Bruce Hales is based in Sydney, Australia and is the leader of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), also known as the Exclusive Brethren. He is attributed with stating that the Brethren must "spoil the Egyptians" — a phrase which ex-Brethren members claim means ensuring the community takes its spoils from governments.
The Brethren, with a membership of approximately 56,000 worldwide, have seen their members build a huge global commercial enterprise turning over £22 billion (AUS $43 billion) in 2023. The secretive sect was one of the biggest winners from the global Covid pandemic — a story of which only fragments have been reported by the mainstream media.
This investigation exposes how the biggest Brethren winners from Covid were the family of Bruce Hales himself, and how they are now pursuing £100 million or more from the UK Government through the courts over one terminated contract.
Gareth Hales, Charles Hales and Dean Hales — three sons of Bruce Hales — run companies that did not exist before Covid. Since their incorporation in 2020, those companies have been involved in contracts worth a minimum of £2.575 billion.
The Hales Covid Contract Companies
The following companies are directly owned or controlled by members of the Hales family:
- Sante Global LLP (UK) — 99% shareholders Charles & Gareth Hales
- Sante Global PTY Ltd (Australia) — 50% each Charles & Gareth Hales
- Sante USA LLC (USA)
- Sante Group Ltd (New Zealand) — 50% each Charles & Gareth Hales
- 2San PTY Ltd (Australia) — main shareholder Dean Hales
- 2San Global Ltd (UK) — shareholders include Dean Hales
- 2San ApS (Denmark) — shareholders include Dean Hales
- Medco Solutions PTY Ltd (Australia) — main shareholder Dean Hales
- Medco Solutions LLC (USA) — main shareholder Dean Hales
Additionally, the following companies are linked to the Hales Covid contract companies:
- Mornington 2000 LLP t/a Sterilab Services (UK)
- Westlab PTY Ltd (Australia)
- Coulmed Products Group LLC (USA)
- Core Supply Group B.V. (Netherlands)
- Medco Solutions Ltd (UK)
- Coshield Global Ltd (UK)
- Coshield Global Trading Limited (New Zealand)
Covid Contracts — Verified Awards
In total, the companies owned or linked to the Hales were awarded contracts worth £2.575 billion. These are contracts we can verify — we are confident that further contracts were awarded in Australia and Denmark which we have been unable to verify at the time of publication. The figures below do not include the £700 million worth of contracts awarded to other Brethren-owned companies in the UK, nor contracts awarded to Brethren companies in other countries. These are solely contracts linked directly to the Hales family.
* Calculated on reported 38 million tests supplied at the reported average price of NZ $9 per test.
Company Accounts
Through various sources including Companies House in the UK and the Australian Tax Office, we have been able to substantiate reported turnover for several of the Hales companies:
With the exception of Westlab, all of the above companies were set up at the start of the pandemic. Notably, the combined income from these accounts alone equals almost £3 billion — significantly higher than the verified contract values for the same companies — and this figure excludes accounts for Sante USA LLC, Mornington 2000 LLP, Core Supply Group B.V. and Coulmed Products Group, and uses only partial accounts for Westlab and 2San PTY Ltd.
The story of the Hales and their contract wins across the globe is under-reported. Company accounts are showing companies that combined have turned over billions — and they are quite clearly linked.
Open & Candid
The £100 Million UK Court Case
There is a court case currently progressing through the UK courts in which the claimants — Sante Global LLP and Mornington 2000 LLP t/a Sterilab Services — are seeking £100 million from the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for the termination of a £271 million lateral flow test contract. They are also seeking further damages for being prevented from tendering for the contract once it had been terminated.
What is particularly notable is that the terminated contract (C22033) was one shared with Medco Solutions Ltd. It is therefore possible that when the Sante Global contract was terminated, Medco Solutions — owned by Dean Hales, brother of Gareth and Charles — picked up additional orders, meaning the Hales family as a whole may not have lost as much as it might appear.
UKHSA Staff Movement to 2San Global
In August 2020, Mark Hewlett was employed on a 12-month fixed-term contract as Director of Testing for the UK Government's Test & Trace department, later renamed the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). In February 2021, he answered questions alongside Baroness Harding before a government committee. His contract was extended and he became the highest-paid director on the UKHSA executive board, with a salary of £220,000.
In March 2022, Hewlett left his UKHSA role. Within five weeks, he had taken on the position of CEO of 2San Global, starting the week commencing 11th April 2022. His first week was spent in Sydney — home to the Hales empire of Medco Solutions, Sante Global and 2San. In the following six months, 2San Global employed at least ten more people from the UKHSA Test & Trace team, including several senior employees. The estimated annual cost of these employees exceeded £1 million. In their 2022 annual report, 2San Global stated an average headcount of 15 — in practice, they had employed Hewlett's former Test & Trace team to run the business.
We are not suggesting that Mark Hewlett or anyone else involved acted improperly. However, it is striking that the team likely involved in awarding testing contracts subsequently went to work for companies with deep connections to major testing contract winners — 2San, Medco Solutions and Sante Global. Since this story was first reported, Mark Hewlett has blocked the author on all forms of social media and is no longer employed by 2San.
Linking the Companies
The link between Sante Global and 2San is via the Hales brothers directly. At the time of the testing contract awards, the company or shareholders of Sante Global PTY Ltd, Medco Solutions PTY Ltd and 2San PTY Ltd were all registered at the same address: 2a Hope Street, Ermington, NSW 2115 — the home of the Hales empire in Sydney.
Westlab PTY Ltd's connection to Sante Global was evidenced on both companies' websites, which stated they had worked together to win the Australian testing contracts. Core Supply Group B.V. was formerly Ox Tools Netherlands — Ox Tools being owned by Dean Hales — and the Sante Global website used the Core Supply Group contract with the Dutch Government Health Department as one of its case studies. Coulmed Products Group LLC follows the same pattern, with Sante Global citing Coulmed's US Department of Defence contract win as a case study on their website.
The Medco Solutions Ltd connection to Dean Hales and 2San is evidenced by the fact that Dean Hales owns Medco Solutions PTY Ltd, Medco Solutions LLC and 2San PTY Ltd. The directors of Medco Solutions Ltd are brothers Ross and Luke Robertson, who are also directors and shareholders alongside Dean Hales in Meraki Global Investments Ltd, registered at the same address as Medco Solutions Ltd. Ross Robertson was previously an employee of Charles and Gareth Hales at Unispace Global until March 2020.
On the New Zealand companies register, Coshield Global Trading Limited shows its ultimate holding company as Sturli Brands Global Trading Limited. At the time of the New Zealand government contract, the shareholders of Sturli Brands were various UBT entities (the Brethren's central business organisation) and Dean Hales.
Final Thoughts
The decision by Sante Global to pursue the DHSC in the UK courts is surprising given the hundreds of millions in profits already made from pandemic contracts by the Hales companies. It could reasonably be viewed as aggressive, particularly given that the UK taxpayer — who funded all of the UK contracts — could ultimately face a further bill of £100 million or more for a terminated contract.
The broader story of the Hales family's contract wins across the globe remains significantly under-reported. Combined company accounts show turnover of billions, and the connections between the companies are clearly established. Several further questions remain unanswered: were other Brethren-owned companies awarded contracts buying their stock directly from manufacturers, or were they sourcing through the Hales companies? And did the relationship between Anthony Hazell and Michael Gove enable Sante Global's access to the UK Government's VIP procurement lane?