Groups ally in nuclear dispute

Exhibition consultancy Brennan & Whalley will join forces with architect David Marks Julia Barfield against client British Nuclear Fuels if BNFL fails to pay fees owed to both designers.

The architectural practice was sub-contracted by Brennan & Whalley to create features for BNFL’s 5m Sellafield centre.

Brennan & Whalley now says it received 12 000 towards David Marks Julia Barfield’s 20 000 fee in June. “We were advised by BNFL not to pay this fee, as they claimed David Marks had made design mistakes,” explains Brennan & Whalley director Dennis Brennan. The architects refuted this claim and served a writ on Brennan & Whalley (DW 30 June).

David Marks Julia Barfield has now received the 12 000. “We would have paid them before if we’d known BNFL wouldn’t give a good reason for not paying the rest,” says Brennan & Whalley director Jean Brennan.

BNFL owes a total of 50 000 to Brennan & Whalley. This figure includes the group’s final fee instalments to cover the further 8 000 owed to the architect, and fees for mechanical and electrical consultants Ushers, also sub-contracted by Brennan & Whalley.

“We’re arranging a meeting with BNFL for some time this month,” explains director Dennis Brennan. “We’ve asked them to present a list of claims, then we can discuss it and find out exactly what the problem is.”

If BNFL does not consent to the meeting before the end of September, the two companies will combine to continue legal proceedings, confirms Brennan.