Evidence about leading insulation manufacturer Kingspan dominated this week’s Grenfell Tower Inquiry hearings, painting a stark picture of a business intent on ensuring the use of its products faced as few barriers as possible despite the evidence of fire safety tests.

The inquiry’s current round of hearings is probing the products used for the flawed refurbishment of Grenfell Tower in west London, which caused the 2017 fire that claimed 72 lives.

Kingspan’s combustible Koolterm K15 phenolic insulation was never specified for use as part of the refurbishment – delivered by main contractor Rydon – but it was subsequently found to have been installed behind the new aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on some parts of the block.

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