- Legal row over 22 Bishopsgate ensnares Sir Stuart Lipton, founder of Stanhope and Chelsfield
- Former business associate claims Lipton promised him fee worth up to £11 million for help in securing deal to build the Square Mile's tallest building
- Dispute recounts years-long efforts by wealthy investors to make a success of the troubled project
- £1 billion skyscraper was finally completed December 2020, years behind schedule and in the midst of Covid lockdown
Sir Stuart Lipton, grandee of the UK construction industry, faces a multimillion-pound legal fight with a former business associate over 22 Bishopsgate, the City of London's tallest building.
Hamid Alqumairi claims he is owed a fee worth up to £11.05 million after Lipton and AXA bought the high-profile project from a Saudi consortium in 2015. He says Sir Stuart promised him the fee as payment for what he claims is the crucial role he played in helping Lipton's firm work up the 22 Bishopsgate project and secure the deal. He alleges Sir Stuart later reneged on this agreement.
Mr Alqumairi is a real estate veteran with Saudi connections who says he commissioned and won planning support for the designs that were ultimately implemented as the skyscraper took shape. He also claims to have originated the acquisition structure, and that he was a crucial middleman between Lipton and 22 Bishopsgate's previous Saudi owners.
Email evidence will be adduced in support of his claim in a case that could be reputationally challenging for Sir Stuart founder of Stanhope and Chelsfield, Conservative Party donor and one of UK business's most respected figures.
A lawsuit has been filed at the High Court against Lipton Rogers LLP, Sir Stuart's firm. The firm and Sir Stuart contest the legal claim, dispute Mr Alqumairi's version of events and deny owing him money.
The dispute marks another dramatic turn in the skyscraper's troubled history. Originally earmarked for development in the 2000s, its construction was stalled for years, leaving only an unfinished seven-storey structure nicknamed "the stump". It was finally completed under Lipton Rogers December 2020, at an estimated total cost of just over £1 billion in the depths of the Covid crisis and with the future of tall office buildings in renewed doubt.
A legal row may also be unwelcome for AXA, the French financial group that funded the 2015 deal. AXA is not a party to the litigation but has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on the landmark building and is one of its anchor tenants.
Hamid Alqumairi said:
"I have been pressing Sir Stuart Lipton for more than five years now to keep his word to me. What I am seeking is fair compensation for the role I played in helping him, AXA and London bring this wonderful building into existence.
"More to the point, I am seeking fulfilment of a deal that was explicitly agreed. When I first knew Sir Stuart, I believed he was a man who honoured his agreements. It pains me to have to take this action."
"This project could not have been completed without me. The previous plan was too expensive to build, in part due to cladding, and the design of floor plates was not suitable for tenants. I was instrumental in getting a workable design agreed, getting planning support and therefore getting the project funded, and winning the mandate for Lipton Rogers as development manager. I had a fair deal to reward me for these efforts, which needs to be honoured."
The legal action has been filed by Middle East Real Estate, Hamid Alqumairi's company, and by Mr Alqumairi himself, represented by BBS Law. The defendant is Lipton Rogers Development LLP. The claim number is BL-2021-000266.
ENDS
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