Universal Business Team announced on Monday 28 July 2025, via a series of webinars to Brethren households across the globe, that Campus & Co is closing. The news was met with considerable excitement by many insiders — particularly those who had been giving their time as unpaid volunteers within the business.

We at Brethren Exposed are not surprised. Our analysis below shows precisely why the model was unsustainable once you look past the free labour.

What Campus & Co Is

Campus & Co consists of Brethren-only community retail stores — members of the public cannot shop there. It was originally established to raise funds for OneSchool Global, the PBCC's worldwide schools network. According to the Campus & Co website at the time of closure, the business was operating 247 stores globally with over 9,000 volunteers giving 120,000 hours of their time each month.

Stores
247
Global, Brethren-only
Volunteers
9,000+
Unpaid, monthly
Hours/month
120,000
Equivalent to ~700 full-time employees

The Economics: Why Free Labour Was the Entire Business Case

We analysed accounts for UK Education Trusts managing Campus & Co stores in the UK, and obtained overall sales data for Australia. Based on this, our estimate of Campus & Co's global performance is as follows:

Metric Estimate Notes
Estimated annual global sales £60-75m Based on UK trust accounts and Australian sales data
Volunteer hours per month 120,000 hrs From Campus & Co website
Equivalent full-time employees ~700 At standard working hours
Estimated annual profit (with free labour) £10-15m Implied volunteer value: ~£7-10/hour
Estimated position (if paid £12/hr minimum wage) Significant loss ~£17m/yr labour cost at £12/hr eliminates all profit

The conclusion is stark. Campus & Co was profitable only because its workforce worked for nothing. Brethren members were, in effect, donating their time at an implied rate of £7 to £10 per hour to fund the PBCC's education system. Apply even the UK minimum wage to those hours and the business loses millions every year. The closure is not surprising. The more interesting question is why it took this long.

"Campus & Co was profitable only because its staff worked for free. At minimum wage, it was losing millions."

Brethren Exposed Investigation — July 2025

The Funding Gap: £10-15 Million for OneSchool Global

The OneSchool Global Funding Gap
£10-15 million
The estimated annual profit from Campus & Co that was flowing to fund OneSchool Global will now need to be replaced from elsewhere. How?
Two suggestions have reached us. First: the Hales family could put their hands in their pockets. Given the wealth involved, this would cover it comfortably — but we consider it highly unlikely. Second: the Vision Fund could start charging market commercial interest rates on its loans to Brethren-connected businesses instead of the preferential rates currently applied. This would more than cover the gap. We equally doubt this will happen.

Questions the Announcement Left Unanswered

The announcement raised more questions than it answered for the thousands of members directly affected.

What happens to the properties in which the stores are located? Will Brethren members who lease their premises to Campus & Co be compensated for early termination?
Will there be fire sales to clear Campus & Co stock? At what price, and to whom will it be sold?
What happens to the UBT employees who manage and run the Campus & Co business centrally?
Will we see further redundancies of non-Brethren employees — as has already been seen elsewhere in the UBT structure?
What will Brethren women — who make up the majority of the volunteer workforce — do with the time that has been donated to Campus & Co, in some cases for years?

A Pattern of Contraction

Broader UBT Context

The closure of Campus & Co follows a visible pattern of contraction within the PBCC's commercial structure. UBT Accountants Australia has already been closed. UBT Accountants New Zealand has changed ownership and is now effectively operated by a single sole trader. The March 2024 ATO raid on the Sydney Olympic Park premises — where UBT, GAP Global and multiple Hales family companies are registered — sits in the background of all of these decisions.

Whether these closures represent a strategic restructuring, a response to regulatory pressure, or a genuine loss of control at the centre of the Ecosystem is a question the closure of Campus & Co makes harder to avoid asking.

The announcement was made via webinar on a Monday morning. 247 stores. 9,000 volunteers. Years of unpaid labour. Closed. The brethren members who gave their time will not be receiving a dividend from the profits their work generated. OneSchool Global will need to find another funding source. And Bruce Hales — routinely described as a Sydney-based businessman — will need to explain to his flock how the business model he oversaw turned out to be entirely dependent on them working for nothing.

Disclaimer: Financial estimates are based on UK Education Trust accounts and Australian sales data obtained by Brethren Exposed, and are clearly labelled as estimates. This investigation does not allege wrongdoing by any individuals or organisations named. Originally published by Brethren Exposed, July 2025.