be able to sort out the costs between themselves and the lawyers.”