Original Article Dec 2020
£1.284 billion Covid Contracts awarded to Plymouth Brethren Church member businesses in the UK

​In March and April 2020, the UK was first hit by the coronavirus pandemic, there was a national shortage of PPE. The government panicked in their search for companies to supply face masks, gowns, sanitiser, visors, gloves and ventilators. The normal open tendering process for contracts to supply the public sector was abandoned and a closed no competition tender was implemented. A nationwide plea to businesses requested companies to contact the government if they could assist in this time of crisis. Open & Candid look at how Plymouth Brethren member owned businesses benefitted winning over £1.280 billion of Covid related contracts. 

The Big Question

It is incredible to think that a small selection of companies in the UK, that have directors who all link and are all members of a small church with just 15,000 members including children, could possibly win this many contracts. I am asked many times in regards to how they won these contracts and what is the connection to the government that could have facilitated the award of all these contracts? They are big questions and the answer may be associated to a number of different reasons or it could be part of a bigger link that we have been unable to ascertain. 

There are clear links between the Plymouth Brethren Church members and MP's across Government both here and in Australia.    

Exclusive Brethren 50+ Companies & 100+ Contracts

In total 51 companies ran by Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members were awarded 104 PPE or Covid related contracts across the UK. This is the remarkable story of how a small evangelical church in the UK saw their members win in a worldwide pandemic. From the church leaders family interior design at Unispace to Clandeboye Agencies a snack wholesaler in Northern Ireland, we look at the links between all the Covid-19 "winners".

1. Unispace Global £684,530,090

Unispace is a global interior design business, founded by Gareth & Charles Hales, both are sons of worldwide leader of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Bruce D Hales.

In the UK the Unispace brand has a number of Ltd companies. The company listed as winning the PPE contracts was Unispace Global Ltd. In total Unispace Global won seven contracts with the DHSC for £679 million & one with Manchester University NHS Trust for £5 million. They were the biggest winners for PPE contracts. Unispace Global shows the company was founded by Cyril Parsons & Garth Woodcock, both are now ex directors. The current directors are Anthony Hazell & Sebastian Parsons. Garth Woodcock is also a director of Oska Care & Orcagel, companies that both won contracts for PPE supply. Anthony Hazell is also director of a number of businesses including CMT Equipment who also won contracts for PPE supply.

We have also discovered that Ross Robertson director of Medco Solutions who won a £84 million contract, actually works for Unispace and is Shareholder in Sante Trading (formerly Unispace Health Trading). 

2. Oska Care £701,000

​Oska Care links to Unispace through Garth Woodcock, they are a UK wide business owned by the Woodcock family, the head office is listed as in London with offices in Portsmouth, Derby & Aberdeen. Their website states they are Pressure Care Experts specialising in the supply of beds, mattresses, cushions and chairs.

Oska Care won two contracts with NHS Scotland for the supply of beds & mattresses. The family business listed Garth, Mark, Benjamin & Daniel Woodcock alongside Alistair Wickland as directors. There were a number of director changes in late 2020 as the Critchley family relinquished their directorships, including ex director Garry Critchley, Critchley is a current director of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Limited. Other ex directors include Doug Cowie. 

3. Orcagel £416,000

Orcagel again links to Unispace through director Garth Woodcock, the health & hygiene chemical products business has eight directors from the Cowie, Fowler & Woodcock families alongside Eric Hethrington. They are based in Peterhead, with a London based showroom sharing the same address as Oska Care, Orcagel also has an Irish based distributor called GC group in Derry.

Companies House lists two brethren member businesses at the Derry address, Search Workshop Supplies owned by the Glass family including Gerald Glass an ex director of Causeway Vision. We see later how Causeway Vision links a number of Northern Ireland based PPE contract winning brethren businesses. The other business is Creative Activity a provider of childcare and education equipment, ran by the McMullan family, their website lists Orcagel sanitiser as a product. Creative Activity also won £17.2 million of contracts! They would also appear to be the business behind the GC Group/Greencross Group who don't have anything registered on companies house.

Orcagel in turn won just the one contract to supply Leeds City Council with PPE. 

Doug Cowie director of Orcagel is also a director of Jesmond Construction along with Graham Whitbourn and ex director Nathan Whitbourn of Ocura Healthcare Furniture. Cowie is also a director of OnemediUK along with Tim Pocock or Origin Packaging.

4. Ocura Healthcare Furniture £1,237,569

Ocura Healthcare Furniture is a healthcare seating & furniture supplier based in Kent & Aberdeenshire. They list just one director Nathan Whitbourn, he is also an ex director of Jesmond Construction where we find Doug Cowie of Orcagel as a director. Nathan Whitbourn is also listed as director of a number of businesses including Beaver Healthcare along with other members of the Whitbourn family and Christopher Doughty. Graham Whitbourn a Beaver Healthcare director is also still listed as a current director of Jesmond Construction. Graham is also a former director of Plymouth Brethren Church ran businesses Allerbrook & Scribefort. 

Ocura Healthcare Furniture won four contracts during the pandemic, two for supplying beds & mattresses to NHS Scotland, a further one for medical screens for the UK vaccination programme to NHS England. There is also a contract with NHS England for couches for the vaccination programme which we have not included in total value above, the contract is shared with other businesses and the contract does not provide a detailed breakdown of individual awards.
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5. Archer Marketing £639,725*

Archer Marketing are specialists in branded merchandise based in Aberdeen. They don't appear to be a limited company as no record can be found on companies house. Linkedin shows the business is run by the Doughty family with Phil, Joel, Alan, Elliott & Kelsey all listed as employees. There are a number of links to other Brethren businesses including Ocura Healthcare Furniture director Christopher Doughty whose linkedin profile includes an endorsement for management from Joel Doughty. Archer Marketing also operate from the same business premises as a company called Orka Safety. Orka is a family business ran by the Rabey family including director Paul Rabey who is also a director of Jesmond Construction. 

The Doughty Family have also launched a business called  Branded Sanitisers which shows the Archer Marketing employees listed on linkedin.

Archer Marketing   won one contract to supply Edinburgh City Council along with a number of other suppliers. The contract doesn't give a breakdown of the value of the awarded contracts to each individual business.

Unispace links to Oska Care, Orcagel, Ocura Healthcare Furniture & Archer Marketing which all operate in the North East of Scotland. Unispace also have an office situated in Aberdeen.

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6. Origin Packaging £121,072,000

Origin Packaging is a North Ferriby based healthcare packaging business owned by Tim Pocock, Joseph Pocock & Keith Wade. 

Tim Pocock is a director or ex director of a number of other businesses including OnemediUK.

OnemediUK is the company behind the private medical insurance for members of the Plymouth Brethren Church. The directors of OneMediUK

• Doug Cowie Orcagel, Oska Care, Jesmond Construction

• Bruce Hazell Trimline, Tilepal, Warmfloors, Research & Innovations Group, Bruce Hazell is the uncle of Anthony Hazell of Unispace. Bruce also courted controversy in 2004 US election with a $377,000 donation.
• Stephen Kirkpatrick Australian based businesses including Archway Commercial Interiors in Brisbane.
• Ian Price ex Colorminium
• Ben Turner V12 Footwear
• Patrick Tydeman Intego Corporate, ex Anchor Safety
• Tim White Whitesales, Ryno & ex Jesmond Constuction

Pocock is also an ex director of Edutrade Humber Ltd along with a number of other local brethren based business owners, Edutrade Humber operates under the Campus & Co banner, these businesses are shops which raise funds for Plymouth Brethren schools which run under the OneSchool Global title. Edutrade Humber operates it's Campus & Co shop for the Ridgeway Campus of OneSchool in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. The business which operates from the same address as Origin Packaging includes directors & ex directors as follows

• Bernard Sellars Lindum Packaging, Quickbox Manufacturing, Well Able, Blue Planet Packaging
• Graham Hazell Stonegate Precision Tooling, Graham Hazell is a cousin of Anthony Hazell of Unispace.
• Russell Long Strata Protection, Skanwear Clothing, ex Target Trading 2007
• Ralph Green Sante Trading (formerly Unispace Health, Sante Group Holdings, Sante Property, Quickbox Manufacturing, Gloves4u, Heathtop Construction, Nexom SCM) Sante Property is also listed as a director of Sante Global LLP with two other directors Charles & Gareth Hales founders of Unispace.
• Gavin Sellars is listed as secretary and an ex director and is director of similar businesses to Bernard Sellars

Origin Packaging won two contracts for the supply of saline filled tubes and funnels to the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). They are also now registered with a US FDA license to export registered medical products to the US

7. Lindum Packaging £1,680,000

​Lindum Packaging based in Stallingborough, North Lincolnshire. Owned by the Sellars family they are a transit packaging business with a number of well known clients including Iceland, Thorntons & Halewood International. Lindum Packaging director Bernard Sellars is also a director of Edutrade Humber along with Tim Pocock, Graham Hazell (cousin of Anthony Hazell) & Ralph Green (Gloves4U & Nexom SCM group). 

Gavin Sellars director is also a trustee of the local Plymouth Brethren Church. Haven Gospel Hall Trust based in Grimsby.

Lindum Packaging  won a contract with the combined Greater Manchester Authority to supply 3 million facemasks. 

8. Agile Medical £18,660,941

Agile Medical is an end to end medical health equipment supplier based in Grimsby, with an office in London. Owned by the Glass family with Christopher, Conran & Anita Glass named as current directors on companies house.

Christopher Glass is also a trustee of the Haven Gospel Hall Trust, alongside Gavin Sellars of Lindum Packaging. Christopher Glass is also director of Workagile Ltd along with Pineapple Contracts unlimited the Kent based brethren business owned by the Hathorn family. Charles Hathorn director of Pineapple Contracts is a current director of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, The Grace Trading Company, Allerbrook & Scribefort all church businesses.

The London based office of Agile Medical is also on the same premises as GTB Group who list Daniel Hazell as the sole director, Daniel is also director of Birchwood Gourmet Ltd along with Anthony Hazell of Unispace.

Agile Medical won two contracts for Covid related supply, one to supply Guys & St Thomas Hospital with Ventilators and one to supply the DHSC for Ventilator consumables.

9. Denka U.K. £395,190

Denka U.K. is a Chesterfield based supplier of equipment and supplies to the Dentistry Sector. The business has two directors Andrew Cuckson & Patrick South.

Patrick South is also a director of Intergrand UK, Intergrand is the limited company that operates under the Campus & Co banner for the Nottingham campus of OneSchool Global. Another director of Intergrand UK is Philip Walker who is director of Wigston Paper & Board the Walker family business and also a director of the Bible & Gospel Trust a Plymouth Brethren church business alongside William Hathorn of Pineapple Contracts unlimited.

Andrew Cuckson is an ex director of Target Trading 2007 ltd, other ex directors from the time Cuckson was director include Russell Long & Hugh McCreadie both of Edutrade Humber Ltd.

Denka U.K. won contracts three contracts of which two were for facemasks to Warwickshire Police & Derbyshire County Council. They also won a contract to supply Edinburgh City Council along with a number of other suppliers, the value of this contract was not disclosed for individual businesses and therefore is not included in the value of awarded contracts.

10. CMT Equipment £2,912,767

CMT Equipment is a Belverdere based, industrial & PPE supplies business. The two current directors are Anthony Hazell of Unispace and Gregory Hales another son of Plymouth Brethren Church leader Bruce Hales. 

CMT Equipment won six PPE supply contracts. One to supply Belfast Business Services with face masks worth £2 million, a second to supply Norfolk County council with PPE worth 854k, a third one to also supply Norfolk County Council with PPE worth 58k. The other three contracts were to supply Redcar & Cleveland Council, Doncaster Council & Leeds City Council, all three contracts were awarded to a number of suppliers and the individual value of the contracts were not supplied. Therefore we have not included in the value given above. 

11. Selkent Fastenings £610,540

Selkent Fastenings is a London based Fastenings & Fixing supplier. The Bushnell family business lists four current directors Julian, Karl, Shaun & Vaughan Bushnell. Julian Bushnell is also director of Cheviot Construction Ltd, he was appointed a director of Cheviot at the same time as Lee Hazell ex director. 

Selkent share the same business premises as Ox Tools (owned by Anthony Hazell's father) & Trimline (owned by Anthony Hazell's uncle). 

Selkent Fastenings won one contract to supply Hampshire County Council with PPE. 

The Humberside & East London area benefitted from a number of contracts and again we can see the links to other PPE winning businesses, the Hazell & Hales families often being a connection to many of the businesses winning contracts.

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12. Inivos £126,200,000

Inivos the Peterborough & Kings Lynn based company is an infection prevention & control business who did very well out of the pandemic supplying PPE. Inivos is owned by the Fentiman family and lists current directors Daniel, Elizabeth, Gordon, Mark & Warwick Fentiman as directors. Daniel Fentiman is an ex director of Nexus Team and this again includes a number of other brethren business owners including

• Daniel Goodenough - GDC Healthcare
• Stephen Turner - Southgate Global
• Dan Lyon - Coshield Global, Corpfeut, Feuttrus, Moroak Management
• David Temple - Eastpoint Global

Nexus Team is the company behind the Campus & Co at the OneSchool Global campus at Swaffham.
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Inivos work closely with Unispace and on the webinar section of their website you can find a webinar that is brought to you jointly by Unispace & Inivos

Inivos won three contracts to supply masks & gowns to the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC).

13. Southgate Global £256,000

Southgate Global are a packaging business based in Kings Lynn. The Turner family business lists seven directors including Stephen & Craig Turner, Craig is also a current director & Stephen an ex director of Nexus Team Ltd. Stephen was also a director of the now dissolved Breckland Park School Ltd along with David Temple of Eastpoint.
 
Southgate won two PPE contracts to supply both the DHSC & Derbyshire Council with disposable aprons

14. Eastpoint Global £546,000

​Eastpoint Global based in Great Yarmouth, are a specialist distributor of educational aids. The business is owned by the Temple family and lists David & Maurice Temple as directors. David Temple is an ex director of Nexus Team and the Breckland Park School Ltd alongside Stephen Turner of Southgate Global.

​Eastpoint Global were awarded a contract to supply Norfolk County Council with PPE.

15. GDC Healthcare £1,716,650

GDC Healthcare or Global Design Concepts are a Dublin based interior design company. The UK business comes under Global Design Concepts UK and is headed up by the Gray family based in Dublin. They also show Lester Martin as a director of the UK business. Martin is a relation of Plymouth Brethren Church leader Bruce Hales. The Gray's did previously had a company in Stockport, Cheshire called J.P. Glass Ltd which was dissolved in 2017. This business was based out of the same premises as another brethren PPE contract winning company Lovair Property.

Daniel Goodenough current director of Nexus Team shows on his linkedin profile that he is Project Director for GDC Interiors & also as Director of GDC Healthcare. Goodenough is also a trustee of Althorpe Gospel Hall Trust, this is the Plymouth Brethren church in Rackheath, Norwich.

GDC won a contract to supply surgical gowns to University College London NHS Foundation Trust

16. Bronze Architecture £147,168

Bronze Architecture based in Rackheath, Norwich. Owned by the Penson family, with two directors Gordon & Warwick Penson. This is the only business where the Penson's are directors. The last accounts filed by the business showed net assets of -£179k.
An article found shows that Bronze Architecture worked on projects with Colorminium another Brethren business.

Warwick Penson is also a trustee of Althorpe Gospel Hall, a Plymouth Brethren church alongside Daniel Goodenough of GDC & Nexus Team.

Bronze Architecture won a contract to supply Norfolk County Council with Aprons.

The links from Unispace to Inivos and on to the other Norfolk based businesses show that the Norfolk businesses benefitted from the PPE contracts with a total of over £128 million in revenue.

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17. Blueleaf £4,017,663

Blueleaf provide advice and products for Care Homes. Based in West Sussex with offices in Chatham, Derby & Canada. The company is owned by the Campbell & Andrews families. There are four current directors Jonathan & Scott Andrews, Charles & Nathan Campbell. All have involvement with a number of other limited companies, some where all are involved including Global Consortium Products, Project Emerald, Globalserv, BL assets unlimited & Stadir. Other businesses such as Clinicare Supplies show just Nathan Campbell & Scott Andrews listed as directors. 

Scott Andrews is listed as a director of ATC Enterprises, Steiss Global with Russell Andrews. Jonathan Andrews is listed as a director of JMA Trading which has Richard Blackledge of Arrow County Supplies (another PPE contract winning business) named as an ex director. Jonathan is also a director of the Arun Business Consortium with fellow Brethren company directors Matthew Bastable, Howard Payne & Daniel Gilmore. He is named as an ex director of Key Wholesale a brethren owned business in Bristol. 

Nathan Campbell is listed as a director of Apex House with Charles & Neil Campbell. Charles Campbell is a director of Three Sixty Online with Simon Campbell, Tristan Bruce & Luke Pollard. He is a former director of Linton Projects Ltd.

The interesting company from the above is ATC Enterprises, where the links to other brethren members companies come to the fore.

ATC Enterprises is another company set up as the Limited company with a shop to support the local OneSchool Global campus via the trading name of Campus & Co, this supports the brethren school in Burgess Hill. The directors & ex directors of ATC Enterprises link to a number of other brethren member companies that won PPE contracts.

• Daniel Reiner (Bryson Products, Snaffle Solutions)
• Russell Lynes (Acopia, Zapp UK Trading, Rapid Relief Team) 
• Samuel Purdom (Giftfinder, Oakhill Products)

Blueleaf were one of eleven companies that attended a roundtable meeting to discuss adult social care PPE distribution with Minister of State for Social Care Helen Whately MP on the 12th May 2020. Another Brethren business Nexon Healthcare were also in attendance. Nexon Healthcare is owned by Nexon SCM Group who include Ralph Green as a director. Green was also a director for some of the Unispace businesses and is linked to the Hales family.

Blueleaf won two contracts, one for the supply of facemasks to the DHSC and another small contract to supply PPE to Hampshire County Council.

18. Bryson Products £3,940,000

Bryson Products are based in Coulsdon, Surrey. They are an importer, manufacturer & distributor of fixings and safety products.  The business is owned by the Reiner family, there are two current directors Daniel & Mark Reiner. Daniel Reiner is a director of ATC Enterprises. He is also a director of Snaffle Solutions,  where he was alongside Luke Robertson of Medco Solutions until Robertson resigned as director in July 2020.
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Bryson Products won a contract to supply the DHSC with face masks.

19. Acopia Group £249,400

​Acopia Group is a diverse company based in Bognor Regis, offering packaging, procurement and branded merchandising. Russell, Timothy & Wayne Lynes are the directors of the Lynes family business. Russell Lynes is a director of the Rapid Relief Team, he is also a former director of ATC Enterprises & Zapp UK Trading. All three businesses link to other Brethren members.

The Rapid Relief Team was set up according to ex brethren members as a business to demonstrate that the Plymouth Brethren church is a charitable organisation. The RRT as it is known, support emergency services whenever there is a major incident such as flooding or a rail crash etc. They attend and provide catering free of charge to the emergency services. Current directors of the RRT include Sam Blackledge of Arrow County Supplies, David Brown of JTH Holdings & Styalsuite in Scotland, Roderick Buckley of Forgeway Holdings, Benjamin Napthine of Streetspace,  Murray Robertson representing the Irish based brethren and director of Aristospray, Andrew Turner of V12 footwear.
Previous directors include Iain Cooper a current director of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), Glen Stacey a former director of the PBCC and current director of Nuvik Global, Tim Wakeford of the Direct Tool Company, James Walker of Wigston Paper & Board & Jonathan Whiley of Havwoods Global. 

Zapp UK Trading was set up as a Campus & Co in Guildford. Directors & Ex directors of Zapp UK Trading include Blake Prisgrove of SMI Int, Myles Moggach of Strukta and Matthew Rich from the influential Rich family whose companies include Polarseal Tapes & Conversions.

Acopia Group won a contract to supply PPE to Durham & Darlington NHS trust.

20. SMI Int £300,000

SMI Int Group is the Prisgrove family business based in Haslemere, Surrey. Supplying workwear and safety products to industry is the core of a business, which includes former Zapp UK Trading director Blake Prisgrove as Managing Director. The family has also set up Suresan as a limited company back in early March 2020, the website states the business was founded in 1981.

SMI Int were awarded three contracts, one for the Scottish Police Authority for £300,000 and the other two with Bristol City Council & Wiltshire Council where on both occasions they were one of a number of suppliers awarded the contract, we haven't included in the figure above as neither contract breaks down the award to the individual business.

21. Giftfinder £100,150

Croydon based Giftfinder is a family business of the Purdom's, supplying bespoke branded merchandise. Companies House lists former ATC Enterprises director Samuel Purdom as a current director of the company. Samuel is also a former director of the now dissolved Oakhill Products along with a number of other brethren members including Neil Hardwick, who is a former director of Coshield Global and currently a director of UBT (EU).

UBT (EU) also known as the Universal Business Team. UBT is a global business set up to support brethren member businesses similar in many ways to a business support & buying group. Based in the UK in Warwick and offering support in areas such as training, logistics, marketing, accountancy, fleet, HR and a full range of business services. UBT profits are channelled back into the OneSchool Global portfolio of schools. UBT provide services in Australia, New Zealand and North America as well as Europe. It is a fundamental aspect in supporting Plymouth Brethren member ran businesses.

Another current director of Giftfinder is Michael Purdom, he is also a former director of now dissolved CA Distribution along with James Farrant. Farrant is part of the family business Axis House, an office refit company based in Ringwood. Axis also list Richard Farrant as director, in turn he is also director of Vista 4 alongside Jonathan Aris of Tower Supplies another big winner with the PPE contracts.

Giftfinder as a company won three contracts, one to supply Hampshire County Council with PPE, another to supply Warwickshire Police with face masks and a third one with Bristol City Council where they were among a number of suppliers awarded the contract, the Bristol City Council contract does not include individual awards and therefore we have again not included in the above figure.

22. Medco Solutions £84,040,000

London based Medco Solutions is part of the Swedish based brethren company Wingplast. Wingplast is a gynaecology consumables business, Medco Solutions appeared at the start of pandemic in the UK, they came to the fore when their large contracts were announced and since then they have launched and then further updated their website to reflect being part of Wingplast. Medco have three current directors, Luke & Ross Robertson along with Swede Edoard Dieck.

Ross Robertson is the Principal, Global Enterprises for Unispace, He is now also a shareholder in the Sante Trading (The business that replaced Unispace Health, along with Gareth & Charles Hales, Anthony Hazell and so on). He appears to have two separate LinkedIn profiles, one for Unispace & one for Medco. The links to Unispace are highly evident. Ross Robertson is also a former director of Zest Trading UK, along with Vern Woolgar who is also a director of the Sante Trading and works for Unispace.

Luke Robertson is a director of Snaffle Solutions Ltd alongside Daniel Reiner (ATC Enterprises & Bryson Products director).

Medco Solutions were one of the bigger winners in regards to the PPE contracts, securing three contracts with the DHSC for the supply visors, masks & aprons.

23. Oxford Safety Supplies £976,000*

Oxford Safety supplies of Didcot in Oxfordshire are a safety supply company owned by the Robertson family. The directors include Barry & Stuart Robertson, both are also directors of Zest Trading UK Ltd. Zest includes a number of Robertson's that are current or ex directors including Ross Robertson of Medco Solutions. 

Zest Trading UK Ltd is the limited company that trades as the Campus & Co shop at the Stoke Poges campus of brethren school OneSchool Global. 

Zest Trading UK also lists Stephen Parsons as a current director. He is also a current director of SB Workspace Ltd. Co Founders of SB Workspace were Cyril Parsons (still a director) and Garth Woodcock (ex director). The pair also co founded Unispace Global ltd in the UK. Another link from Zest Trading UK is ex director Charles Ker, who is also an ex director of PPE contract winning Techniclean Supply.

​Oxford Safety supplies won a contract alongside another Brethren business CID Products. The contract was for supply of PPE to Lancashire Police, it was for £976,000 in total but does not indicate the split between Oxford Safety supplies and CID Products.

24. AES Industrial Supplies £197,754

AES Industrial supplies are based at the same business premises as Oxford Safety Supplies in Didcot. They list Lloyd & Bronwen Robertson as directors. Lloyd is also a director of Masterweld Equipment (UK) Ltd.

AES Industrial supplies won a PPE contract to supply Hampshire County Council. 

25. Tower Supplies £40,500,000

Tower Supplies are based in Poole, Dorset where they specialise in safety & PPE supplies. Owned by the Aris family Daniel & Jonathan Aris. Though Tower Supplies does not appear to be a limited company the Aris's are named as directors of a number of businesses including Vista 4, where Jonathan is listed as a current director. Vista 4 also lists Richard Farrant as a director, along with ex director Mark Barter.

Tower Supplies won two contracts both with the DHSC to supply disposable coveralls. 

The central southern brethren based member businesses did very well out of the pandemic, with a number of contracts awarded with a total value of over £130 million. Links to Zest Trading show connections to Unispace through Stephen & Cyril Parsons.

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26. Toffeln £4,989,970

​Toffeln is a Bristol based footwear company owned by the Leflaive family. Director Gerard Leflaive is also an ex director of Novus Trading alongside Kevin Smallridge, Roland Coldrick, Alex Nunn and John Baker.

In a now familiar pattern Novus Trading Ltd is the limited company that trades as Campus & Co in Bristol. Supporting the Plymouth Brethren Oneschool Global campus in Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

Toffeln were awarded four contracts, two with the DHSC to supply visors, one to supply Guys & St Thomas Hospital with gowns and one to supply Alderhey Childrens Hospital with isolation gowns.

27. Springfield Supplies & Projects £428,000

Springfield Supplies & Projects is a furniture supplier in Bristol ran by the Baker family. John Baker is a former director of Novus Trading, he is also listed as a director of Springfield Supplies & Projects.

Springfield were awarded two contracts to supply masks, one to Derbyshire County Council and the second one to supply the DHSC.

28. Ureka Global £376,000*

​Ureka Global are an adhesive manufacturer based in Bristol, owned by the Nunn Family. Alex Nunn listed as a director of Ureka is also a former director of Novus Trading.

Ureka were part of a number of suppliers that won a contract to supply Bristol City Council with PPE. The contract does not provide a breakdown of the individual amounts awarded to each supplier.

29. Medaco £376,000*

​Medaco another Bristol based business owned by the Smallridge family.  A specialist healthcare equipment provider they follow a similar pattern for the Bristol based brethren businesses, in that Kevin Smallridge is listed as a director and he is also a former director of Novus Trading

Medaco again were one of a number of suppliers awarded a PPE contract by Bristol City Council. The contract does not provide a breakdown of the individual amounts awarded to each supplier.

30. Safpro Industrial Supplies £1,250,000*

​Safpro Industrial Supplies is part of the Gloucester based Onyx Workgear Ltd. The company provide workwear and lists three directors Gerard & Richard Simmonds and Roy Jones,  Director Richard Simmonds is an ex director of Upton Construction Ltd alongside fellow ex director Robert Freeman of Moroak Management and a current director Nicholas Farr. Farr is yet another listed as an ex director of Novus Trading. 

Gerard Simmonds was a director of dissolved company Vendimia Ltd alongside Glenn Haughton of Halco Europe Ltd.

Safpro Industrial Supplies won one contract with a number of other suppliers to supply PPE to the Yorkshire HA buying group. This contract does not provide details of the individual amounts awarded to each company.

31. Halco Europe £1,600,560

The Hereford based hook & loop business is owned by the Haughton family. Glenn Haughton a current director is also an ex director of Vendimia Ltd alongside Gerard Simmonds of Safpro Industrial Supplies.

Halco have a number of offices worldwide in France, Germany, Italy, USA & Australia. Their Australian office shares the same address as UBT Australia, Rapid Relief Team, OneSchool Global and a number of other Brethren businesses including Vision Accelerator PTY Ltd. Vision Accelerator is part of UBT and invests in brethren member businesses, it is listed on the Open Corporates website as controlling two businesses in the UK. Moroak Management & Nuvik Global.

Moroak Management is based in Yeovil and includes the following directors Mark, Timothy & Blake Barter, Timothy Browning, Timothy Drake, Daniel Lyon, Robert Freeman, Clive Pavey. Daniel Lyon was connected to the Nexus team and the Norfolk brethren, Mark Barter is connected to Techniclean and via Vista4 to Tower Supplies and Timothy Drake to Accora. All contract winning companies. Plus the link above between Robert Freeman & Richard Simmonds of Safpro.

Nuvik Global is a cleaning & hygiene products company which in the UK is based in Peterhead. The directors listed are members of the Rabey family, Australian Ronald Arkcoll, Glen Stacey the ex director of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church & the Rapid Relief Team. Richard Blackledge of Arrow County Supplies is listed as an ex director. Ron Arkcoll is also a director of Rapid Relief Team in Australia, appearing on Sky News down under a couple of times, also involved in a dispute with one of his local councillors.

​Halco Europe won two contracts to supply NHS Wales with visors and gowns.

32. Techniclean £20,000,000

The Andover based chemical & hygiene products supplier has four current directors Nicholas, Lauren & Kieran Matley, plus Michael Barter of Moroak Management. Ex directors include Timothy Browning and ex Zest Trading director Charles Ker.

Techniclean were awarded one contract to supply Belfast Business Services with facemasks. 

33. Accora £18,977,260

The Drake family owned business is based in Cambridge, they supply beds & mattresses. Directors include Timothy Drake, who is also a director of Moroak Management Ltd alongside fellow directors Michael Barter of Techniclean and Robert Freeman ex director of Upton Construction.

Accora won two contracts, one small contract with NHS Scotland to provide beds and a second much larger contract of £18,729,000 to supply the DHSC with lab testing facilities.

The brethren members businesses in the South West were unusual compared to other parts of the country in terms of not having a big winner. Hampshire based Techniclean & Cambridge based Accora were awarded decent sized contracts. Lots of links again across the brethren business network. 

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34. Clandeboye Agencies £107,520,000

The Antrim based Snack business owned by the Walker family were one of the biggest brethren winners and link closely to other Northern Ireland & Scotland brethren ran companies. Director Andrew Walker is an ex director of Causeway Vision Ltd. ​Causeway Vision also includes Garth White as a current director & Dermott McMullan & Dale Paterson as ex directors.

Causeway Vision helps fund the Plymouth Brethren School, OneSchool Global at Knockloughrim.

Clandeboye Agencies were awarded two contracts to supply gowns to the DHSC

35. Creative Activity £17,200,000

Creative Activity are a provider of childcare & educational equipment based in Derry, Northern Ireland, with offices in Kirkcaldy & Dublin. Owned by the McMullan family. 

Linked in shows that Jason McMullan is the sales director at the GC Group (Greencross), as well as being a director of Creative Activity, the GC Group are the distributors of Orcagel products in Northern Ireland. The Kirkcaldy business is at the same premises as a number of brethren member companies owned by the Paterson's.
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Creative Activity were awarded three contracts to supply masks & gowns to Belfast Business Services.

36. Oakdene Services (1925) £2,955,696

Oakdene are another Antrim based business, they are a commercial printing and branded merchandise supplier. Ran by the McMullan's, Dermott & Jamie​​. Dermott is an ex director of Causeway Vision.

Oakdene Services 1925  won three PPE contracts to supply Hand Sanitiser to Belfast Business Solutions.

37. Ascot Signs £2,800,000

​​Ascot Signs based in Maydown, Northern Ireland, with additional offices in Liverpool & London. The business is owned by the White family along with Roger Parsons. Garth White is also a director of Causeway Vision.
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Ascot Signs were awarded two PPE contracts to supply Face Visors. One to the DHSC & one to the Western Health & Social care trust.

38. Lion Safety £2,012,097

Lion Safety are a PPE supplier based in Grangemouth and owned by Lewis family. Currently with three directors Roger, Ralph & Laurie Lewis and with one ex director Kevin Michel. Ralph Lewis was very active on his linkedin account throughout the pandemic, regularly highlighting potential business for both themselves and other brethren member businesses.

He also became a director of Coshield Global in May 2020 at the same time as Edward Wheatcroft, they replaced former directors Daniel Lyon (Nexus Team, Moroak Management), Bruce Dallow & Neil Hardwick (UBT EU). Coshield Global operate from the same address in Warwick as UBT (EU) & OneSchool Global UK.

Roger Lewis is a former director of Midway Design & Build Ltd along with Dale Paterson (Causeway Vision), Graeme Paterson (Streamline Corporate) and Richard Paterson(Astrak - who share the Kirkcaldy business address with Creative Activity).

Lion Safety were awarded a total of seven contracts, six to supply Police Scotland & one to supply NHS Scotland. Supplies included masks, sanitiser and coveralls.  

39. Streamline Corporate £545,000

Streamline Corporate are a branded merchandise company based in Edinburgh, with additional offices in London & Exeter. Current directors are Andrew, Graeme & Roger Paterson. Graeme was formerly a director of Midway Design & Build alongside Dale Paterson & Roger Lewis. Andrew was formerly a director of the now dissolved Hughes Travel Limited.

Hughes Travel was previously the business behind all the travel requirements for Plymouth Brethren members. Other directors of Hughes Travel included the founders of Unispace (Garth Woodcock & Cyril Parsons).

Streamline Corporate won two contracts. One to supply North Lanarkshire council with PPE and the second with Edinburgh City Council, which was shared with a number of other suppliers. Edinburgh City council do not highlight the individual award amounts, so we have not included the value of this award.

The Northern Ireland brethren members secured a number of contracts and there is a clear link to some of the central Scotland brethren members. In total these six companies won over £130 million of contracts. Again we can see a link back to Unispace through Andrew Paterson and Garth Woodcock. 

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40. CID Products £976,000*

​CID Products based in Leeds are a safety supply company. Owned by the Soulsby family, they also have offices in Falkirk, Middlesborough, Manchester & London. Directors of CID include Alfred Soulsby through his family business Equitable Fortitude Ltd. Alfred is also a director of ACAD Trading. 

ACAD Trading Ltd trade under Zenith and would appear to support the York Campus of OneSchool Global in a similar way Campus & Co work with other OneSchool Global schools. Ex directors of ACAD include Robert Oliver (Innova Care Concepts) & Roger Edwards (UBT (EU) Ltd).

CID Group share premises with other brethren companies. In Falkirk with the James family business Amos Beech Ltd and IOTSpace Ltd. In London with the Barnes family and their companies Fluid Transfer Systems Ltd & Trailparts Ltd. The London address is also the former home of the now dissolved AFS businesses owned by the Arkcoll family including Ron Arkcoll of the Rapid Relief Team (RRT) in Australia.

CID Products won a contract along with Oxford Safety Supplies to supply PPE to the Lancashire Police Authority. The contract does not show how much the individual companies were awarded.

41. Innova Care Concepts £534,210

Innova Care Concepts are based in Wetherby. They supply beds, mattresses and other care equipment, companies house shows three directors Bob Oliver, Joe & Tom Hulbert. Bob Oliver is a former director of ACAD trading with Alfred Soulsby of CID Products.

​Innova won two contracts to supply beds & screens to NHS Scotland.

42. Total Protection UK £287,800

Wellingborough based ​Total Protection UK is a dissolved business, the business merged with Baca Workwear & Safety of Northampton, a Health & Safety Equipment supplier in 2017. The business is owned by the Calder family with current directors Ben & Marcus showing on companies house for Baca Workwear & Safety. Baca Holdings Ltd also shows Matthew Calder as a director. Matthew is formerly a director of Pinnacle (EU) Ltd. A current director of Pinnacle (EU) is Lee Denny of Fairfield Care Products. Pinnacle EU appears to be a fund raiser for OneSchoolGlobal, though their website only goes back to 2015 under the Focus School banner. Focus School is the previous name of OneSchool Global UK.

Total Protection UK won a contract to supply masks to Guys & St Thomas Hospital Trust.

43. Baca Workwear & Safety £100,000

Northampton based Baca Workwear & Safety is the Calder family business that owns Total Protection UK.

Baca Workwear & Safety were awarded a PPE contract by North Lincolnshire Council.

44. Fairfield Care Products £132,926

​Fairfield Care Products of Bedford is the Denny family company that supplies Healthcare equipment. They also have an office in Colchester. Lee Denny is also a director of Pinnacle (EU) whose ex directors include Matthew Calder of Baca Holdings.

The Colchester office is home to a number of companies ran by another brethren family, the Napthine's. Christopher Napthine is a director of most of these companies and is also director of Larchcroft Trading where Garth Parsons of Yewdale Corporation is a former director.

Fairfield Care Products won one contract to supply Northamptonshire County Council with PPE.

45. Yewdale Corporation £570,000

​Yewdale Corporation owned by the Parsons family, based in Wickford, Essex, are a commercial shading & screening company. Directors include Ryan & Garth Parsons. Garth Parsons is a former director of Larchcroft Trading alongside Christopher Napthine.

​Yewdale Corporation won one contract to supply Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS with PPE.

46. Arrow County Supplies £120,142

​Arrow County Supplies is owned by the Blackledge family, the cleaning products company is based in Shrewsbury. Director Richard Blackledge is also a former director of JMA Trading, JCA Trading & PAA Trading. These are all companies set up for the Andrews family. JMA Trading shows Jonathan Mark Andrews as a current director, he is also a director of Blueleaf.

Blackledge is also a current director of the Universal Business Team. This operates similar to a head office buying group for Brethren Member businesses. He is also listed as a director of Scribefort & Allerbrook, which are Plymouth Brethren Church companies. He is an ex director of Nuvik Global & UBT (EU)

Sam Blackledge of Arrow County Supplies is listed as a director of the "Catering for Crisis" business Rapid Relief Team.

​Arrow County Supplies were awarded two contracts one to supply Prosper Housing and one where they were one of a number of suppliers to supply PPE to Bristol City Council, this is not included in the figure above as the contract did not specify the amounts awarded to each individual company. 

47. Specialist Doors Solutions £845,160

​Specialist Door Solutions based in Farnham are a manufacturer of specialist doorsets. Companies house shows two directors Russell James & Darren Blake.

Russell James is an ex director along with Nicholas Siderfin of Hall & Tawse Joinery. Siderfin is a director of Kent Dev LLP alongside the Blackledge family, Michael & Timothy Barter & Oliver Whiley. Kent Dev LLP link to many Brethren Member businesses.

Specialist Door Solutions of Farnham won two contracts, one with Liverpool Universities NHS Trust and one with Guys & St Thomas Hospital.

48. Lovair £205,500

​Lovair are a commercial bathroom & washroom company based in Stockport and now under the name The Splash Lab, the business is owned by Fraser & Justin Lovell. They operate from the same premises as dissolved J.P. Glass (UK) operated, J.P Glass was owned by the Gray family, who now run GDC.

Former director Murray Boyt is also a director of Delta UK Holdings along with Stephen Boyt, who is in turn a director of Quantco Enterprises along with Nicholas Siderfin. 

Their website shows an office in Queensland, Australia with a contact of Michael Kirkpatrick. The address is home to Aura Washrooms. Kirkpatick is formerly of Archway Commercial Interiors. The Kirkpatick family business where Stephen Kirkpatrick is a director, he is also a director of the UK based brethren health insurance business OneMediUK. Another example of the link between Australian Brethren businesses and the UK ones.

Lovair won a contract to supply Hand Sanitiser to NHS Wales. 

49. Castle Industrial Supplies £330,730*

Castle Industrial Supplies of Carnforth are a packaging company owned by the James family. Director Kenneth James is an ex director of the now dissolved Silverdale Projects Ltd.

Another director of Silverdale Projects was Jonathan Whiley, Whiley is an ex director of the Rapid Relief Team alongside Sam Blackledge of Arrow County Supplies, Whiley is also director of the family businesses alongside Oliver Whiley of Kent Dev LLP. There are a number of brethren businesses owned by the Whiley's and the James' families trading from the same business park in Carnforth. Silverdale Projects Ltd was also based at the same premises. One business is Havwoods, another with substantial links to Australia.

​Castle Industrial Supplies won a shared contract with another non brethren business, for supply of PPE to Warrington Borough Council. The contract does not stipulate the amount awarded to each individual business.

50. Kingsbury Press £12,870,000

​Kingsbury Press are a printing firm based in Doncaster. Kingsbury Press Ltd is a micro business owned by the Layton family and showing 16k worth of assets.

Kingsbury Press Holdings Ltd shows four directors Edward, Robert, Gerard Layton and Clive Wickland.  On Linkedin Clive Wickland was previously business development management for the Strukta Group, a brethren business with connections to the Barter Family and through Myles Moggach to Zapp UK Trading to both SMI Int & Acopia. Strutka director Adrian Diffey is also a director of OneSchool Global UK. 

Kingsbury Press were awarded one contract to supply visors to the DHSC.

51. Protective Wear Supplies (PWS) £1,625,542*

​The company based in Plymouth, is a safety wear & PPE company ran by the Burtenshaw's. There are only distance links to any other Brethren members.

Protective Wear Supplies (PWS) won two contracts with other suppliers also awarded on both contracts. One for Bristol City Council and one for Yorkshire HA. Neither contract provides specific individial award amounts.

The final companies are spread from Yorkshire to the North West, the heart of England and generally across an array of different English towns & cities. It also shows that a number of these companies are actually in the PPE supply business. CID Products, Baca Workwear & Safety, Fairfield Care Products, Arrow County Supplies & Protective Wear Supplies. These companies despite being the experts in the field of PPE and with a proven track record, did not win the size of contracts and in fact they paled in comparison to the big brethren winners, who appeared to lack the expertise in PPE.

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The Contracts

All
​£1,284,486,611

Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC)
£1,205,651,175

All others (Excluding DHSC)
£78,018,436

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The Links to the Chain

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