Don O鈥橲ullivan, previously chief executive of Galliard Homes, joined Battersea Power Station Development Company as chief executive in June 2024. He was dismissed in May 2025 after raising whistleblowing concerns about his employer, a Malaysian-owned development company.
O鈥橲ullivan contends that he was dismissed on trumped-up charges of gross misconduct after raising concerns of serious financial misreporting, which he says were acknowledged by the chair of the holding company.
Since Don O鈥橲ullivan was suspended, a number of employees associated with this tenure have also lost their jobs or been suspended. O鈥橲ullivan and various employees have the support of the GMB union in relation to these claims.
聽Battersea Power Station Development Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of BPS Holding, a Jersey registered company owned 40% by Sime Darby; 40% by SP Setia Berhad and 20% by the Employees Provident Fund (the national pension fund of Malysia). The power station has as being up for sale for up to 拢2bn.
O'Sullivan's case is that the effect of the financial misreporting has been to grossly (and falsely) flatter the balance sheet of BPS Holdings. Don O鈥橲ullivan鈥檚 concerns are said to have been verified by an external forensic accounting report prepared by Moore Kingston Smith.
After O鈥橲ullivan reported his whistleblowing concerns in November 2024, he was excluded from the business.
The concerns identified by Mr O鈥橲ullivan were discussed at a board meeting in London of both the Development Company and BPS Holdings on 16th December 2024. O鈥橲ullivan contends he was excluded the next day by two of the executives who were the subject of his disclosures, before subsequently being suspended on 24th December 2024.
The case is ongoing in the London South Employment Tribunal and has been listed for final hearing in 2029 with various case management deliverables well within that period.
Don O鈥橲ullivan is represented by John Hayes of Constantine Law and Stefan Brochwicz-Lewinski of Nine Chambers in Manchester in relation to his claims. Battersea Power Station is represented by Brown Rudnick Solicitors and Jane McCafferty KC of 11 KBW.
John Hayes, managing partner of employment and regulatory law firm Constantine Law, said: 鈥淒on O鈥橲ullivan鈥檚 claim will possibly be one of London鈥檚 highest profile and most valuable whistleblowing claim because it involves one of London鈥檚 most respected developers taking on a case against an iconic London development, owned ultimately by the Malaysian state.
鈥淭he case raises very important questions about the integrity of financial reporting at Battersea. It is regrettable that the delays in the Employment Tribunal system have resulted in the case being listed for hearing in 2029, but it is important that the case is now in the public domain. It will be extremely hard fought.鈥�
A Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) spokesperson said: 鈥淲e strongly deny and are robustly defending the unfounded allegations made by Mr O鈥橲ullivan in the Employment Tribunal. There are no claims made by Mr O鈥橲ullivan relating to Battersea Power Station Development Company鈥檚 (BPSDC) accounts.
鈥淏PSDC manages the Battersea Power Station estate ultimately on behalf of Battersea Project Holding Company, the holding company of the 42-acre regeneration project. Battersea Project Holding Company appointed highly regarded forensic accountants to independently investigate historic claims. Whilst the two forensic accountants reports deal with confidential matters, the conclusion reached was that Mr O鈥橲ullivan鈥檚 concerns were not borne out, no further investigation was warranted and accounting practices employed by Battersea Project Holding Company Limited adhere to international accounting standards.聽 Its accounts have always been audited and signed off by PwC, one of the big four accounting firms.
鈥淲ith the recent appointment of a master planner to shape the remaining 16 acres of the regeneration project, and with construction of two new Gehry-designed buildings set to commence in the coming months, Battersea Power Station is entering its next chapter and looking at how it can evolve the already thriving neighbourhood for the future needs of London and beyond.
鈥淎dhering to the confidential nature of Employment Tribunal procedures, we cannot comment on this matter further at this time.鈥澛�