This investigation traces the journey of Mark Hewlett — the highest-paid director on the UK Health Security Agency's executive board — from overseeing the government's Covid testing procurement to becoming CEO of a company owned by the family whose businesses won £1.1 billion of the contracts his team awarded. It does not suggest wrongdoing. It asks what it looks like, and why it has not been more closely examined.
The Three Companies at 2a Hope Street
Three companies sat at the centre of the UK government's Covid testing supply chain. All three were registered at the same Sydney address. All three were owned by sons of PBCC leader Bruce Hales.
Medco Solutions Ltd
Dean Hales · UK & Australia
£934m
£850m lateral flow tests + £84m PPE
Contracts awarded 5 March 2021 to 23 February 2022 by Test & Trace / UKHSA, part of the DHSC.
Sante Global / Unispace
Gareth & Charles Hales · Australia
£946m
£271m LFT contract + £675m PPE via VIP lane
£271m contract awarded 5 September 2021. PPE contracts awarded via VIP lane after being put forward by Michael Gove.
2San Global
Dean Hales · UK, Australia & Denmark
£0
No UK government contracts awarded
No LFT or PPE contracts awarded by the UK government. All income unexplained by identified contracts. Became Mark Hewlett's employer five weeks after he left UKHSA.
One Address — Three Companies — One Family
2a Hope Street, Ermington, Sydney NSW
Medco Solutions Pty Ltd — owned by Dean Hales
Sante Global Pty Ltd — owned by Gareth & Charles Hales
2San Pty Ltd — owned by Dean Hales
All three companies were registered at 2a Hope Street on the dates the contracts were awarded. This is the same address as Bruce Hales' accountancy practice, BD Hales & Co, and the registered address of multiple other Hales family businesses.
The Michael Gove VIP Lane Connection
Politics · PPE VIP Route
Sante Global, trading at the time as Unispace, was put forward for the PPE VIP procurement route by Michael Gove. This route bypassed normal procurement competition and fast-tracked suppliers recommended by ministers, MPs and senior officials. Through it, Unispace/Sante received £675 million in PPE contracts before the lateral flow test contracts were awarded. The total UK government income for the Hales family across Medco and Sante exceeds £1.8 billion.
Mark Hewlett: The Timeline
UK
August 2020
Hewlett joins Test & Trace as Director of Testing
12-month fixed-term contract. Test & Trace subsequently becomes UKHSA. Contract extended. Hewlett becomes the highest-paid director on the executive board at £220,000/year.
£
March 2021 — February 2022
Medco Solutions awarded £850m in LFT contracts
UK government contracts for lateral flow tests awarded to Medco Solutions Ltd by Test & Trace / UKHSA — the agency where Hewlett sat on the executive board.
£
September 2021
Sante Global awarded £271m LFT contract
Sante Global and Sterilab Services jointly awarded a £271m contract for lateral flow tests. Sante is owned by Gareth and Charles Hales.
UK
February 2021
Hewlett answers questions before a government committee
Hewlett appears alongside Baroness Harding in front of a parliamentary committee, positioned as a senior figure in the UK's Covid testing response.
!
March 2022
Hewlett leaves UKHSA
Departs his role as Director of Testing and highest-paid executive board member.
!
11 April 2022 — five weeks later
Hewlett starts as CEO of 2San Global
His first week is spent in Sydney — the location of Medco, Sante and 2San. He joins a company owned by Dean Hales, who also owns Medco Solutions Pty Ltd, one of the major beneficiaries of the contracts Hewlett's team at UKHSA had overseen.
+
April — October 2022
10+ UKHSA Test & Trace team members join 2San Global
Including senior employees. Estimated annual employment cost: over £1 million. 2San Global's 2022 annual report shows an average of 15 employees — suggesting that Hewlett's Test & Trace team was effectively running the company.
"The highest-paid director at the agency that awarded £1.1 billion in testing contracts left — and within five weeks was running a company at the same address as those contract winners."
Brethren Exposed Investigation
What the Timeline Shows
2San Global was awarded no UK government contracts. But the people who ran 2San Global were, within months of the contract awards ending, the same people who had sat on the executive board of the agency that awarded them. The highest-paid of those officials took five weeks to go from government to a company co-located with the contract winners, all owned by the same family.
There are structural questions about the revolving door between senior government procurement officials and the companies operating in markets they regulated. There are questions about the nature of 2San Global's business — the £47 million dividend paid in 2022, the AUD$738 million in Australian revenues, the £160 million in Medco Solutions admin fees paid to an unidentified recipient. And there is the question of whether the Covid Inquiry has examined these connections in full.
We are not suggesting wrongdoing by Mark Hewlett or anyone named in this investigation. We are pointing to a set of facts and asking whether they have received the scrutiny they warrant.
Disclaimer: This investigation is based on publicly available government contract records, Companies House filings, ASIC records and parliamentary proceedings. It does not allege wrongdoing by any individuals named. Originally published by Brethren Exposed.