Thread by @allthecitizens

BREAKING: From @allthecitizens & @BylineTimes, yet another firm linked to Tory donor wins contracts.

Consultancy connected to Tory backer Wol Kolade gets £6m in Covid contracts. He’s given £678,000 to the party AND sits on the board of NHS Improvement with Dido Harding. THREAD:

Efficio (Efficio Ltd & Efficio Consulting Ltd), “the world’s largest procurement consultancy” have been awarded £5.9m over 8 contracts during the pandemic, ranging from advising on PPE and ventilator procurement to testing and vaccine distribution.

Efficio Ltd is owned by Efficio Holdings, which is owned by Efficio Group, which is owned by Efficio Enterprises, which is controlled by Efficio Global which is part-owned by Livingbridge GP, which is run by Livingbridge EP which is - finally - controlled by Mr Kolade.

Oluwole Kolade has personally donated £678,000 to the Tories since 2002, including £15,000 to Matt Hancock and payments totalling £39,854 during the time Efficio was running the Covid contracts. Kolade also donated £30,000 to Shaun Bailey’s Mayoral bid in London in May last year.

Kolade is a known member of the Tory “Leaders Group” dining society, which demands a £50,000 annual fee, giving members exclusive access to high-profile politicians. In Kolade’s case it got him dinner with Theresa May. thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/…

Livingbridge’s website shows Kolade sits on the board of NHS Improvement, the health regulator overseen by Conservative peer Dido Harding. Harding is also responsible for managing the heavily-criticised UK Test & Trace system.

Some might find it ironic that Kolade, a Tory donor linked to contract wins, sits on the same board as Tory Harding who is married to John Penrose, the government’s anti-corruption champion.
theguardian.com/politics/2020/…

Efficio have worked across the Cabinet Office, DHSC, the “Health Family” and NHS England during the pandemic. They’ve also been featured on a number of high-value group awards for consulting services totalling £27.5m, meaning the amount they’ve actually won is likely much higher.

Efficio claims that Livingbridge is just “a minority investor” in its business. Livingbridge controls ‘FIS Nominee Ltd’, which owns all of the ordinary A class shares in Efficio Global, and so has part control of the company.

There’s no indication that Wol Kolade, Efficio, or Livingbridge have acted illegally, but his standing on the board of NHS Improvement, his Tory donations and his role as head of a private equity firm that appears to be profiting from government contracts raises questions.

For the full article in @BylineTimes please follow the link below:

Special thanks to @DamianHastie.

https://twitter.com/BylineTimes/status/1355124012381319168?s=20