The Grenfell effect

The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 was the UK's worst residential fire since the Blitz. 72 people died.

This tragedy profoundly impacted the local community and left lasting trauma to the victims' families, neighbours and friends. They are still waiting for justice.

It also inflicted significant reputational damage to the construction industry. And, while there has been significant work since, such as implementing a new building safety regime focused on accountability and competence, product testing and marketing, among other things, that negative reputational impact persists.

For years, we have tracked the technical and reputational issues surrounding the Grenfell tragedy. When looking at this through a communications lens, we could not monitor all the media coverage of the fire, but we have been keeping an eye on a small section of national media and influential journalists to see how the story would unfold. We were interested to see how the construction industry would be portrayed, and to identify the themes and patterns over time.

This report summarises what we've noticed so far. Our research is continuing and further insights will be published in due course.