Feb 18, 2022

Billions in Covid deals given to firms linked to Plymouth Brethren sect

Billions in Covid deals given to firms linked to Plymouth Brethren sect
Ben Ellery
The Times
February 05 2022

Dozens of companies with connections to a tiny fundamentalist Christian sect were awarded as much as £2.2 billion in government coronavirus contracts, The Times can reveal.

Firms with links to the insular Plymouth Brethren have been handed contracts for PPE, masks, visors, aprons, tests and ventilators without other companies being given the chance to bid for the contracts.

It can be revealed that PPE worth millions of pounds supplied by firms linked to the group were cleared for use by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) despite being declared substandard by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The evangelical group, likened to a “cult” by some former members, has connections with the Conservative Party, and MPs have previously lobbied for it to be given charitable status.

The first Brethren assembly in England was established in Plymouth in 1831 by a group who had become disillusioned with the Anglican church and felt it had become too involved with the secular state. The majority of members are born into the church, though on rare occasions those without a family connection have joined by meeting a local group. Members are encouraged to set up their own businesses.

This week it emerged that the DHSC had written off PPE worth £8.7 billion last year, admitting to a “significant loss of value to the taxpayer”.

Unispace Global, an office interior design company that suddenly became a PPE provider at the start of the pandemic, was awarded seven PPE contracts worth almost £680 million by the DHSC in 2020.

The group that owns the company belongs to two Australian brothers, Charles and Gareth Hales, whose father is Bruce Hales, the worldwide leader of the Plymouth Brethren sect.

Unispace Global recorded an £86 million profit in 2020, with the largest beneficiary, likely to be Gareth Hales, entitled to £32 million.

Research by The Times and the Open and Candid website, an investigative platform, found that former directors of Unispace are connected to at least 45 companies linked to the Brethren that have won coronavirus contracts. There is no suggestion that the sect co-ordinated the applications for contracts.

The sect reportedly has 50,000 members worldwide, with 16,000 in this country. It operates a series of primary schools and business courses in the UK.

Followers adhere to a set of strict rules based upon their interpretation of the Bible. In avoiding anything they perceive to be sinful, members cannot watch television, listen to the radio or go to the cinema.

Unispace Global has transferred the money from the Covid contracts to Sante Global LLP.

Ross Robertson, 39, from Oxford, is a shareholder and former employee of a sister company, Sante Global Trading Co. Three days after lockdown, Ross and his brother Luke set up Medco Solutions, which was then handed £772 million in contracts to provide visors, facemasks and aprons.

In December it was reported that visors procured by Medco as part of a £33.4 million contract were being processed by a recycling firm.

A third Robertson brother, Murray, is a director of Rapid Relief Team, a Plymouth Brethren charity that provides catering for emergency services crews.

A charity was set up by the sect in 2013 after a battle with the Charity Commission for it to be officially recognised. The application was made by the trust of the church that runs its gospel halls. Ultimately, the watchdog decided there was enough public benefit from the gospel halls for them to be given charitable status.

The campaign to secure charity status was heavily supported by a large number of Conservative MPs, including Owen Paterson, Peter Bone, Robert Halfron and Michael Ellis.

Jolyon Maugham QC, founder of The Good Law Project, said: “It’s very, very odd that companies connected to a tiny sect have won £2.2 billion worth of contracts. At best, it’s a head-scratcher.”

A spokesman for the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church said: “The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is [a] place of love and worship, not of business and politics.

“Like in any other religious group or church, many of our members run their own businesses, and these businesses are completely separate from the church. Any contractual agreements between the government and these independent businesses are completely unrelated to our church.”

Neihttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/billions-in-covid-deals-given-to-firms-linked-to-plymouth-brethren-sect-8tlszvrh5ther the companies concerned nor the DHSC responded to requests for comment.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/billions-in-covid-deals-given-to-firms-linked-to-plymouth-brethren-sect-8tlszvrh5

No comments: