Access All AreasEvents supplier Gallowglass is threatening action against the Rugby World Cup over an unpaid bill, The Telegraph reports.
Gallowglass director Nick Grecian told the paper that his company is owed £712,000 for work done on the Olympic Stadium’s retractable seats. The venue is due to host one more Rugby World Cup game on 30 October.
Grecian said that Gallowglass plans to sneak into the stadium and remove materials essential for the functioning of the seats, and warned that without the money owed, the company would go out of business.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” he told The Telegraph. “We’ve got to take action now – because if we don’t deal with this straight away, we won’t survive.”
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) owns the Olympic Stadium, and dismissed the threat as “highly unlikely”.
The LLDC also insisted that it had paid its bill to Alto Seating, who subcontracted work on the stadium to other companies including Gallowglass. Alto went into voluntary liquidation in late September.
“We’re somewhat mystified as to why Alto has gone into voluntary liquidation,” an LLDC spokeman told The Telegraph. “We have paid them in full and on time for the work they have completed. We’re not an organisation that doesn’t pay its contractors.
“We absolutely recognise the appalling circumstances that these sub-contracting firms have been left in – it’s a disgraceful position, quite frankly.”
Access has approached Grecian and Gallowglass for comment on this unfolding story, and will update accordingly.