The full investigation into how 100 Plymouth Brethren-connected companies won over £2.6 billion in UK Covid contracts. Part 1 covers Unispace Global and Sante Global (£950 million). Part 2 covers Medco Solutions (£772 million) and the web of family and corporate connections tying both to Bruce Hales and his sons. Part 3 profiles the connected companies whose combined contracts add a further £570 million.
When we launched in 2020 one of the first stories we covered was the remarkable number of Covid contracts awarded to members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. Over time more contracts were published and more PBCC-connected companies emerged. We calculate that contracts have been awarded to at least 64 directly identified companies and that the total — including framework agreements and recommended-supplier lists — now exceeds £2.6 billion.
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is led by one man: Bruce D Hales, known within the church as the Elect Vessel or Man of God. Hales has led the church since 2002, taking over from his father John Hales. The Brethren have built a network of businesses across Australia, the UK, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Argentina. Our research has identified over 1,000 listed Brethren entities in the UK alone. As we investigated each of the companies winning contracts, a clear hierarchy emerged — and every major contract winner connects back to Bruce Hales and his family.
Companies connected to Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members that won UK Government or Regional Government Covid contracts, were part of framework agreements, or were included on national or local government recommended-supplier lists. Total value approximately £2.6 billion.
At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Unispace Global was a global interior design business. It had been incorporated in July 2011 by brothers-in-law Cyril Parsons and Garth Woodcock, initially as Jemc Ltd. By September 2014 the ownership had been restructured: the largest shareholder was now Australian company Unispace Global PTY Ltd — holding a 51% stake — owned by brothers Gareth and Charles Hales, sons of PBCC leader Bruce Hales. The remaining shares sat with Garth Woodcock (19.5%), Anthony Hazell (19.5%), Dale Woodcock (5%) and Sebastian Parsons (5%).
From 2015 to 2019 the business grew substantially, with turnover rising from £12 million to £87 million and net assets from £3.7 million to £26 million. Clients included Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, Ernst & Young, PwC, Microsoft and Pfizer. In 2018 there were rumours the business could be sold. In 2019 turnover returned to growth and profits recovered to £10 million. Then the pandemic arrived.
Unispace Global had no prior history of winning government contracts. Via the Test and Trace VIP procurement channel — the referral source listed as a generic Government Commercial Function mailbox — the office interior design company became one of the largest PPE suppliers in the country. Seven contracts were awarded:
At the time of the contracts, multiple Unispace-named entities existed — all PBCC-owned except Unispace Ltd itself. Understanding which entity held each contract, and why, requires tracing the full corporate family:
Towards the end of 2020, as the worldwide Unispace business was being prepared for sale to Hong Kong investment company Pacific Alliance Group (PAG), the £680 million PPE contracts were moved from Unispace into the newly formed Sante Global LLP. Unispace was sold to PAG early in 2021. Sante Global LLP accounts for the period to 31 March 2021 showed turnover of £731 million with a pre-tax profit of £84 million.
The question of how an office interior design company became a mass PPE supplier leads to Gloves4u Ltd, a Leeds-based supplier of rubber and medical gloves. At the start of the pandemic Gloves4u was owned by Garth Christie (a church elder and one of the PBCC's frontmen for the 2013 Charity Commission appeal) and his son Neil, with Don and Ralph Green each retaining a 5% stake. Ralph Green is the same Ralph Green who sits in Sante Global LLP alongside the Hales brothers.
In March 2021, the Hales brothers took an 85% share in Gloves4u, with Ralph Green taking 15%. It would appear that Gloves4u — with its existing supply chain contacts in Asia — was the conduit through which the gloves contracts were delivered. The main beneficiaries of the PPE contracts were the sons of Bruce Hales.
There is a further contract awarded by DHSC under the Sante Global LLP name that does not readily appear when searching the Government Contract Finder. It is only by opening the contract document itself that Sante Global LLP appears as part of the supplier group — alongside Sterilab Services, the Harrogate-based lateral flow test supplier owned by the PBCC Frizelle family.
The contract, for lateral flow tests, was awarded on 5 September 2021 and published on 16 September 2021. Its value is £271,500,000. Adding this to the £680 million won under the Unispace name gives a combined total for Unispace/Sante Global of £950 million — making it one of the largest recipients of DHSC contracts in the pandemic. Only two PBCC companies won contracts for both PPE and lateral flow tests: Unispace/Sante and Medco Solutions.
On 26 March 2020 — six days into the UK's first lockdown — brothers Ross Robertson and Luke Robertson incorporated Medco Solutions Ltd. At that moment: Ross was Principal, Global Enterprise Accounts at Unispace Global. Luke had been employed for over seven years at Office Principles Ltd, owned by Cyril Parsons — the co-founder of Unispace.
Within six weeks of incorporation, Medco Solutions won its first contract. Within three months it had won £84 million in PPE contracts. Over four subsequent contracts it was awarded £688 million to supply FlowFlex lateral flow tests. Total: £772 million.
"Within six weeks of incorporation, a company that had previously been a distributor for a Swedish gynaecology business won £84 million in government PPE contracts."
Research into the Robertson brothers' LinkedIn profiles reveals unexplained gaps. Ross's current profile shows him as CEO of Medco Solutions since March 2020 and part-time CEO of "OGP Investments" since 2010 — yet Oxford Gate Properties Ltd (which the OGP initials likely reference) was only incorporated in September 2020. A previous LinkedIn profile showing his Unispace Global employment appears to have been deleted.
Luke's primary profile shows him as COO of Medco Solutions since March 2020 and previously Commercial Director of APL Discovery in Malmö since 2010 (his wife is Swedish). A second LinkedIn profile under "Luke R" makes no mention of Medco but does show Snaffle Solutions and Office Principles. Neither profile confirms their prior Unispace and Parsons connections.
Medco Solutions employees include Lee Hazell as Commercial Director and Myles Woodcock as Sales Director — both sons of the families that founded and built Unispace Global.
Eight further companies with close connections to either Unispace/Sante Global or Medco Solutions won a combined total of £570 million from the DHSC. Each is profiled below. Some connect to yet more contract winners, creating a network that becomes difficult to fully map without specialist tools.
Grimsby-based Agile Medical won contracts worth £233,000 for ventilator consumables and £18.4 million to supply ventilators to Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital Trust. Prior to the pandemic the company had just three employees. It is owned by the Glass family — Chris and Anita Glass (née Hathorn) and their son Conran.
Chris Glass is the brother-in-law of Garth Woodcock (Unispace co-founder) and the uncle of Anthony Hazell (Unispace/Sante). His wife Anita's brother is Charles Hathorn, whose directorships connect to Sante Global LLP, Techniclean, Oska Care, Medco Solutions, Bryson Products, Arrow County Supplies, Toffeln, Occura, GDC Healthcare and Blueleaf — a further ten PBCC contract winners. Chris Glass's brothers own Stirling Medical & Scientific; one brother is married to one of Garth Woodcock's sisters. In total Chris and Anita Glass connect via family and directorships to 12 further PBCC companies that won Covid contracts.
Harrogate-based Sterilab Services (later relocated to Wetherby) won over £280 million in testing-related contracts, including the £271.5 million lateral flow test contract in the supplier group with Sante Global LLP. It is owned by the Frizelle family.
Sterilab's origins trace to South Africa. The PBCC maintained a congregation there until 1999, when following the murder of a church member, then-leader John Hales called on members to relocate to safer countries. The Frizelle family resettled in Harrogate. Other families who relocated to the UK at that time include the Beatties (Dolphin Solutions) and Mark Hynd (Bexwell Estates, formerly Edulab). Mark Hynd worked with Ken Frizelle at Sterilab in South Africa for several years.
Two Sterilab employees — Wade Melvin (Operations) and Scott Haughton (Client Relations) — appear on LinkedIn as employees of the Sante Group, and also in the Meet the Team section of the Sterilab website. The operational overlap between Sterilab and Sante Global is substantial.
Londonderry-based Ascot Signs won £2.79 million in contracts to supply visors — £2.29 million from DHSC and £500,000 from a hospital trust. The company is owned by the White family and by Roger Parsons — the brother of Cyril Parsons (Unispace co-founder) and the uncle of Sebastian Parsons (Sante Global).