Altrad says MPs’ call to ban firm from public contracts ‘tantamount to extortion’

Construction products multinational Altrad has described a call from British MPs to ban it from government contracts until it donates £10m to fund mesothelioma research “tantamount to extortion”.

A new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health (APPGOSH) made the recommendation following a public hearing in March with cross-party MPs and peers on the involvement of asbestos manufacturer Cape Plc, a subsidiary of Altrad, in the cover-up of the dangers posed by its products.

Eleven experts, including a former managing director within Cape Plc who worked at the company for 40 years, shared witness accounts describing what the report calls “a pattern of Cape Plc’s corporate denial, suppression of vital health information, and a refusal to accept responsibility”.

Ran Oren, CEO of Altrad and director of Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd, did not attend the APPGOSH’s public hearing and declined to put forward a substitute.

Altrad acquired Cape in 2017. That same year, the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum UK, a charity representing groups who support sufferers of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by past asbestos exposure, launched legal action against Cape to obtain historical documents which they claimed the firm had deliberately concealed from the public.

The documents showed that Cape knew that handling Asbestolux, one of the company’s products, would release asbestos fibres which could cause mesothelioma.

The report says that the documents also exposed Cape as deliberately preventing the placing of warning labels on Asbestolux due to profitability concerns and continuing to provide misleading information about the dangers of asbestos in its communications with the government and the public.

“Our concerns were justified,” Ian Lavery, Labour MP and chair of APPGOSH, wrote in his foreword to the parliamentary group’s report. “The documents exposed Cape’s egregious behaviour, notably in the cover-up of the dangers posed by their asbestos products, as well as efforts to water down exposure limits to asbestos.”

The APPGOSH report urged the government to back the Cape Must Pay campaign by the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK, calling on Cape’s parent company Altrad to donate £10m to Asthma + Lung UK to support mesothelioma research.

MPs are asking the government to end all public contracts with Altrad until the payment is made.

In his evidence to the APPGOSH public hearing on 24 March, Peter Gartside, former industrial services managing director at Cape and author of the book Asbestos and Cape. A Tale of Three Stakeholders, said that the £10m donation would be “a matter of simple self-interest” and “a moral case”.

“There is the potential for more cases of exposure to asbestos-related disease as the amount of asbestos building board, particularly Cape Asbestolux, is removed from our
public and domestic buildings,” said Gartside. “Even if this involves no direct liability for Altrad, to put in place this research would be a worthy act on their part. Altrad is an international company, and in many of its countries of operation, there is a legacy of asbestos giving rise to disease for which there is no relief or compensation. The benefits of such an investment could be worldwide.”

In recent years, Altrad has been awarded multi-million pound contracts to deliver government-commissioned work by the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Magnox and Sellafield. 

In 2024, the French multinational made €5.452bn in revenue for the 2024 financial year.

The report also calls on the government to launch a national asbestos removal strategy, starting with schools and hospitals.

Lavery said: “Cape’s deadly legacy has destroyed thousands of lives, and the company has yet to show real accountability. As the parent company, Altrad now carries that responsibility – and the government must stop turning a blind eye.

“It is completely unacceptable that Altrad continues to receive public contracts while failing to address the devastation caused by Cape’s asbestos products. The government must act now: no more contracts, no more excuses, until a meaningful contribution is made to mesothelioma research.”

John Glen, Conservative MP and former government minister, said: “As someone who has experienced the devastating loss of a loved one due to asbestos exposure at work, I know all too well the pain that families face. Mesothelioma is a cruel and entirely preventable disease.

“This report shines a vital light on the ongoing legacy of asbestos and the responsibility that companies like Cape must own up to. I fully support the call for Cape to contribute £10m towards mesothelioma research – a step that could bring hope to those affected and help us move closer to finding effective treatments.”

Responding to the report’s publication, an Altrad spokesperson said: “We are deeply disappointed by the APPG’s recommendation, which amounts to nothing less than coercion under the guise of public health advocacy. The suggestion that government contracts should be withheld unless a private company makes a specific financial donation – outside of any legal or regulatory framework, or indeed any finding of legal culpability – is not only inappropriate, but tantamount to extortion.

“Altrad has consistently acknowledged the historical legacy of Cape, a company it acquired in 2017 – decades after the manufacture of asbestos products had ceased. Cape set up its compensation scheme to avoid insolvency and burdening the taxpayer, resulting in eligible victims obtaining 100% of their entitlements for nearly 20 years. Cape has paid out over £60m in compensation and set aside a further £70m to support legitimate claims. These are not hollow gestures; they are tangible commitments to justice and accountability. 

“Altrad employs over 12,000 people in the UK and remains committed to responsible corporate conduct and meaningfully contributing to UK society.”

Cape was one of the world’s largest manufacturers of asbestos products. It mined asbestos in countries such as South Africa and imported it into the UK. One of Cape’s products, Asbestolux (the trade name of asbestos insulation board), was used in construction products such as window panels, ceiling tiles, fire doors and internal walls.