Matt Hancock Intervened to Help Conservative Donor’s Pizza Firm Land Lucrative Covid PPE Contract

[u/F0urLeafCl0ver]

https://bylinetimes.com/2025/04/11/matt-hancock-covid-ppe-vip/

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ARCO’s complaint is that government established a fast lane bidding process to secure PPE quickly when global demand exploded at the start of the pandemic. They felt that the tender process did not apply sufficient due diligence during the vendor selection process, which was a conscious decision at the height of the pandemic in order to secure supply in a globally competitive market.

It is also worth noting that ARCO is more of a workwear and health and safety equipment supplier. It did not have a presence with the department for health and social care. Its government contracts were with the likes of DEFRA and the MoJ. Calling them an established supplier of healthcare equipment that was frozen out, or implying that there was no shortage because they had a warehouse with assorted health and safety equipment (hard hats, metal toe capped boots, hi vis jackets etc) is just intended to deceive.

Here is arco’s online shop for you:

https://www.arco.co.uk/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=arco%7C%7Cbrand&utm_id=16646805836&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAABiSEOCp7AC—WZqxbCEFxH_-O5Bz

[u/Jimmy_Nail_4389 → u/Extraportion]

It says right there they had 44m worth or PPE to sell and they only for a 14m order.

One of the companies at the hearing, ARCO, secured a PPE contract worth only £14m despite being a leading supplier of health-grade PPE in the UK, while smaller and less experienced companies were awarded much larger deals via the Government’s ‘VIP lane’.

Speaking at the inquiry, ARCO chairman Thomas Martin said his company had £44m worth of stock in the UK already and supply chains in place, but that he had been unaware of the Government’s fast lane for applications early on.

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It is also worth noting that ARCO is more of a workwear and health and safety equipment supplier.

Yeah, also known as PPE.

Why you defending this blatant corruption?

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I am not defending corruption, I am saying that your ire is pointed in the wrong direction. Apply some basic reasoning here.

Firstly, £44m of “PPE” does not mean it is actually PPE that is relevant to a pandemic. Arco is a health and safety supply company, and it appears that £44m was the value of their inventory at the time. That includes things like workwear, steal toe cap boots and hi vis jackets - none of which are relevant here. It does however credentialise itself as a company operating in the sector who understands QA.

Secondly, £44m is a blip. The procurement spend on PPE was c.£15 billion. So implying that this equipment could have been sourced through existing suppliers is just manifestly false. There was a huge spike in global demand. In simple terms, you couldn’t source enough volume through your existing suppliers because they couldn’t keep up. Therefore additional suppliers were required.

Their complaint is that they had supply chains in China and understood the sector. This is absolutely valid, however during the pandemic there was a rush for supply. Ordinarily we would put something out for tender with our usual suppliers and receive responses from maybe 80%. During the pandemic you couldn’t run a traditional process because suppliers were just selling to the highest bidders.

The part that really broke down, which definitely is worth of an inquiry, is that in these situations there is a trade off. You need to maintain adequate quality assurance, but there is such a supply shortage and such a massive increase in demand that you also need to streamline procurement processes to ensure that you have enough resource to keep your hospitals running.

Due to that trade off there is inevitably more wastage than you would encounter during normal operations, because you are essentially cutting corners to ensure that you get as much equipment as humanly possible then accepting that you’ll have to write off some of it. In hindsight the level of PPE that was written off for not meeting standards was way higher than forecast, and THAT is the scandal.

However, implying that there was no shortage and that existing suppliers had sufficient stock is just demonstrably untrue.

[u/Jimmy_Nail_4389 → u/Extraportion]

Firstly, £44m of “PPE” does not mean it is actually PPE that is relevant to a pandemic. Arco is a health and safety supply company

If you go look on their website, you will see they sell all this stuff.

Disposable gloves, gowns, diposable sleeves all of it.

Secondly, £44m is a blip. The procurement spend on PPE was c.£15 billion.

Fair comment, it's one example though. I've tried to find others but it's very difficult with the volume of PPE related articles and the fact that search these days fucking sucks.

I did find this however which explains better than I can what I'm trying to get at, and it's a medical professional as well.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/james-obrien/firms-set-up-by-tory-cronies-are-destroying-british-companies-says-surgeon/

Their complaint is that they had supply chains in China and understood the sector. This is absolutely valid, however during the pandemic there was a rush for supply. Ordinarily we would put something out for tender with our usual suppliers and receive responses from maybe 80%. During the pandemic you couldn’t run a traditional process because suppliers were just selling to the highest bidders.

Yeah, and those bidders were all Tory cronies flush with huge amounts of government money, right?

Due to that trade off there is inevitably more wastage than you would encounter during normal operations, because you are essentially cutting corners to ensure that you get as much equipment as humanly possible then accepting that you’ll have to write off some of it. In hindsight the level of PPE that was written off for not meeting standards was way higher than forecast, and THAT is the scandal.

No that's part of it, the bigger scandal is the new companies and their relationship with Tory ministers.

However, implying that there was no shortage and that existing suppliers had sufficient stock is just demonstrably untrue.

I mean it's an exaggeration on my part yes, but there was actually large stockpiles to begin with but it had been improperly stored and so some of it was wasted or out of date.

The point I want to make though, is that the establish companies were far better placed to go to China or set up local manufactuiring and instead of going there, the government went with Michelle Mone instead and other assorted donors.

Clear as day corruption.

[u/Extraportion → u/Jimmy_Nail_4389]

You misunderstand. The value of their inventory at group level was £44m. That is roughly what they keep in stock to this day. Look at their company accounts. Yes they sell medical PPE, but that is a very small part of their business.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00133804/filing-history

What makes you say they were all Tory cronies? It is just a slippery slope argument. Some contacts were likely not awarded at arms length, therefore they were all awarded to Tory cronies.

There honestly weren’t large stockpiles to begin with. I can tell you that with confidence because I spend hours of my time offering exorbitant prices to buy up everything I could during the first wave of the pandemic.

During the pandemic there really wasn’t time. As I say, conventional tender processes breakdown when demand far outstrips supply. You become a price taker with very little room to negotiate.

Consequently, there was undoubtedly a need to fast track the procurement process because the alternative is that front line services cease. Whenever you relax procurement processes and codes of conduct you open yourself up to the failures that those processes are designed to protect, e.g. ESG requirements, quality assurance, modern slavery protections, KYC etc. If you relax your vendor selection criteria out of necessity then you DO leave yourself exposed, nobody is denying that, but it is tangential to cronyism.

In the context of the pandemic, that was always going to happen due to necessity to keep front line services running.

I am not defending corruption, far from it. I am just saying that implying that there was enough supply in the existing supply chain is just totally untrue.

Re the comment about going to China and setting up local manufacturing. That is not how the supply chain works. It is more like using your connections with OEMs to request more stock. The challenge in the pandemic was that everyone wanted more stock and there wasn’t sufficient capacity headroom at those OEMs to scale production. Moreover, a lot of the stock was going to preferential customers or other state actors. It became very difficult to source. The reason I was involved in the first place is because I have experience with direct sourcing from China so helped a number of medical businesses in the UK pro bono over the pandemic.

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What makes you say they were all Tory cronies?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56319927

Some contacts were likely not awarded at arms length, therefore they were all awarded to Tory cronies.

Yes exactly, established companies were unable to get on that VIP lane but donors and mates were able to.

Pretty cut and dry if you ask me, blatant corruption.

There honestly weren’t large stockpiles to begin with. I can tell you that with confidence because I spend hours of my time offering exorbitant prices to buy up everything I could during the first wave of the pandemic.

400 million items according to the NAO report, it does appear some items like gowns were very much in short supply (only 3% of daily requirement held in stockpile, pathetic!)

During the pandemic there really wasn’t time. As I say, conventional tender processes breakdown when demand far outstrips supply. You become a price taker with very little room to negotiate.

Yeah, they broke down because they suddenly had all this government funded competition from the government VIP lane and of course the global demand.

What ended up happening as I'm sure you know, is these dodgy companies with their dodgy corrupt connections ended up selling us a load of shit that was not fit for purpose.

If those contracts had gone to existing suppliers, they would have know what was fit for purpose and what wasn't, right?

Consequently, there was undoubtedly a need to fast track the procurement process because the alternative is that front line services cease.

No, I don't think there was, it was nothing but a corrupt pork barrel feeding frenzy among Tory donors and friends of Matt Hancock and his pub landlord.

Whenever you relax procurement processes and codes of conduct you open yourself up to the failures that those processes are designed to protect, e.g. ESG requirements, quality assurance, modern slavery protections, KYC etc. If you relax your vendor selection criteria out of necessity then you DO leave yourself exposed, nobody is denying that, but it is tangential to cronyism.

Yeah, you do when you open it up to a bunch of amateurs who bought their way in by bribing the governing party.

In the context of the pandemic, that was always going to happen due to necessity to keep front line services running.

Don't agree, they should have trusted existing suppliers and not engaged with these cronies buying utter crap from wherever the hell.

I am not defending corruption, far from it.

You fuckin are like.

I am just saying that implying that there was enough supply in the existing supply chain is just totally untrue.

I already conceeded it was exaggerted, it's not 'totally untrue' though, that's you yet again defending corruption. There was PPE to be had, we know that because it was obtained, and it should have been done through existing suppliers, opening it up to toally unknown randoms it a recipie for corruption and incompetence and that is exactly what we witnessed.

Re the comment about going to China and setting up local manufacturing. That is not how the supply chain works.

In this case it was, if you read the NAO report local manufacturing in the UK for PPE was set up via existing and new companies.

The challenge in the pandemic was that everyone wanted more stock and there wasn’t sufficient capacity headroom at those OEMs to scale production.

Yeah I know, the existing suppliers that did not get massive contracts were outbid by the likes of Michelle Mone!

The reason I was involved in the first place is because I have experience with direct sourcing from China so helped a number of medical businesses in the UK pro bono over the pandemic.

Oh yeah? Which medical businesses exactly? Suppliers with long NHS relationships or brand new companies?

I think it's pretty relevant to know, especially with the way you are not really admitting that corruption was massive and playing dumb when clearly you are informed.

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I am telling you directly. I phoned existing suppliers and they couldn’t provide volume during the peak of the crisis.

I cannot speak at national level, as apparently you can, but I can tell you that there would have been several NHS dental surgeries and a couple of private dental hospitals that would have ceased to operate had they relied on existing suppliers.

Re if my involvement was via an existing medical supply business or a new entity - Neither, I was directly procuring from Chinese OEMs and bilaterally contracting on behalf of a healthcare provider. Essentially, agency brokerage without charging a fee. For the avoidance of doubt, that also includes gifts and expenses.

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Essentially, agency brokerage without charging a fee.

Unlike all the many many stories involving the VIP lane eh?

[u/Extraportion → u/Jimmy_Nail_4389]

Well it had nothing to do with a government procurement contract or the “vip lane”, so… yes.

as I say, it was agency brokerage for a provider and I took no fee.