Thread by @allthecitizens

🚨BREAKING: an investigation by @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens reveals 12 Covid-contract winning firms tied to the Conservative Party have increased their profits by £121.7 million over the last year, an increase of 57%. THREAD:

It’s now been 18 months since @BylineTimes and @TheCitizens began mapping the multi-million pound Covid-19 crony contract scandal, uncovering £1bn in taxpayer funds being awarded to companies owned by Conservative Party donors:
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/29/map…

A further £2bn was awarded to associates of the Tory Party - ex-councillors, SPADs and advisors, or friends and relatives of politicians:
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/31/map…

Of the 12 companies we looked at that have won gov accounts during their last financial year, their post-tax gains totalled some £334,728,444 in profit, an increase of 57.11% on last year.

First, Clipper Logistics, run by donor Steven Parkin, saw a profit increase of 20.7% for the period ending April 2020, from £13.4m to £16.2m after being awarded a £1.3m contract to supply PPE.

Parkin has donated £730,000 to the Conservatives since 2016.
bylinetimes.com/2020/09/21/gov…

Donor David Meller’s company, Meller Designs, then saw a staggering rise on the previous year of over 9000%, with the firm’s profits soaring from £143,000 to £13m during the period ending Dec 2020.

Meller has donated £63,000 to the Conservative party.
bylinetimes.com/2020/09/18/fir…

IT firm Computacenter saw profits increase by 51.7%, from £102m to £154m. The group co-founder, Sir Philip Hulme and his wife Janet have collectively given £110,000 to the party between 2013-2019.
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/16/con…

Globus Shetland Ltd, who have given £375,522 to the Conservatives, doubled profits from £2.5 to £5m for the period ending 31st May 2020.

Globus director Haraldur Agustsson is a member of the Conservative Leaders group, and his firms Globus and Alpha Solway together were awarded some £104m in Covid contracts.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1354141415559847936?s=20

Ayanda Capital saw an increase second only to Meller Designs, from £633,000 to £17m, after they controversially won a contract brokered by then adviser to the Department of Trade Andrew Mills.
Their 2600% increase in profits follows a £250m contract to deliver NHS face masks.

IT infrastructure group Softcat saw an increase of 10%, securing £75m in post-tax returns for the period ending 31st July 2020.

Conservative Lord John Nash controls shares in the company worth an estimated £112m. On top of his position in the Lords, Nash was also appointed Cabinet Office lead non-exec director in July 2020.
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/22/con…

London-based AI startup Faculty, championed by Dominic Cummings, enjoyed a 27.4% rise in gross profits up to March 2021 despite still operating at a loss.

@allthecitizens have previously documented the rise of Faculty in the public sector, mapping 20 contracts worth £11.2m awarded to the controversial group since 2018.
bylinetimes.com/2021/07/30/rev…

Uniserve, who were awarded the 5th largest value of UK contracts during the pandemic, saw a drastic increase in after-tax profits by the end of June 2020. Their returns show a 505% increase, from £6.2m to £38m.

Director Iain Liddell has ties to the pro-Brexit lobby group Prosperity UK, which included business leaders, academics, and policy makers.
itv.com/news/2020-12-1…

The findings also note EMS Healthcare who, though they decided not to log profit and loss figures in their accounts, recorded an increase in profit and loss reserves of £687,643 to £1.7m.

EMS are linked to former Health Secretary Matt Hancock through director Iain Johnston, previously a director at a company run by his parents. bylinetimes.com/2020/12/10/cov…

Of the twelve firms included, only three saw a drop in profits on the previous accounting period; Medacs - run by ex-Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, Specialist Computer Centers - owned by Conservative donors The Rigby Group, and Efficio.

Until shortly after reporting from @BylineTimes and @allthecitizens, investment firm Livingbridge sat as an entity with significant control of parent Co Efficio Global.
bylinetimes.com/2021/01/29/fir…

Livingbridge are run by Oluwole 'Wol' Kolade, who sits on the board of NHS Improvement and has donated almost £900k to the party.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1355124277746552833?s=20

Our list is not exhaustive. Many more Tory-linked firms that won contracts are due to file their accounts in the coming months.

Byline Intelligence Team and The Citizens will continue to monitor them closely.

There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the companies or individuals involved in the process, rather, our reporting seeks to highlight to tax-payers where their money has been spent during the pandemic as a matter of public interest.

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

bylinetimes.com/2021/10/12/121…

To support our citizen-led investigative work, please consider subscribing to our #KeepingTheReceipts substack, or follow us on social media @allthecitizens / @receiptkeepers:

keepingthereceipts.substack.com