High Court defence wrongly points finger at Dorchester-based firm which has never worked ā€œnorth of Southamptonā€

Architect AEW’s High Court defence against the National Museum of Liverpool’s legal claim has mistakenly blamed alleged problems with the building’s ceilings on a Dorset-based kitchen and bathroom contractor that had no involvement with the job.

As ŠŌ°ÉµēĢØ.co.uk reported on Wednesday, Manchester-based AEW Architects this week hit back at the museum’s Ā£3.5m claim – which alleges that the Ā£72m building is suffering from a host of serious problems including flaws with a suspended ceiling linked to a collapse that injured a workman last May.

However, it has now emerged that the legal papers – filed by AEW’s lawyers Plexus Law – wrongly pointed the finger at Dorchester-based Cull Contracting Services Ltd, which did not work on the National Museum of Liverpool and has ā€œnever been further north than Southampton,ā€ according to its boss.

The defence document argued that AEW – which was brought in after the museum dismissed the original architect 3XN – was not responsible for any ā€œdeficienciesā€ with the suspended ceiling.

ā€œThe [ceiling] panels were not prone to failure by reason of any design excercise undertaken by AEW,ā€ the document stated. ā€œTo the extent that there are any deficiencies in the suspended ceiling, they are the responsibility of Cull.ā€

Martin Cull, the founder of Cull Contracting Services, told ŠŌ°ÉµēĢØ: ā€œI am based in Dorchester and the furthest north I’ve been is Southampton.

ā€œI’ve never been to Liverpool and I’ve not been paid for this work. I’m an MOD contractor doing refurbishment work. I don’t do ceilings. I do kitchens and bathrooms.

ā€œThis is a bit of a cock-up to say the least.ā€

A spokesman for Plexus Law said the firm would amend the defence document shortly to correct the error.

ā€œIt was an error and it was the wrong party [named],ā€ he said. ā€œWe have spoken to Cull Contracting Services Limited and have written to them to explain it was an innocent error and that it is being rectified.ā€

AEW declined to comment.