Textile supplier Pegasus in row with developer Muse over £2m warehouse floor at Logic Leeds

The concrete floor at the building, named Curo House, was installed by a subcontractor in 2021. Mr Zhou said that he had spent the last two years trying to resolve the issue, which has cost him circa £60,000 in solicitors’ letters, without success.

Muse has disputed the claims, saying that the work was delivered to the specification and standard set out in the development agreement.

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However, Mr Zhou said he remains unhappy with the quality of the finish. “When we gave Muse the opportunity to build Curo House, it was on the basis that it would be the same quality as our head office, Pegasus House, which is also at Logic Leeds,” he said.

Different contractors were used to build the 61,000 sq ft warehouse than those used to build Pegasus House.

“During the building process we started to see some problems with the warehouse floor - the scratches, the fibres, the discoloration and the uneven patches,” said Mr Zhou.

“They always gave us the excuse that it would settle within time and everything would look the same. But a year later there was no change.“We raised it and the contractor came out many times, giving us the same excuse that it would settle over time.”

Mr Zhou enlisted the help of a solicitor to try to break through the stalemate, which resulted in numerous letters sent between the two parties. “Still we have been getting nowhere,” he said. “They insist it’s within building regulations and refuse to admit that they’ve done a really bad job.”

A few months ago attempts were made to fix some of the flooring problems, Mr Zhou said, including the exposed fibres and overlapping cement on joints.

“They were only looking at the minor problems and only in visible areas,” he said.

“They didn’t show any effort or willingness to fix the real issues and they scratched part of the floor even more with the machine they used.”

He added: ”We’ve spent millions of pounds on this building and what we expect is the same quality and finish on the floor as Pegasus House.

"It’s like you’re buying a car. The engine works but the outside is all scratched. The floor is usable but the finished quality is not there.”

Mr Zhou said he felt like he was being pushed into a corner. He said he recently received the defects certificate for the building, a document which confirms that any defects identified during the defects liability period have been rectified, but added that he refused to accept it.

He said that Pegasus and Muse had worked well together in the past and said he was “sad and angry” over the dispute.

A Muse spokesperson said: “All works at Curo House have been delivered to the specification and standard set out in the development agreement.

"This has been verified and approved by an independent contract administrator working with independent specialists.”