All too frequently the tales of woe in this column relate to situations where it is hard to envisage a professional person making such negligent mistakes. However, a recent case involving bank project monitors shows how a professional engagement rushed into in the boom years of the mid 2000s soured during the recession. The project related to a scheme for conversion of a property in Willesden into a church. Lloyds Bank was lending £2.6 million to the borrower, to turn an old bingo hall into a church and congregation offices. As the judge put it, 'unfortunately it all went wrong'. After about 21 months, the bank's facility was virtually exhausted but the development was far from complete. McBains Cooper, appointed by the bank as its project monitor, had failed in several ways to carry out its professional role, not least in a failure to attend monthly site meetings or to visit it much at all; nor did McBains Cooper give proper warning of the likelihood of the facility amount being entirely used up. From this sorry tale, a few lessons can be learnt.
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