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Despite dropping Hurel Ltd (formerly R.G. Falla Ltd) as the contracted builder for the island's new post-16 campus, Guernsey's Education, Sport and Culture Committee has put a claim in against the collapsed firm for lost money.
The previously preeminent construction firm had agreed details to redevelop Les Ozouets Campus which is intended to be the home of the entire Guernsey Institute in time.
Plans to bring together the College of Further Education, the Health Institute and the Guernsey Training Agency, along with a new sixth form centre, were approved in 2021.
The then-R.G. Falla Ltd had been identified as the preferred bidder for the project following an open tender process in May last year and was subsequently chosen as the builders for the campus in June. Full planning permission for the project was granted by the Development & Planning Authority in July, 2022.
Building work was due to start early this year but the brakes were slammed on in December 2022 when the States announced that the then-R.G. Falla Ltd had been dropped as the construction partner.
Pictured: The news came as a shock to many in December.
At the time, the States said that following a restructuring of R G Falla, the firm had “sought to unilaterally alter material contract terms agreed in the tender process to such an extent that it now represents an untenable level of risk for such a significant taxpayer-funded project to continue”.
Further to that, Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of ESC, said the States had no option but to discard the contract in order to “safeguard the public purse”.
“The changes it was trying to introduce meant the new terms failed our due diligence processes, which are designed to mitigate the risk to public money when entering large-scale financial commitments such as this build,” she said.
ESC said at the time and has reiterated since that they remain “very optimistic” about delivering much of its reorganisation of secondary and post-16 education, but the termination of the contract “will likely result in some delay to the build” of Les Ozouets.
A new contractor is yet to be confirmed.
Pictured: The campus, which will feature The Guernsey Institute and a dedicated sixth form centre, was labelled a "cultural game-changer" by ESC when the plans were published.
Since the post-16 campus contract was dropped in December, a number of connected businesses have gone into voluntary liquidation.
R.G. Falla Ltd was renamed Hurel Ltd and entered voluntary liquidation in April alongside the Garenne Group and Rabeys Commercial Vehicles.
A series of creditors meetings were held on Friday with Director of Education Nick Hynes seen among the interested parties attending the hearing regarding Hurel Ltd (formerly R.G. Falla Ltd).
The meeting was held behind closed doors but some of those attending told Express that they are not expecting to get any money back from the liquidation firm.
A States of Guernsey spokesperson confirmed Mr Hynes was there in a professional capacity representing his employer.
“In order to safeguard public funds the States of Guernsey acting by and through the Committee for Education Sport and Culture has submitted a proof of debt in the liquidation of Hurel Limited (formerly R.G. Falla Limited) to seek recovery of costs in accordance with legal advice and will continue to monitor the situation.”
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