Contracts · Business · Politics
Accora: A Clinical Bed Supplier Wins £18.7 Million for Covid Testing — Referred to the VIP Lane by Lord Lansley
Published December 2020 — the first investigation to name a specific VIP referrer. Accora Ltd, a Cambridge clinical bed and seating supplier owned by the PBCC Drake family, won an £18.7 million DHSC contract for Covid laboratory testing via the Test and Trace VIP channel. The referral came from Lord Lansley — former Secretary of State for Health. Timothy Drake had previously organised PBCC members' political support for Lansley when he was MP for South Cambridgeshire. Testing was conducted at an undisclosed location in Europe.
Published 24 December 2020
Source Brethren Exposed / Open & Candid
Category Contracts · Business · Politics
Read time 6 min
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Early investigation — 24 December 2020. One of the very first Brethren Exposed articles. Published before any mainstream UK coverage of PBCC Covid contracts. The Lansley referral named here made this the first documented instance of a specific politician referring a PBCC company to the Test and Trace VIP channel.
Accora Ltd is a Cambridge-based company owned by the Drake family — Timothy, Anthony, Laurie, Nicholas and Samuel Drake, all Plymouth Brethren members. Its business is clinical seating, beds and mattresses for the NHS and care sector. It had won a previous contract to supply ward beds to the Louisa Jordan NHS Nightingale Hospital in Glasgow without competitive tender (£248,200). In late 2020, it won something very different.
The Contract
Accora Ltd — DHSC Laboratory Testing Contract
£18,729,060
Purpose
Laboratory testing facilities, testing equipment, consumables, personnel and diagnostic (RT-PCR) Covid-19 testing with report delivery
Route
Test & Trace VIP channel — negotiated procedure without prior publication
Referred by
Lord Lansley — former Secretary of State for Health (2010–2012) · former Conservative MP, South Cambridgeshire (1997–2015)
Published
26 November 2020
Period
24 October — 8 December 2020
Testing location
Undisclosed location in Europe — not in the United Kingdom
Accora had no prior history of providing laboratory testing services. A bed and seating supplier was awarded an £18.7 million contract for RT-PCR Covid diagnostic testing via a channel designed for companies with urgent supply capability. The testing it delivered was not conducted in the UK but at an undisclosed location in Europe.
The Lord Lansley Connection
The VIP referral source for Accora is specifically documented: Lord Lansley, formerly Andrew Lansley, Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Health from 2010 to 2012 under David Cameron. He was the architect of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. He was made a life peer in 2015.
The Lansley — Drake Connection
Andrew Lansley was Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2015. The Drakes are a PBCC family based in the Cambridge area.
Timothy Drake was reported by ex-Brethren members in the Cambridge area to have been responsible for PBCC political activities in the constituency — specifically organising PBCC members to post leaflets on behalf of Lansley when he was the local MP.
In 2020, Lord Lansley referred Accora Ltd — the Drake family company — to the Test and Trace VIP procurement channel. The referral resulted in an £18.7 million DHSC contract.
The PBCC does not vote. Its members' political involvement is restricted to activities that do not require voting — including leafleting, donations and lobbying. The Drake family's prior support for Lansley falls within this pattern.
TMVO Ltd — The PBCC Campaign Organisation
TMVO Ltd (now dissolved) was a company where several Drake family members, including Timothy Drake, were directors. It was registered with the Electoral Commission as a Non-Party Campaigner (third-party campaign organisation) in 2005 — a somewhat unusual registration given that Plymouth Brethren members are prohibited from voting by church doctrine. Records show TMVO received donations of just under £10,000 and had total campaign spending of £24,000. Non-party campaigners can spend money on campaign activities without standing candidates — including leafleting, direct mail and issue advertising. TMVO appears to be a documented instance of the PBCC conducting political activities through a formally registered structure.
The Drake Family's PBCC Roles
The Drake family's position within the PBCC is consistent with their business success. Multiple family members hold trustee roles at Cambridgeshire meeting room charities and the PBCC school network:
Timothy Drake
Trustee, Causeway Gospel Hall Trust, Cambridge · Accora director · TMVO Ltd director
Anthony Drake
Trustee, Mowbray Gospel Hall Trust, Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire · Accora director
Samuel Drake
Director, Onebus Ltd (OneSchool Global UK subsidiary) · Trustee, Beechwood Education Trust (Biggleswade OneSchool fundraiser)
Laurie & Nicholas Drake
Accora directors · Nicholas: trustee, Radegund Gospel Hall Trust, Cambridge
What Came After
The £18.7 million contract ran from October to December 2020. In April 2021, Accora was added to the National Microbiology Framework agreement alongside other suppliers — a framework with a total value of £15 billion. Inclusion in a framework of that scale represents a substantial expansion of Accora's government supplier footprint beyond its core clinical bed business.
Accora appears in the PBCC Rich List as Uphall Cambridge Ltd — ranked third by assets with £20.7 million in net assets and £36.7 million turnover in 2021. Shareholder funds had more than doubled from £9.2 million in 2019. The Rich List investigation notes Accora's contracts as a "Covid testing facilities" award via the VIP channel and Lord Lansley as the referrer.
Disclaimer: All contract details are from UK Government Contract Finder. Lord Lansley's role as VIP referrer is documented in public contract records. The account of Timothy Drake's political organising activities is sourced from ex-Brethren members in the Cambridge area and is presented as reported. TMVO Ltd's registration with the Electoral Commission is a matter of public record. Originally published by Brethren Exposed, 24 December 2020.
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