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Involvement of Mr Brown-Constable
25 Although AR Lawrence had been appointed to carry out the entire refurbishment, it subsequently transpired, when I visited Mitre House in early September 2014, that AR Lawrence did not appear to be doing the whole job themselves; that some of-it at least was being done by Mr Brown-Constable. That was not what had been agreed at MHML's 23 May 2014 board meeting or by the leaseholders on 22 June 2014. Thus on 11 September 2014 I wrote to Mr Brown-Constable to enquire what was going on and to request a breakdown of the costs of the internal work. In his response of the same date Mr Brown-Constable stated that he was not doing the works himself; "They are being done by your preferred contractor A&R Lawrence for the agreed budget of £115,019." But in a number of his recent letters to my solicitor he has confirmed that he had in fact done some of the work himself.
(Comment/reply) already covered in comprehensive correspondence which we will rely on at 26 The Tribunal - as indeed are all points made in Mrs Hillgarth’s Witness Statement to date.
In his response to me on 11 September 2014 he continued: "I have, though, done the lift, which is NOT included in the Surveyor's Specifications, as advised to you in a previous email after your visit (f attach the quote (£11,602 inc!. vat) to do what I have succeeded in doing for under £200 of spray paint. In fact I've actually done more than their quote specified, considerably more!) I should add at this point that the lift was very poorly done, so this is not a fair comparison. A proper contractor would have stripped down the grime and dust from the metalwork before applying any paint. In fact Mr BrownConstable appears to have simply applied gold paint from a spray can onto an unprepared surface, with the result that the job not only looks poor, but will not last.
(Comment/reply) already covered in comprehensive correspondence which we will rely on at The Tribunal - as indeed are all points made in Mrs Hillgarth’s Witness Statement to date.
27 Mr Brown-Constable continued: "Since the scaffolding commenced installation on Sunday 31st Au- gust, exactly two weeks ago, Management have already saved Lessees exactly £1177.56 OFF the budgeted £105,019. This has been accomplished by Management stepping in and doing various workings which we knew could be done at a more economical cost (in brief, shop signage (COSTED BY A.R. LAWRENCE FOR £800 plus vat which Management have produced for £125 and tidying up visible wiring and making Meter Cupboards which A. R. Lawrence casted at £922 plus Vat for 3 meter cupboards and Management have produced same for £648 TO ALSO INCLUDE BOXING IN THE LOOSE WIRING). This initial saving of £1177.56 will not however be reimbursed to lessees at the end of the works, as Management wi/l utilise this first of many savings, to progress works on the interior NOT included in the Surveyor's Specifications (such as the lift workings)." However the real- ity is that we, the leaseholders, have seen no savings at all from this exercise; only expense. The work done by Mr Brown-Constable was done with very poor materials and it cannot possibly be com- pared with the work done by a proper professional.
(Comment/reply) “The work done by Mr Brown-Constable was done with very poor materials and it cannot possibly be compared with the work done by a proper professional.” - do you have any doc- umentary evidence of this statement from a professional as opposed to your opinion? All else yet again already covered in comprehensive correspondence which we will rely on at The Tribunal - as indeed are all points made in Mrs Hillgarth’s Witness Statement to date.
28 In a recent letter to my solicitor, Mr Begg, on 14 June 2016 Mr Brown-Constable asserts that the leaseholders, and in particular myself, were insisting on certain (unspecified) improvement works which had not been included in the Surveyor's specification. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once the Section 20 notice had been agreed on 22 June 2014 I never requested MHML or Mr Brown-Constable to do anything other than the work included in that Notice. I had no communication with him at all about any additional work to be done, and like some of the other leaseholders I was very confused by what he was up to.
(comment/reply) - prove that statement please - you cannot as it’s totally untrue - already cov- ered in comprehensive correspondence which we will rely on at The Tribunal
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