A senior manager at Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant accepted bribes including an £11,000 quad bike, a tribunal hearing has revealed.
Engineer Garrick Nisbet brought an unfair dismissal claim against his employer, Notus Heavy Lift Solutions, a subcontractor at the plant, after he was sacked for gross misconduct for gifting items to Ashley Daniels. Daniels worked for EDF as head of lifting and temporary works.
Daniels was investigated by Hinkley’s owner, EDF, after he was given items including hospitality tickets for a boxing match worth £2,000 and a refill for his Montblanc fountain pen. Nisbet later claimed the refill was simply a spare he had bought that Daniels had asked for.
More work was then directed to Notus at the Somerset site, the tribunal heard.
In August 2022, concerns were raised about payments that had been made to Daniels with the implication that he had been bribed by another employee, who was later dismissed.
Although the investigation first suggested that Nisbet might be a whistleblower, it was later revealed that he was also implicated in bribery and should be dismissed.
On 3 April 2023, the then managing director of Notus, Dave Vaughan, met with Nisbet and gave him a letter of suspension. However, this was not followed by a disciplinary process and he was summarily dismissed on 11 April and not offered an appeal.
Nisbet told the tribunal that Daniels was a “greedy little toad” who was “hard to say no to”.
He argued that he had not been involved in bribery and that he was simply offering lunches, coffee and biscuits to Daniels, but struggled to find an explanation for the quad bike. He claimed he had “nothing to do” with the boxing tickets.
Nisbet won his claim for unfair dismissal due to the lack of fair disciplinary procedure, but Employment Judge O’Rourke deemed that he should not receive compensation.
In judgment, he said: “While [Notus] clearly had not followed a proper procedure and presented sham correspondence to [Nisbet], [Notus] witnesses readily admitted that … they felt that they had no option but to proceed as they did.
“In contrast, [Nisbet] was on occasions evasive and self-serving in his evidence… The core allegation against him, in relation to the quad bike, which has been forensically examined in this hearing, still remains incapable of an innocent explanation.”
“It is clear from the evidence that [Nisbet] was, on the balance of probabilities, complicit in bribery and corruption involving Mr Daniels, over a two-year plus period and thus engaged in culpable behaviour.”
A spokesperson for Hinkley Point C said: “The project sets and enforces high standards for all employees, contractors and suppliers and will rigorously investigate and take action over inappropriate conduct.”
Nicola Brown, a partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, said the claim highlighted the importance of anti-bribery and corruption policies.
“It is something which is not always given as much attention as other policies, and there can be a tendency for it to be neglected.
“This case illustrates the importance of having an up-to-date policy covering this area, and also the need to make staff aware of the policy and encourage them to come forward with any concerns,” she explained.
“As well as the obvious risk of damage to reputation, organisations could also find themselves liable for a criminal offence, with potentially unlimited fines, if they have failed to take adequate steps to prevent their staff from being involved in bribery or corruption.”
Daniels is still under investigation by EDF and Hinkley Point C, the tribunal heard.
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