Aukett settles out of court with engineer over Russian tower

Aukett Fitzroy Robinson has reached an out-of-court settlement with engineering consultant IDA in their legal row over unpaid fees.

IDA took the architecture practice to an arbitration court in Moscow in March claiming it had not been paid for more than two years.

It said it was owed £350,000 for design work on a 22-storey office tower in southern Russia.

But Aukett, the only architect listed on the London Stock Exchange, was reportedly owed twice as much by its client, Peresvet Region Kuban, which put the scheme on hold.

Now Aukett, headed by chief executive Nicholas Thompson, and IDA have issued a joint statement saying they have “amicably resolved their respective financial claim and counterclaim”.

It acknowledged that if IDA had lost the case it might have been forced to repay to Aukett the £250,000 advance payment it had already received.

The statement added: “Russia is a complicated market place and there are undoubtedly lessons to be learned from this case in the wider property services business. The parties confirm that this early resolution to the arbitration will enable them to continue to work together on future projects.”

Source: BDonline