Michael Portillo, the Defence Secretary, has been hit by an embarrassing £70m demand for compensation from contractors working on the new £254m office complex for the Ministry of Defence at Abbey Wood, near Bristol. Twelve companies, led by John Mowlem, say they are owed the money because ministry officials kept altering the design brief. The complex will house 4,400 members of the equipment procurement executive by the end of the year. It covers 39.66 ha (98 acres) and has 230 bathrooms, 26 lifts, a railway station, a 10-pupil nursery, Italian suspension bridge, cinema and sports centre.
- The Independent 18/7/96 page 4
