Foster and HOK dragged into Wembley row

Last week, the company, which is now known as Brookfield Construction, won High Court approval to interview staff from World Stadium Team, a joint venture between Foster + Partners and HOK Sport.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Brookfield’s lawyer, will begin questioning people from both practices in the next few weeks.

A Brookfield spokesperson said: “This is about providing information rather than getting people to testify. It will be questions like, ‘Was this email sent on such and such a date?’”

It is believed that the employees in question have already been identified and are not thought to include senior staff. The spokesperson said: “It’s the people who had a more day-to-day involvement with the job.”

Last December, Brookfield launched a £253m High Court claim against Mott MacDonald, alleging it suffered significant losses on the job because of flaws in the steelwork design. Mott MacDonald denies the allegations.

It’s the people who had a more day-to-day involvement

Brookfield spokesperson

The steelwork contract was originally supposed to cost £60m and be carried out by Cleveland Bridge (CBUK). But the firm walked off the job in August 2004 and was replaced by Hollandia, which completed the deal for an additional £132m.

Mott MacDonald is set to file its defence by the middle of June with a case management hearing due to be held in August.

Meanwhile, lawyers from Brookfield and CBUK are expected to find out later this month whether the Court of Appeal will hear a series of points relating to how much CBUK owes Brookfield.