Carey owned Scudder was one of ten firms fined a total of nearly £60m in 2023 for illegally colluding to rig bids for demolition and asbestos removal contracts.

Hong Kong based developer Circadian Limited has now launched legal action against Carey Group claiming it was overcharged by £2.4m for demolition work in 2014 at its scheme to redevelop Lots Road Power Station in west London.

A claim under the Competition Act lodged at the Competition Appeal Tribunal said “the Cartel Arrangements caused the price of construction services to be higher than they would otherwise have been.”

The parent company of Circadian is CK Asset Holdings Limited who are listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong with a market capitalisation of £10.9bn.

One industry expert said: “There will be a lot of people keeping a nervous eye on how this pans out because it could set a precedent for other developers to launch similar claims.”