The homelessness charity Shelter’s financial links with the construction industry have come under scrutiny after details emerged of its fundraising partnership with Omnis Exteriors, the company that supplied the cladding for Grenfell Tower.



It is understood that Shelter received more than £15,000 in donations from Omnis over a two-year period as part of an informal arrangement. During the period, Omnis agreed to raise money for the charity while using the Shelter name at its corporate marketing events.

The charity, which has deployed staff to help coordinate legal help to Grenfell residents, has also faced questions in recent days from staff over its allegedly “muted” response to the disaster, as well as disquiet over its links with Omnis.

Shelter’s chairman, Sir Derek Myers, and fellow board member Tony Rice, chair of the company which owns Omnis, resigned from the charity last Friday amid concerns that their presence was “a distraction” from the charity’s ongoing frontline work in North Kensington.

Shelter rejected accusations that it had been too timid in its response to the disaster, saying that it had prioritised the provision of housing and legal advice to Grenfell residents in the wake of the fire. It has deployed 22 solicitors and support workers to the area.



Shelter’s interim chief executive, Graeme Brown said: “Since the terrible tragedy of the Grenfell fire, our dedicated staff have mobilised to do all they can to help those affected. As soon as news of the fire broke, our frontline services staff worked to find ways for Shelter to help, which has included free legal advice sessions on the ground, extending our London advice line hours to evenings and weekends, and reaching out to community groups so everyone has access to housing advice.

“Outside our frontline response, it has been important for Shelter to respond to the issues surrounding the Grenfell tragedy in a responsible and informed way. There has been a lot of speculation around the circumstances that led to the fire, and the situation is still extremely unclear. The true facts will only be established through the ongoing inquiry this summer, and we’ll be engaging in this process.”

A Shelter staffer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Guardian that the revelation of Rice’s links to Omnis had “knocked a lot of people for six”. They added: “The mood at the end of last week was quite angry. Now staff are asking how the hell Shelter has got itself into this position. I think we expected a faster, more hard-hitting response from a charity whose focus is on decent, safe, secure housing.”

It has emerged that Shelter was the named charity partner and fundraising beneficiary at a drinks reception held by Omnis for 150 housing industry guests at the Serpentine gallery in central London in May 2015. Specially commissioned sculptures made using Omnis roofing and cladding products were displayed at the launch, and later offered for sale on an art website. Twenty per cent of the sale price of each was to be donated to Shelter, which was described as “the chosen corporate charity of Omnis and Xerxes Group”.

A press release put out by Omnis at the time, which reproduces Shelter’s logo, refers to “an architecturally inspired” evening designed to showcase the core values of Omnis, which it lists as “next generation, intelligent, approachable, ambitious and beautiful.” A Shelter staffer is quoted on the press release as saying: “We are very excited to be working in partnership with Omnis once again for 2015. The launch was a fantastic evening and we are incredibly grateful to Omnis for arranging some of the proceeds from the sculptures to be donated to Shelter.”

Worcester-based Omnis was responsible for fabricating the cladding using materials manufactured by other companies. The panels were supplied to contractors hired by the Kensington and Chelsea tenant Management Organisation to refurbish Grenfell Tower.

Ominis’s website states that the cladding should be used in conjunction with a non-combustible insulation if it is to be used on a high-rise building.



Shelter says that while it had a “relationship” with Omnis, this never had the status of a formal partnership. Corporate partners normally have to commit to donation of at least £25,000 a year, in return for which they are able to use the charity’s logo.

The charity terminated its links with Omnis, and its parent company Xerxes Equity, at the end of 2015. It is understood that Omnis, which Shelter sources said had introduced it to the charity by Rice, had donated £3,500 in 2014 and £12,500 in 2016.

Shelter has several property developers as corporate partners, including Berkeley Group, British Land and a number of housing associations. Shelter raised over £3m from corporate partners in 2016 out of a total income of £57m. A further £5m came from grants and contracts with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Justice.

A senior Shelter source said its this would not prevent the charity speaking out: “We are led by our campaigning. It is in our DNA and we will not be compromised.”

Sir Derek served as chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council, the owner of Grenfell Tower, for 13 years until 2013. The council has come under criticism for its oversight of social housing in the area and its response to the disaster. Rice chairs Xerxes Equity, a construction industry investment group. Xerxes last year received a dividend of £950,000 from Omnis. Both joined the board of Shelter in 2013. There has been no suggestion of wrongdoing.

Shelter was set up in 1966 to campaign against slum housing conditions and to lobby for more affordable housebuilding. North Kensington, where Grenfell Tower is situated was one of the “twighlight zones” highlighted at the time by the charity for the depth of its poverty and housing squalor.

The Guardian was unable to reach Omnis for comment.

• This article was amended on 27 June 2017. An earlier version said Omnis Exteriors was responsible for manufacturing the cladding. This has been changed to say Omnis Exteriors was responsible for fabricating the cladding using materials manufactured by other companies.