Toto Wolff apologises to Grenfell victims for "hurt" following recent new deal

Mercedes

Wolff apologises to Grenfell victims for "hurt" following recent new deal

Kingspan joined Mercedes as a global sustainability partner earlier this week

Sam Hall

Friday 3 December 2021 16:10 Updated: 16:19

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has apologised to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 after recently partnering with insulation manufacturer Kingspan.

The Grenfell Tower fire in London cost the lives of 72 people and remains subject to a public inquiry.

Kingspan is involved in this inquiry and the survivors' group, Grenfell United, earlier this week penned a letter to Mercedes demanding the ties be cut immediately.

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"Kingspan played a central role in inflicting the pain and suffering that we feel today, and there must be a degree of public censure for Kingspan's recklessness and carelessness for human life," explained the group in its correspondence.

Responding to the letter, Wolff publicly apologised for any "hurt" caused and accepted the offer to meet in person to better understand what happened in 2017.

"Thank you for your letter about our partnership with Kingspan, which I received yesterday," wrote Wolff.

"The tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire was beyond imaginable to me, and it should never have happened.

"On behalf of our team, I would sincerely like to apologise to you for the additional hurt that this announcement has caused. It was never our intention to do so.

"The work of the public inquiry to establish the full causes of the tragedy is crucially important. Prior to concluding our partnership, we engaged with Kingspan in depth to understand what role their products played in what happened at Grenfell.

"Kingspan have stated that they played no role in the design or construction of the cladding system on Grenfell Tower, and that a small percentage of their product was used as a substitute without their knowledge in part of the system which was not compliant with building regulations and was unsafe.

"I know that this does not change in any way the awful tragedy you suffered, or the deep and ongoing pain felt in your community, and I would like to thank Grenfell United for the offer to meet in person for me to learn and understand better.

"I look forward to coming together as soon as we can."

Mercedes has been criticised by leading politicians for its partnership with Kingspan.

Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling-Up Lisa Nandy expressed hope Lewis Hamilton has made his views “clearly known” to those inside the team regarding the decision.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove said he would write to the team to ask it to reconsider the deal, adding it was “deeply disappointing” a deal had been made.