Thread by @allthecitizens

🚨BREAKING:

Companies in the Government’s ‘VIP’ lane for the supply of PPE see £100 million boost in profits

The 9 companies in the list declare a cumulative profit increase from £8.5m to £109m, an investigation by @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens finds.

THREAD:

Under legal pressure, the Government last week released the 50 firms that won contracts through a special procurement process during the pandemic. The companies featured in the VIP lane were 10 times more likely to win Government contracts than other firms

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1332038581062414341?s=20

The evidence suggests that the VIP lane was used internally by the Government to sort and prioritise potential suppliers; many of the companies were unaware that they were being processed through an expedited route.

MPs, ministers, and officials could refer companies to the lane, where many of the firms then benefited heavily from their inclusion.

Our calculations show that, of 13 firms that have posted financials, 9 mention post tax profits that, combined, show a total twelve fold increase

Previously, @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens uncovered a £121.7m increase in profits for PPE contract winners with Conservative links. Likewise, critics have pointed to many of companies in the VIP lane having party connections:

bylinetimes.com/2021/10/12/121…

Two firms on the VIP lane with the seeming largest profit increases are Meller Designs and Ayanda Capital. The latter controversially won a £250 million contract brokered by Andrew Mills, who was at the time an advisor to the Government’s Board of Trade.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1447843408324739075?s=20

Meller Designs saw a profit increase of over 9000% after winning £170m in contracts.

Their former co-owner David Meller (who resigned Jan this year) has donated over £60,000 to the Conservatives, and used to sit on the board for DfE.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1447843399680278528?s=20

A Meller Designs spokesperson previously told The Times: “We are extremely proud of the role we played at the height of the crisis and managed to secure more than 150 million items of PPE.”
thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-b…

Care home provider Blueleaf also saw a significant jump in profits in its latest accounts. The firm lost £883,000 in the previous year, only to see their intake increase to £17.4 million during the period to December 2020.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1329072484654616586?s=20

Education furniture firm Monarch Acoustics, referred to the VIP lane by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, recorded profits of £10.9m, after making just £244,000 the previous year.
politico.eu/article/conser…

There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the groups, the lane was managed by government, and the companies will have accrued income from other sources, but it’s in the public interest to know where taxpayer money has gone, and all won contracts in the accounting period.

All parties mentioned have been approached for comment.

For the full @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens write-up, please see the link below:

bylinetimes.com/2021/11/24/100…