English rugby urged to rethink using Kingspan for new facility after Grenfell backlash 

Campaigners ask RFU to reconsider using Irish firm's materials after Shane Lowry became latest sports star to break ties with troubled Kingspan

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso takes part in an indoor training session at the Honda England Rugby Performance centre at Pennyhill Park on March 04, 2024 in Bagshot, England. Pic: Warren Little/Getty Images

The Rugby Football Union has been urged to reconsider using materials made by an insulation company, found to have behaved with “persistent dishonesty” by the final report of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, on a new training facility, the Guardian can reveal.

The RFU is building a new “flexible multi-purpose space” as well as a storage facility at Pennyhill Park – England’s Bagshot training base since 2003 – and in planning submissions seen by the Guardian, the union demonstrated its intentions to use materials made by the Irish company Kingspan. It is understood work began at the end of August and included the delivery of Kingspan materials.