The legal team for the main contractor involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower told the inquiry into the fatal fire that the firm could not be blamed for delegating aspects of the work to others.

While it was understandable that the spotlight should fall on Rydon, the firm’s barrister Marcus Taverner QC said the fact that it delegated tasks was not the same as ducking its responsibility.

Amid accusations that companies involved in the refurbishment work were seeking to pass the buck as the second phase of the inquiry began today, Taverner said that Rydon had been formally contracted to do the work in October 2014 and “took on express and implicit contractual obligations” regarding carrying out the job.

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