The founder of Studio E Architects has told the Grenfell Tower Inquiry panel that his firm would probably not have been appointed to refurbish the 1970s block if there had been a competitive process for the work.

Andrzej Kuszell told the panel probing the causes of the fire that claimed 72 lives in June 2017 that his firm had no track record of delivering high-rise residential projects or of re-cladding such buildings. He acknowledged that the firm’s lack of experience would have made it unlikely for the firm to be appointed had the work been put through the Ojeu tendering process.

But he insisted that the firm – which was appointed to the west London job because it was working on the adjacent Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre – had a track record of delivering high-quality schemes.

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