It is our belief that the direction of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is controlled by the Hales family and their closest allies through an entity called the Global Advisory Panel, known within the PBCC as GAP. While the PBCC publicly denies any formal hierarchy or leadership structure, GAP operates as precisely that: an executive board with global reach, approving expenditure, directing the Ecosystem and setting the course of the organisation from the top down.
GAP also exists as an incorporated Australian company: GAP Global Pty Ltd. Its registered address is at the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, the same premises as UBT, the central business support hub for all PBCC-linked operations. These premises were the subject of a raid by the Australian Tax Office in March 2024. Since that raid, eight of the company's thirteen directors have resigned. Whether they have left the actual advisory panel, or simply removed their names from the public record, is a question we cannot definitively answer.
We have evidence that GAP is responsible for approving expenditure across PBCC charities — decisions as granular as resurfacing a meeting room car park or approving planning applications for new halls. We believe GAP had significant input in the recent closure of UBT Accountants in Australia and the forthcoming closure of Campus & Co, the Brethren-only retail operation. It does exactly what it says: it is the Global Advisory Panel, and it functions as the executive board of what is, in every practical sense, a commercial corporation.
Director Changes: Before and After the ATO Raid
At the start of 2024, GAP Global Pty Ltd had 13 directors, all of whom had served since 2016. In the 18 months that followed the March 2024 ATO raid, 8 of those directors resigned and 2 new appointments were made. The timing is notable.
The addition of Glen Stacey and Jeremy Joyce is significant. We were aware of their business interests within the PBCC network but had not previously identified them as holding positions at this level of the hierarchy. Their appointments suggest either a deliberate restructuring of who holds formal positions, or a replacement of those who stepped back following the ATO scrutiny.
Director Profiles
Collectively, the current and former directors of GAP Global run companies with combined revenues likely running into the billions. Their geographic spread, spanning Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Canada, strongly suggests they represent the PBCC's senior leadership in each of their respective countries.
"GAP acts as the executive board of a commercial corporation — one in which business acumen, networking and loyalty to the Chairman are the keys to success and progression."
Brethren Exposed Investigation — July 2025What GAP Reveals About the PBCC's Real Structure
The PBCC is on public record denying that any hierarchy exists within the church. Local communities, it insists, are autonomous. There is no leader, no board, no rules. The Brethren are simply 55,000 people who share similar views.
The existence of GAP Global Pty Ltd, with its 15 identified directors drawn from the most senior business figures across five countries, all serving since 2016, directly contradicts that position. Consolidating the known businesses of current and former GAP directors would produce revenues in the billions. Their geographic spread — Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada — maps almost precisely to the countries where the PBCC has the largest concentrations of members and commercial interests.
It is also worth noting what happened after the ATO raid in March 2024. Within 18 months, eight directors resigned from the public company record. Among those who stepped back: Dean Hales and Cameron Hales from the Hales family itself, and Phil McNaughton, the accountant whose daughter is married into that family. We do not believe that resigning as a named company director means leaving the actual advisory panel. It means leaving the paper trail.
A Church or a Commercial Corporation?
We return, as we often do, to the same fundamental question: is the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church a genuine religious organisation, or is it a commercial corporation that uses the apparatus of religion as a control mechanism for those further down the pyramid?
The PBCC, as a named church, exists to provide legal protection, grant charitable status and generate public benefit credits that translate into millions in tax relief and regulatory favour. The actual organisation — with its rules, its hierarchy and its decision-making — operates through the commercial structure. GAP is, in our view, where that structure sits at the top.
We will continue to track the Global Advisory Panel and its directors. It is the heart of the brethren ecosystem, hiding in plain sight.