Braehead owner sues Amec over problems with roof

Lord Boyd: listed for hearing. Picture: Janye Wright

The case will see two major London listed companies face each other in Scotland’s highest civil court.

Scotland on Sunday has learned that Braehead Glasgow, a subsidiary of commercial property giant Intu, is seeking £750,000 from Amec Construction Scotland for “repair costs, losses and damages.” The former construction arm of FTSE 100 firm Amec built the retail park next to the main £250 million shopping centre in 2000, but owner Intu says it has suffered issues with the roof which required “substantial” repairs.

Lengthy discussions between the two companies over who should pay for the remedial work at the Renfew site are still ongoing, but it is thought the dispute has dragged on for so long that Braehead had to start legal proceedings or risk being unable to do so because of time constraints.

Intu, which was known as Capital Shopping Centres until a re-brand earlier this year, is the UK’s biggest shopping mall owner. It opened its shopping centre on the former Braehead Power Station site on the south bank of the Clyde in 1999. A retail park with space for larger stores was added a year later. Tenants include Halfords, Laura Ashley and Next Home.

Braehead has since grown further to include an indoor ski slope and adventure sports complex. Last year the group paid £4.7m for the King George V Docks, giving the company a further 31 acres adjacent to Braehead for development.

A spokesman for Intu Braehead said: “We have been in discussions with Amec for a long time over issues with the roof of part of the retail park, which they built in 2000.

“Since the retail park was built we have had to carry out substantial repairs to the roof and since we have, so far, been unable to reach agreement with Amec Construction Scotland, we had no option but to go to the courts to recoup our repair costs, losses and damages.”

He said the company would not comment further “until after the case is heard in full at the Court of Session”.

The case was listed for a technical matter before judge Lord Boyd of Duncansby in the Edinburgh court last week, but no date has yet been set for the main arguments to be heard.

Amec, which sold its UK construction business in 2007 as it shifted its focus onto energy engineering, says it still hopes to settle out of court.

A spokesman said: “The Braehead retail and leisure centre project was carried out by Amec’s former construction business and since we became aware of the matter we have been in discussion with Braehead Glasgow. In agreement with them, court proceedings are on hold while discussions continue. To the extent that Braehead has a valid claim, we would hope to settle it by negotiation.”

The re-focused group has a £150m engineering and project management contract for the main platform at BP’s giant Clair Ridge oilfield west of Shetland, and it recently won a £110m extension to its deal to support gas producer BG Group in the North Sea.