A damning report found the Bristol Beacon project was doomed to be a cash disaster from the start

A report into the Bristol Beacon refurbishment found the project was potentially doomed to be a cash disaster from the start.

The lessons learned report commissioned by auditors Grant Thornton found that no one was really in charge of the project until it was too late.

The report was released after refurbishment costs almost trebled from £48m to £132m.

According to the findings, the council failed to have effective arrangements in place to stop rising costs.

Independent consultants Arcadis, who authored the report, said the council ignored issues raised by contractors working on the scheme about the condition of the building.

It says the risks of spiraling costs were not properly assessed at the outset and that there were no contingencies in place should more money be needed.

The report said: “Our findings indicate that Bristol Beacon delivery was affected by the inherent challenges associated with the complex stakeholder landscape, as well as project-specific factors, particularly those focused on project creation and initiation.”

A Bristol City Council spokesman said: “We are grateful for the effort Arcadis put into producing this report and all those stakeholders who took the time to inform this review. It is clear from this report that the refurbishment of the Bristol Beacon was a project of huge scale and complexity which experienced unpredictability throughout its life.

“The recommendations put forward by the authors of the report will provide valuable insight into the current and future management of the council’s heritage projects, particularly projects involving more complex financial arrangements and heritage assets that are likely to be in a worse condition than originally anticipated . While we welcome the recommendations made to improve current and future project governance, resourcing and delivery, these elements are only part of the full story of the Beacon refurbishment.

“What is outside the scope of this review is the impact of several external factors, including the global Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and social distancing measures. The final days of the project were also affected by substantial material and energy cost inflation, plus labor shortages in the sector as development resumed following the pandemic.

“These factors were reported by the authority in January 2023. The lessons learned from this report and our experiences of delivering a major capital project in the face of significant external factors are shared with the authorities.”