Payout for Abbey in holy row over delay

FOR 200 years, Ampleforth Abbey and its college have attracted those who seek a contemplative life.

But, when roused, the monks are no pushovers.

The trustees of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust have won a long-running high court battle with Turner and Townsend Project Management, (TTPM) which is part of a group which helped London to prepare for the Olympics.

The dispute was triggered by delays in building accommodation for female students at the private Ampleforth college in 2004. As a result of winning their legal battle, the trust has £180,000 which it can spend on maintaining the abbey, which has Britain’s largest monastic community, and the college.

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Celebrating the victory, Fr Wulstan, the procurator of Ampleforth, said: “The trust pursued the matter because, as a religious organisation and registered charity, it is morally and legally bound to protect its legitimate interests and seek justice where, as in this case, there has been professional negligence.”

According to Fr Wulfstan, the accommodation block for female students at the North Yorkshire college should have been completed in November 2004, but nobody was able to move in until spring 2005, 15 weeks later than planned. Fr Wulfstan said the builders had blamed bad weather and problems finding sub-contractors for the delays.

Until 2002 the college had been for boys only, but the number of girls has increased dramatically in recent years. Today, around 30 per cent of the 600 students are girls.

Giles Ward, the managing partner at Leeds-based law firm Milners, who represented the trustees said: “Judge Keyser QC has ordered Turner and Townsend, the project manager, to pay Ampleforth Abbey Trust damages for losses arising on a project where the entire works were carried out under letters of intent.

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“The project was substantially delayed and Ampleforth alleged that it was unable to claim liquidated damages for delay from Kier, the building contractor, because Turner and Townsend had breached its duty to exercise reasonable skill and care to get the building contract signed.

“Ampleforth eventually settled its dispute with Kier and pursued Turner and Townsend for the losses arising from achieving a less favourable settlement than if a formal building contract had been in place.”

In his summary, the judge said the trust was entitled to recover £226,667 on the claim, but he also supported a counterclaim from TTPM for £37,167 for fees in connection with its work on the accommodation project.

A spokesman for Leeds-based Turner and Townsend, which has an annual turnover of around £244m, said: “Turner and Townsend has a proud record with our many clients and is disappointed by the judgement.

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“This project originated over 10 years ago and covered a unique set of circumstances with our team suffering many frustrations. We are pleased that Ampleforth have a fine building delivered for the agreed contract sum and that the court judgement recognised that Turner and Townsend were due unpaid fees for additional work, assisting Ampleforth resolve project related issues.”

A spokesman for Kier declined to comment.

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