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24 Dec, 16 tweets, 7 min read
With Christmas just around the corner, the UK has suffered a record rise to 4.8% unemployment since September due to Covid-19, and is now facing the worst recession in Europe.

But for those with the right contacts in government, 2020 has told a very different story. THREAD:
@allthecitizens and @bylinetimes have teamed up to catalogue the 12 most flagrant and shocking abuses of public funds spent on PPE procurement since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Presenting, the 12 Contracts of Christmas:
1. Saiger LLC - (up to) £389 million

Saiger, who's director owns a firm specialising in selling fashion accessories, won multiple PPE supply contracts, and as revealed by the BBC paid a go-between £21 million in tax-payer cash to help source the items.

bylinetimes.com/2020/11/12/mia…
2. Luxe Lifestyle Ltd - £25 million

In April, Luxe Lifestyle was awarded a £25 million contract for PPE supply to the NHS. The business was incorporated by fashion designer Karen Brost in 2018. However, the firm has no employees, no assets, or turnover.

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/17/rec…
3. Globus Shetland - £93.8 million

Firm which has donated £400,000 to the Conservatives, owned by Tory donor and Leaders Group member Haraldur Agustsson, was awarded a huge contract to supply PPE. It's donations to the party saw a marked uptake in 2019.

bylinetimes.com/2020/09/21/gov…
4. P14 Medical - £276 million

Loss-making firm run by former Conservative councillor Steve Dechan won 3 contracts to supply gowns. Dechan, who resigned amid scrutiny of the contracts, has just purchased an early Christmas present, a 17th century mansion.

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…
5. Randox - £480 million

Having won 2 contracts; for testing kits which were later recalled, and implementation of a “UK Covid-19 Testing Strategy”, Randox lists among its staff former Tory MP Owen Paterson, now a Randox consultant paid £100,000 per year
theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…
6. The Plymouth Brethren - £1.1 billion

21 companies linked to an evangelical sect, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, with lobbying and volunteering ties to the Conservatives, received 49 PPE contracts amounting to over a billion in public funds.

bylinetimes.com/2020/11/18/ply…
7. EMS Healthcare - £5.5 million

EMS Healthcare were contracted to supply mobile testing units in September. Chairman Iain Johnston is a former business partner of Shirley and Robert Carter; mother / step-father of the Health Secretary Matt hancock.

bylinetimes.com/2020/12/10/cov…
8. Hinpack (Alex Bourne) - £30 million

Also linked to the Health Secretary, Hinpack, owned by the ex-landlord of his local pub, who reportedly first got in touch with the Health Secretary via Whatsapp. Hinpack previously made disposable catering items.

theguardian.com/politics/2020/…
9. Pestfix - £349.2 million

One of the big winners of 2020, Pestfix were included on the Government's VIP supply lane “by mistake”, before landing huge contracts. @GoodLawProject is now taking the government to court over the award of these dubious deals.
goodlawproject.org/update/more-mo…
10. PPE Medpro - £122 million

In existence for just 44 days, registered in the tax haven the Isle of Man, PPE Medpro received huge sums to supply gowns, with no history of dealing in PPE. The firm has links via it's directors to tory peer Baroness Mone.

thelondoneconomic.com/politics/handi…
11. Meller Designs - £171 million

Meller Designs, a firm owned by Tory donor David Meller, were issued 7 PPE contracts, despite primarily selling home products to high street retailers.

Meller was also finance chair of Michael Gove's 2016 leadership bid.
bylinetimes.com/2020/09/18/fir…
12. Ayanda Capital - £252.2 million

Finally, Ayanda Capital, a "currency trading" firm awarded a contract for the supply of unusable face masks, a deal brokered by Ayanda advisor Andrew Mills, while he also sat on the government's Board of Trade.

itv.com/news/2020-11-1…
For the full @BylineTimes write up, see the link below:

Reporting from @BylineTimes, @openDemocracy, @GoodLawProject, @allthecitizens, @guardian and others has extensively covered government's cronyism and mishandling of the pandemic. To stay informed and help hold those responsible to account, follow us as the work continues in 2021.

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More from @allthecitizens

The Citizens Profile picture
16 Dec
Amidst the billions spent by government - from a failing Test & Trace system to scandalous PPE purchasing - one industry seems to have profited more than most from the chaos of Covid: consultancy firms. THREAD.
Public data shows that at least 50 UK or US consultancy firms have been brought in to advise the government on Covid projects, costing almost £200 million to the taxpayer:
92% went to 10 firms - Deloitte, Boston Consulting, PA Consulting, Accenture, Price Waterhouse Coopers, McKinsey, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Baringa Partners, and Cambridge Consulting - winning £184+ million contracts between them.
Read 22 tweets
The Citizens Profile picture
1 Dec
BREAKING: the UK government does "not intend to publish the list of suppliers who were awarded personal protective equipment contracts" following the high-priority lane VIP process "as there may be associated commercial implications”.
Lib Dem peer Lord Strasburger @LordStras asked the question in the House of Lords on whether the government would publish a list of all companies contracted to supply PPE via the high-priority lane used to assess and process potential procurement leads. Image
Lord Bethell, of the Department of Health & Social Care, said: "We do not intend to publish the list of suppliers who were awarded personal protective equipment contracts after having had their offers reviewed with more urgency as there may be associated commercial implications.”
Read 4 tweets
The Citizens Profile picture
26 Nov
BREAKING: Almost two thirds of known VIP Covid-19 contracts awarded through a VIP fast-track service came via the offices of Tory ministers. THREAD.
As @goodlawproject has revealed, a special VIP procurement channel was set up for Covid 19 contracts. @allthecitizens have explored the dedicated Cabinet Office email address to which VIP and invited companies could pitch for contracts.
The existence of this email was “publicised across the PPE procurement programme and to relevant private offices across government and Parliament”.
Read 21 tweets
The Citizens Profile picture
25 Nov
EXCLUSIVE:

Over half a billion pounds of UK Covid-19 testing contracts awarded to multinational accused of supplying goods to China that assist ‘genomic surveillance’. THREAD:
US-based life science company Thermo Fisher Scientific owns several subsidiaries which have won 20 UK Coronavirus-related contracts since March 2020, totalling some £550 million.
These include a £331 million award to Life Technologies for Covid-19 testing equipment, the biggest Coronavirus contract we have found awarded to a single firm to date.

contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b01d57f…
Read 14 tweets
The Citizens Profile picture
18 Nov
Have you heard of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC)? The Brethren is an evangelical Christian group that seems to have links to 21 UK companies that have won at least 49 Covid-related contracts since March, worth as much as £1.1 billion. THREAD.
We have no evidence that the companies involved do not have appropriate manufacturing expertise, but in light of the revelations about a VIP track to Covid contracts, should we be concerned about the high number of contracts awarded to companies with links to a religious group?
In October, @allthecitizens reported on contracts relating to the Conservative-linked religious group. We said then the total amount accrued by the network and its associated companies sat at over £951 million.
Read 58 tweets
The Citizens Profile picture
2 Nov
THREAD:

Billions in public funds have awarded in PPE contracts since the start of the pandemic, often to woefully unfit or politically adjacent entities, and without any official oversight.

Below we take a look back at 20 of the most shocking revelations uncovered since March:
1. Ayanda Capital - £252.5 million:

Eye-watering amount of money spent on 50 million FFP2 face masks bought from a "family office" investment firm based in a tax haven. None were usable.

Ayanda also have a senior adviser sitting on the board of trade.
goodlawproject.org/news/ppe-masks…
2. Meller Designs - £163 Million:

Firm co-owned by Conservative party donor David Meller, who has donated £60,000 to the party since 2009, wins multiple supply contracts.

The Citizens can confirm at least 6 contracts worth £163 million have been issued.
bylinetimes.com/2020/09/18/fir…
Read 24 tweets

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