By Marcus Hale · Published 24 June 2026 · 3 min read
A North London construction company director and his firm have been hit with £18,000 in combined financial penalties. The convictions follow their refusal to comply with multiple Health and Safety Executive enforcement notices concerning severe work at height risks. The case proves that ignoring regulatory interventions will result in direct personal liability for company executives.
Background
Vasilis Paraskeva and his company, VNP Constructions Limited, were appointed as the principal contractor for a major urban renovation. The project involved the conversion of a former public house and an adjoining commercial building into residential flats on White Lion Street in London. During a proactive, unannounced visit to the site on 1 September 2022, HSE inspectors identified critical safety failings. The most severe issues involved blatant work at height risks and highly inadequate fall protection measures. Inspectors also raised serious concerns regarding the fundamental competence of the site management team. The regulatory officers immediately served legally binding enforcement notices, halting specific operations until the hazards were resolved.
Industry implications
Despite the formal intervention, the contractor completely failed to rectify the hazards or suitably plan the ongoing construction work. Ignoring a statutory enforcement notice instantly escalates a standard health and safety breach into a serious criminal offence. The regulator chose to prosecute both the corporate entity and the director in his personal capacity. This dual-prosecution strategy is a deliberate tactic by the HSE. It demonstrates a firm willingness to pierce the corporate veil and hold individuals financially accountable for corporate negligence. When a prohibition notice is breached, it proves systemic management failure rather than an isolated site-level mistake. The courts view the breach of a prohibition notice as a direct challenge to the authority of the regulator.
What contractors should do now
Company directors must ensure they have robust, board-level systems to immediately review and act upon any improvement or prohibition notices. Site managers must halt all affected work operations the exact moment a prohibition notice is served. Work must never resume until the regulator officially confirms the notice has been satisfied. Competency checks for site supervisors must be strictly documented, verified, and updated before a project commences. Firms should also invest in external safety audits to identify risks before an HSE inspector arrives on site. Ignoring correspondence from the regulator is never a viable commercial strategy.
Analysis
HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds brought the case to court, signalling a strict approach to habitual non-compliance. HSE inspector Andrew Pipe stated clearly that these fines should send a clear message to the construction industry. He confirmed that the regulator and the courts take the failure to comply with enforcement notices extremely seriously. The HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies and individuals who fail to keep people safe. The disparity in the fines is also notable. The individual director received a higher financial penalty than the company itself, highlighting the personal legal exposure faced by senior leadership in the construction sector.
What happens next
VNP Constructions Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They also admitted two counts of failing to comply with a Prohibition Notice, contrary to Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £7,200 and ordered to pay £900 in costs. Vasilis Paraskeva was personally fined £10,800 and ordered to pay £900 in costs at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The HSE is currently expanding its proactive inspection programme targeting inner-city residential conversions. Firms operating in this high-risk sector should prepare for increased unannounced site visits throughout the third quarter.
Sources
- Health and Safety Executive — UK Government
