He said what? Wembley case quotes

25 April 2006:

"About as neutral as the dodgy dossier relating to the weapons of mass destruction."

Roger Stewart, Multiplex QC, on CBUK's printed defence statement containing a neutral ‘factual background'

"The ‘Armageddon Plan' was just that: a plan to deal with the worst-case scenario. It would be a strange thing for a main contractor building a prestigious project to desire Armageddon."

Stewart on the alleged plan to drive CBUK off Wembley

"Either we do a deal now or go into adjudication forever."

Roddy Grant, former CBUK chief executive, according to Stagg's notes from a meeting on 27 January 2004 that also included Multiplex chairman John Roberts and Sheikh Abdullah, head of CBUK's major shareholder the Al Rushaid Group

"Blackmail."

What Multiplex construction director Matt Stagg wrote in brackets after Grant's alleged comment

26 April 2006:

"Incompetent, unmotivated and devious."

Multiplex project manager Ashley Muldoon on steel subcontractor CBUK

27 April 2006:

"CBUK were not accepting any responsibility for their actions."

Stagg's comments about CBUK's attitude

3 May 2006:

"My memory of Armageddon is that if we couldn't agree a way going forward [with CBUK], there would be a fall-out. It could be that Cleveland Bridge would resist giving us steel or drawings or that they would stop work completely. I didn't know but I began to plan for what might occur."

Ranald McGregor, Multiplex project manager

McGregor was also questioned about a ten-page note he wrote himself in January 2004, including five stages when CBUK could be "cut" from the Wembley project. These included "now", "when the arch is ready to go" and "when the arch has been lifted into its final position". McGregor accepted that ‘cut' meant ‘remove' but said that the note also referred to the possibility that Cleveland Bridge would "choose to go by themselves"

4 May 2006:

"I'm being asked to produce a valuation of £32.66m, I'm not being told why... Armageddon is not having a steelwork contractor... There was a plan which I understand was to recover a debt which was owed while at the same time working with CBUK to find a way of going forward."

Stuart Cursley, in-house QS at Multiplex, denied his valuation of CBUK's steelwork was part of an ‘Armageddon plan' to force the firm off site after it finished the arch

9 May 2006:

"In 35 years in construction I have never been involved in a project so badly out of control and so badly mismanaged by the main contractor."

Brian Rogan, managing director of Wembley steel contractor, who also revealed that CBUK directors explored a "political angle" as they tried appealing to Tony Blair and Alan Milburn to resolve the problems

"My belief is that however much information we gave them they had no intention of being fair and reasonable. If we'd given them our tender, they would have found some way of using it against us. They were putting every obstacle they could in the way to avoid accelerated payments."

Rogan defended CBUK's refusal to give its original tender information to Multiplex while claiming for compensation for acceleration measures

10 May 2006:

"I told him that the directors genuinely believed they were not, but if things didn't improve in January, or if [major CBUK shareholder] Sheikh Abdullah didn't agree to bankroll the firm then it would be in January."

Rogan on how he responded when, in 2003, Multiplex project manager Ashley Muldoon asked if CBUK was trading while insolvent.

15 May 2006

"I was not absolutely terrified, no. I believed there was a commercial solution to the problem, as did my director."

Cleveland Bridge finance director David Child denying allegations from Multiplex that it "grossly undervalued" its Wembley contract

16 May 2006

"I think I am"

Roddy Grant, former chief executive of Cleveland Bridge, when asked whether he was saying he didn't trust Ashley Muldoon