An Employment Tribunal has ruled that their sacking was unfair on technical grounds but denied them compensation because of a “100% chance” they would have been dismissed if proper procedures had been followed.

Regional Commercial Manager Donal Coppinger and Regional Director John McInerney were part of the senior team overseeing the Riverside Waste to Energy plant in South East London.

The £39m contract was initially budgeted to make a £3.3m profit for Careys.

But a string of setbacks on the complex job radically changed the costings culminating in a showdown meeting with Careys executives last summer where it was revealed that the job was now expected to lose the firm £4m.

At the heated meeting CEO Jason Carey said: “What have you two been doing for the last 12 months? Tickling each other’s bollocks?”

He then told the pair to “get out of his sight and leave today.”

Employment Judge Kara Loraine ruled that their dismissals were unfair because of the failure to follow disciplinary procedure.