Fay Edwards was awarded the British Empire Medal ‘for services to the community’. She received the famous rose-pink ribbon during a ceremony at the Tower of London in 2016 and was invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party.

‘When I found out, I was in shock,’ she said after the presentation. ‘I couldn’t believe it.’

She was not the only one. Indeed, few gongs could have been greeted with more shock or disbelief, at least in certain quarters.

For Mrs Edwards was — and still is — chairman of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which operates Grenfell Tower on behalf of the council; the 24-storey block became the scene of Britain’s worst fire disaster in living memory this week.

Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) operated Grenfell Tower

Now, many believe Mrs Edwards and her colleagues on KCTMO have questions to answer along with the local council and a string of other companies involved in the maintenance and refurbishment of the building.

Those questions were being asked even at the time Mrs Edwards was named as a ‘local hero’ in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list, when KCTMO had already been accused of a litany of safety failures which had turned Grenfell Tower into a ‘catastrophe’ waiting to happen.

Nevertheless, she was nominated, with breathtaking hubris, by Robert Black, 57, chief executive of KCTMO, who praised her ‘strategic leadership’ which had gained the ‘respect of both residents and the local council’.

Tragically, many of those ‘residents’ were caught up in the dreadful scenes early on Wednesday morning — and there aren’t many who don’t believe the tragedy could have been prevented.

Robert Bond's firm, Rydon, won the £8.6million contract to refurbish Grenfell Tower

Few residents, now or then, view Mrs Edwards and her colleagues as ‘local heroes’.

Grenfell Tower is situated on a council estate near Notting Hill, a landscape of brutalist sky-scraping apartment blocks and graffiti-strewn underpasses sitting cheek-by-jowl with some of the capital’s most expensive postcodes.

‘Grenfell is where they shove all the people who don’t have any choice,’ is how one local described the Seventies block — a sentiment which has deepened the sense of injustice at what happened there.

The perverse irony is that such buildings can provide rich pickings for private companies desperate, in some cases, to cut costs and maximise profits.

A number of firms that won lucrative contracts to carry out work for KCTMO have controversial track records.

One went into liquidation, owing creditors more than £1 million, before emerging under a different name. Another had a contract terminated (by another local authority) for ‘performance’ which was ‘falling short of requirements’.

Bond lives on a private estate in Kent, worth £2million, and has an Aston Martin with a privatized number plate

In all, at least nine contractors and sub-contractors were involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell, raising concerns among fire safety experts about the quality of supervision and accountability.

The executives who run these companies enjoy six-figure salaries, drive luxury cars and live in million-pound homes. The contrast between their privileged lifestyles and the fate of the Grenfell Tower tenants — where, to quote a former fire officer, there was a failure of every ‘component of fire safety and building management’ — is a disturbing sub-plot to the scandal.

Fay Edwards, who is in her 70s, sat on the tender panel and was involved in the interview process when at least one of the contracts was awarded (to building company Rydon), according to industry bible Construction News.

Facebook photos show Robert Bond and his wife Tina (pictured) holidaying on a yacht and posing in front of a Ferrari

She is one of 15 people who sit on the board of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (comprising eight residents, four council-appointed members and three independent members).

The four-strong (salaried) executive team is headed by Robert Black, the chief executive of KCTMO. The organisation took over the management of all Kensington and Chelsea’s housing stock in 1996. The council retains ownership of the housing but KCTMO collects rent and is responsible for maintenance.

While KCTMO might be a not-for-profit organisation, chief executive Mr Black is believed to be paid around £150,000 a year.

Tenants say that in the seven years he has been in the job, his package — including gold-plated local government pension — has topped £1 million.

A separate company, called KCTMO Repairs, is run by executive director Sacha Jevans, 47.

According to the latest accounts, its highest paid executive (Ms Jevans, presumably, since she is in charge of the operation) earns £106,000 a year.

Ray Bailey's firm supplied and fitted the cladding on Grenfell Tower - but insisted that there was no link between the fire and the exterior cladding to the tower

Ordinarily, this would not be a source of controversy.

But over the past few years a catalogue of complaints by tenants, who formed the Grenfell Action Group, highlighted conditions inside the tower block.

The titles of the group’s online posts tell their own story . . . ‘Another Fire Safety Scandal’ . . . ‘The Disempowered Of Grenfell Tower’ . . . ‘Grenfell Tower — From Bad To Worse’ . . . ‘More Trouble At Grenfell Tower’.

A number of issues were raised, including that there was not sufficient access to the block, that the only stairs out of the tower did not amount to a sufficient fire escape and were badly lit, and that fire safety equipment was not being tested properly. Repeated power surges had led to electrical appliances such as fridges, kettles and computer terminals catching fire.

In November, the tragically prescient warning appeared on the Grenfell Action Group blog: ‘Only an incident that results in serious loss of life’ would bring much-needed scrutiny.

By then, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) had hired private contractor Rydon to refurbish Grenfell Tower.

Rydon’s £8.6 million contract included the installation of the external cladding now being investigated as a potential factor in the fire’s rapid spread.

The Bailey's live in a detached £1 million property with a swimming pool and surrounded by manicured lawns and luxury vehicles

The East Sussex-based company insists its work complied with building regulations. In July 2013, before work had commenced at Grenfell, Rydon won a five-year contract with Sutton Council in South London.

Within months, Rydon’s performance was ‘falling short of requirements’. Repairs by Sutton Council’s maintenance division failed to meet target times and resulted in ‘low levels of resident satisfaction’, according to one report.

In December 2014, Sutton Housing Partnership, which manages the authority’s housing stock, terminated the contract.

By this stage, Rydon was working on Grenfell Tower.

Rydon made a pre-tax profit of £14.3 million last year and paid investors a dividend of £2 million, the largest slice of which went to chief executive and largest shareholder Robert Bond, 60.

Mr Bond and his wife, Tina, have four children and live in a £2 million mansion in Orpington, Kent.

An Aston Martin with a private ‘Bond’ number plate and a silver convertible Porsche were parked outside their home this week.

Facebook pictures show the Bonds holidaying on a yacht and posing in front of a Ferrari.

Facebook photos show mother-of-three Mrs Bailey on an exotic holiday, sitting next to a tiger

This week, Mrs Bond answered the door of the family home, and when asked if her husband was at home replied: ‘Thank you and goodbye,’ before disappearing inside.

The second company in the corporate chain is Harley Facades. The family-owned construction firm, also based in East Sussex, was sub-contracted by Rydon to supply and fit panels to cover Grenfell Tower. It was paid £2.6 million for this and other work.

Only the firm wasn’t called Harley Facades when it won the contract in 2015. Back then it was known as Harley Curtain Wall.

However, an unnamed customer claimed £428,000 for disputed work and the firm, it transpires, was also being pursued for almost £2.5 million by HM Revenue & Customs for involvement in alleged tax-avoidance schemes.

The upshot was that later that same year Harley Curtain Wall went into administration before the work had been completed.

Documents filed reveal that managing director Ray Bailey, 58, was allowed to buy up his old business for just £24,900 and continue trading as Harley Facades.

Multiple contractors who worked for KCTMO were subject to significant controversy

This process is supposed to allow companies time to repay outstanding debts without being pressured by creditors.

Creditors who suffer from high blood pressure should avoid paying Mr Bailey and wife Belinda, 56, a visit at their home in the village of Crowborough, East Sussex.

The Baileys’ detached £1 million property has a swimming pool and is surrounded by manicured lawns. On the driveway this week were four vehicles, including a Land Rover, a Porsche and an Audi.

Mother-of-three Mrs Bailey, who can be seen on Facebook sitting next to a tiger on an exotic holiday, insisted there ‘was nothing to say’.

But in a statement, Mr Bailey said: ‘This is an incredibly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the residents and their families who have suffered a personal loss.

‘We fully support and co-operate with the investigation into this fire. At this time, we are not aware of any link between the fire and the exterior cladding to the tower.’

Grieving has given way to fury as residents discover the extent of KCTMO's potential negligence

Even so, it makes you wonder if there were any contractors working for KCTMO that had not been subject to controversy.

Certainly, it seems building firm Keepmoat Regeneration was not one of them — although it did not carry out any work at Grenfell.

With a turnover of £800 million, it had contracts for ‘repair services’ with more than 170 local authorities, including KCTMO.

Yet in 2016, an independent audit, carried out on behalf of one of the country’s biggest housing associations, found Keepmoat had overcharged to the tune of £173,650.

Local newspapers up and down the country have published the accounts of residents who have accused Keepmoat staff of all manner of sins, from causing electrical faults to leaving live power cables exposed and work unfinished.

One woman told the Sutton Guardian: ‘Since they [Keepmoat] started work, my fuse box has packed up. If I shut a light off, it goes. If I slam a door, it goes.’

The article told how despairing tenants had spent more than two hours at a public meeting exchanging stories about the poor workmanship. Keepmoat said it was working to resolve the issues.

Potentially dangerous failures at Grenfell Tower were also highlighted in a Fire Risk Assessment a few years ago.

An extract was published on the Grenfell Action Group blog.

Residents protest in the shadow of Grenfell Tower on Friday afternoon

It revealed that fire extinguishers ‘located in the roof areas had “condemned” written on them [by tenants] in large black writing.

Essex-based RGE Services was under contract to provide ‘fire-fighting equipment, testing servicing and maintenance’, but inspectors stated that ‘no certificates had been seen to confirm’ they had been tested.

RGE Services, which has profits of £2.35 million, is run by Roger Greene. His home in Loughton, Essex, is estimated to be worth around £1.8 million.

A member of staff at the firm’s office said the contract with KCTMO had expired in 2013. Mr Green did not return our call.

Last year, after the refurbishment, the Grenfell Action Group (GAG) carried out a survey which found that 68 per cent of tenants were dissatisfied with the work.

Edward Daffarn, chairman of GAG, talking to the council’s scrutiny committee, described the quality of work as ‘awful’, adding: ‘There are far too many examples to list to you individually. But some examples include a number of residents who were left without any hot water for months on end.’

Construction giant Leadbitter, it has emerged, not Rydon, was the council’s first choice for the refurbishment contract.

But Leadbitter said the required works would cost £11.27 million — £1.6 million more than the council wanted to spend, a 2013 report revealed, so the firm was dropped.

Was safety compromised in the process? Consider the reports today that suggest it would have cost just £6,250 extra to clad the tower in a fire-proof material, rather than the cheaper cladding used — and make up your own mind.

Additional reporting: Mark Branagan and Tim Stewart