Origin Packaging Limited is a pharma packaging company based in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, with manufacturing operations in Scunthorpe and laboratories in Hull. According to their website, the business started in 1963. Companies House shows it was incorporated in its current form in 2009 with Tim Pocock as sole founding director, with Keith Wade and Joseph Pocock joining the following year.

In the financial year before the pandemic, Origin turned over approximately £14 million. By late 2020 they had been awarded £121 million in DHSC Covid contracts — an 8-fold increase on their entire annual revenue — via the Test and Trace VIP procurement channel, without open competition.

The Two Contracts

Contract Value & Purpose Dates
Contract 1 — DHSC
Published 26 Nov 2020
£115,752,000
Supply of saline filled tubes and funnels for COVID-19 Testing (Operation Moonshot). Awarded unadvertised via negotiated procedure without prior publication.
Start: 8 Mar 2021
End: 4 Mar 2022
Delivery unconfirmed
Contract 2 — DHSC
Published 10 Dec 2020
£5,320,000
Provision of Virus Testing Supplies to support the UK COVID-19 Testing Strategy. This contract appears to have been delivered.
Start: 24 Jun 2020
End: 15 Jan 2021
Total £121,072,000

Both contracts were awarded under the negotiated procedure without prior publication — the mechanism used when, in the government's view, only one supplier is capable of meeting the requirement, or where extreme urgency from unforeseen events justifies bypassing open competition. Contract 1 — the £115 million Operation Moonshot contract — was awarded via the Test and Trace VIP channel.

The Operation Moonshot Mystery

The £115 million contract is where this investigation becomes unusual. In April 2021 — as the contract supply period was commencing — local Conservative MP David Davis visited Origin's Scunthorpe premises and publicly highlighted the company's investment and contribution to the pandemic response. Origin had clearly invested heavily in new facilities and laboratory upgrades in anticipation of the contract.

But when we examined Origin's accounts over the three years following the contract award, we could find no evidence in their turnover figures that the £115 million contract was ever delivered. A company turning over £14 million per year that delivers a £115 million public sector contract should show that clearly in its accounts. It does not.

The Unanswered Questions
If the contract was not delivered, why is there no evidence of compensation payments to Origin for their capital investment in facilities and stock?
If the contract was cancelled, why is there no press coverage — particularly given the high-profile MP visit during the supply period?
If Origin failed to deliver, why were they then included in a £3 billion framework agreement just weeks after the contract end date?
Why does Origin's related company Snappd share the same Australian business address as Medco Solutions — another major Covid contract winner connected to Dean Hales?

A comment in reply to David Davis's Facebook post about his premises visit appeared to confirm that the contract was not completed. Since starting this investigation, a further source has indicated that the Origin contract was cancelled alongside a number of other Operation Moonshot contracts awarded by the government — suggesting the issue may have been government-side rather than Origin's failure to deliver.

"A company with £14 million annual turnover was awarded £115 million via the VIP channel. Three years of accounts show no evidence it was delivered. They were then added to a £3 billion framework."

Brethren Exposed Investigation — Updated 2023

The December 2023 Legal Proceedings

Update — December 2023
Origin Packaging began legal proceedings against the Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care in December 2023. The nature of the claim has not been confirmed publicly but is believed to relate to the cancelled £115 million contract. This may explain the absence of any compensation payment in earlier accounts — proceedings were apparently pursued rather than a negotiated settlement.

The Director Network

Origin Packaging's connections to the wider PBCC Covid contract network run through its directors and shared companies. Tim Pocock is the most significant node.

Tim Pocock — Managing Director, Origin Packaging
Also a director of OnemediUK Ltd — the PBCC private healthcare company. His co-directors in OnemediUK include Bruce Hazell (uncle of Anthony Hazell of Unispace, which won ~£670m in PPE contracts), Doug Cowie (linked to Orcagel, Oska Care and Creative Activity Ltd — Covid contract winners), and Ben Turner (whose company Toffeln won the first PBCC DHSC contract; whose son Tom Turner is the partner of ex-MP Michelle Donelan).
Keith Wade — Director, Origin Packaging
Cousin of Lydia Turner (née Wade), who works at Stronghold Global — Tom Turner's employer, whose registered address briefly transferred to the UBT office in Warwick in May 2020. Lydia Turner is also a relative of Keith Wade, who is a director of Origin Packaging — completing a circle between the Origin and Donelan/Turner networks.

Tim Pocock was also previously a director of Edutrade Humber — a company set up to support OneSchool Global's Ridgeway Campus in Scunthorpe, operating under the Campus & Co banner. The co-directors of Edutrade Humber reveal further connections to the PBCC Covid contract network.

Ralph Green — Edutrade Humber
Director of Sante Trading (formerly Unispace Health) and Gloves4U — both connected to the PBCC PPE contract network.
Gavin Sellars — Edutrade Humber
Director of Lindum Packaging — another PBCC-connected Covid contract winner.
Peter Green — Edutrade Humber
Director of Nexon Healthcare, which attended a Covid-related meeting with Health Minister Helen Whately MP in May 2020 alongside Blueleaf — another PBCC-connected business.
Graham Hazell — Edutrade Humber
Director of Stonegate Tooling, which shares the same business address as Origin Packaging. Graham Hazell is a cousin of Anthony Hazell of Unispace/Sante Global — which won approximately £670 million in PPE contracts via the VIP lane.

The Snappd / Medco Australian Address

Shared Australian Address
Snappd — an Origin Packaging related company — shares the same Australian business address as Medco Solutions Pty Ltd, owned by Dean Hales. Medco Solutions won £1 billion in UK Covid testing contracts. The shared address adds Origin Packaging to the network of PBCC-connected companies with Australian address links — alongside 2San and Sante Global at 2a Hope Street, Ermington.
Disclaimer: This investigation is based on publicly available contract records, Companies House filings and published social media posts. It does not allege wrongdoing by any named individuals. The cancellation of Operation Moonshot contracts was a government decision affecting multiple suppliers; this investigation documents the Origin Packaging contract in that context. Originally published by Brethren Exposed, December 2020. Updated October 2023 and December 2023.