One of our earliest investigations, first published February 2022. The central question: who referred a global interior design firm with no PPE experience to the government VIP lane, leading to £680 million in DHSC contracts? It has since been widely reported that the referral was made by Michael Gove, Cabinet Office Minister. The investigation that asked the question — and what followed.
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. By the time this Part 1 investigation was published in February 2022, we had identified 54 companies and contracts totalling over £2.2 billion. The question that drove the investigation was not just which companies won — it was how.
In March 2020, as the UK entered its first lockdown, the government implemented emergency procurement procedures to secure PPE without competitive tender. As part of this, a VIP channel was established — companies referred into it by ministers or senior officials received preferential treatment in the procurement process. One of those companies was Unispace Global: a global interior design firm that had never won a government contract.
Unispace Global was incorporated in July 2011 by brothers-in-law Cyril Parsons and Garth Woodcock as Jemc Ltd. By September 2014, the majority shareholder was Australian company Unispace Global PTY Ltd — owned by Gareth and Charles Hales, sons of PBCC leader Bruce Hales. The company grew substantially, reaching £87 million turnover in 2019 with clients including Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, PwC, Microsoft and Pfizer. It had never supplied PPE, government departments, or healthcare clients.
In March 2020, following referral to the VIP channel, Unispace was awarded seven contracts totalling almost £680 million:
We believe Gloves4u Ltd — a Leeds-based glove supplier owned at the time by PBCC elder Garth Christie and his son Neil, with a 5% stake held by Ralph Green (who would later sit in Sante Global LLP alongside the Hales brothers) — was the conduit that provided the Asian supply chain contacts through which the glove contracts were delivered. In March 2021, the Hales brothers took an 85% stake in Gloves4u, with Ralph Green retaining 15%. The evidence points to the main beneficiaries of the PPE contracts being the sons of Bruce Hales.
The Unispace worldwide business was simultaneously being prepared for sale to Hong Kong investment firm Pacific Alliance Group (PAG). Towards the end of 2020, the £680 million in PPE contracts were moved from Unispace into a newly formed entity: Sante Global LLP, incorporated 28 May 2020 as Unispace Health Products. Partners: Charles Hales, Gareth Hales, Sebastian Parsons (250 Management Ltd), Anthony Hazell (Devon Advisory Ltd) and Ralph Green (Sante Property Ltd). Unispace was sold to PAG in early 2021. The contracts remained with Sante.
A further contract — less visible on the Government Contract Finder unless opened directly — was awarded on 5 September 2021 to a supplier group including Sante Global LLP and Harrogate-based Sterilab Services (Frizelle family, PBCC). Value: £271,500,000 for lateral flow tests. This brings the Unispace/Sante/Sterilab combined total to £950 million.
The PBCC's successful 2013 Charity Commission appeal — which secured charitable status for PBCC gospel halls — was heavily backed by Conservative MPs. The church actively lobbied parliament, and the relationship between PBCC members and Conservative politicians pre-dates the pandemic.
Brethren businessmen are documented as active lobbyists of their local MPs at constituency level. The 2013 Westminster event saw a large number of Conservative MPs attend alongside PBCC members. Peter Green (Nexon SCM, Lincoln) — father of Ralph Green of Sante Global — was photographed at the event alongside his local MP. The promotional video featuring Owen Paterson and Robert Halfon speaking in supportive terms about the PBCC circulated widely within the church community.