Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh has again received “qualified” support from a shareholder advisory firm for his re-election to the board at this month’s annual general meeting (agm), amid concerns about the reputational damage the insulation group suffered from the inquiry into the Grenfell disaster.
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which also gave qualified backing to Murtagh’s re-election last year and in 2023 and 2024, said in a report to shareholders that it is again supporting his bid.
However, ISS, which offers advice to large investors on how to vote at agms, said that although a vote for Murtagh was considered “warranted”, it was again “not without concern”.
“The qualified nature of the support reflects concern at the information that has come to light of the Grenfell inquiry and recognises that although the company was not found to be causative of the tragedy, there has been reputational damage,” the firm said.
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“However, it is recognised that a suite of remedial actions has been implemented over the last years.”
The qualified backing is in line with ISS’s recommendations in advance of each of the last two meetings. Murtagh has received more than 95.5 per cent of the total votes at each of the last three agms and is expected to be re-elected at the meeting on April 30th.
The final report of a British government inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell fire in London, which killed 72 people, concluded in September 2024 that it was the result of “decades of failure” by central and local government, regulators and the city’s fire brigade. It also referred to the “systemic dishonesty” of companies – including Kingspan – whose products were used on the facade of the tower during a refurbishment completed a year before the disaster.
Kingspan’s Kooltherm K15 insulation board was used for 5 per cent of the insulation layer inserted behind the new cladding, unknown to it, after there were supply issues with the main provider, UK-based Celotex.
However, inquiry chairman Martin Moore-Bick said Kingspan “knowingly created a false market” for the insulation used on the facade by falsely claiming it successfully passed tests to allow it to be used on high-rise buildings more than 18 metres in height.
[ Kingspan posts record revenues and profits but start to 2026 ‘sluggish’Opens in new window ]
Kingspan previously said it had addressed issues that arose during the inquiry, including the implementation of extensive and externally verified measures to ensure its conduct and compliance standards are “world-leading”.
Meanwhile, ISS has also qualified its support for the passing of Kingspan’s director remuneration report at its agm later this month.
The firm said a vote in favour of the report was “warranted” but was, again, “not without concern” because all executive directors are slated to receive salary increases of between 8 and 9 per cent, “above the wider workforce, which follows increases to variable pay opportunities last year”.
However, ISS added that the increase for Murtagh was “signposted” as part of a previous review and the salaries “are not out of line with companies of a similar size”.
