Robertson sues Amey-Miller PPP

Robertson Group is in a legal tussle with Amey Ventures and Miller over nearly £1m-worth of work carried out on the privately-financed Royal High School in Edinburgh.

The row centres round payments for refurbishment and extension work, which were part of the £360m Edinburgh Schools PPP contract awarded to a joint venture of Amey Ventures and Miller in 2000.

At the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh last week, Robertson Group claimed it had spent £5m on the upgrade.

No formal contract was signed, but before work began in 2001 Amey-Miller had pledged in a letter that “direct costs and directly incurred losses shall be underwritten and reimbursed” if the deal collapsed. Negotiations broke down when the two parties failed to reach agreement. Now the Robertson Group is suing the joint venture for £863,000.

In a counter-claim for £440,000, Amey-Miller alleged it had incurred losses due to Robertson Group’s “late completion” and “defective performance”.

The judge, Lord Drummond Young, said the dispute pivoted on the interpretation of the phrase “all direct costs and directly incurred losses”.

Amey-Miller argued that the arrangement only covered costs directly linked to the job and did not include office overheads and loss of profit.

The Robertson Group claimed its full losses from the aborted scheme. The judge ruled in the company’s favour. He added that further court hearings would be necessary to conclude the case and decide how much should be paid.

An Amey-Miller joint venture spokeswoman told CJ: “The recent outcome at the Court of Session is only a very small part of the overall dispute.”

Robertson Group declined to comment.