Department for Health & Social Care
Testing Contract(s): Thriva
An Open & Candid Investigation - December 2023 (Summary added September 2024)
Contents
- Background
- Political Connections
- Summary
Background
Thriva are a healthcare company, a tech company doing testing. Awarded contracts via the VIP route worth £64 million by the DHSC. A start up that have raised funds through investors, Thriva have strong political connections..
Thriva are a healthcare company, a tech company doing testing. Awarded contracts via the VIP route worth £64 million by the DHSC. A start up that have raised funds through investors, Thriva have strong political connections..
Political Connections
Investors in Thriva include Guinness Asset Management (GAM) holding 10.6% of the shares. Increasing their shareholdings in May 2020 Guinness Asset Management (GAM) was formed by Tim Guinness in 2003. Prior to that Guinness had co-founded Guinness Flight in the 80's alongside the now Lord Flight.
There is no mention of Lord Flight on the GAM website, however his Lords register of interests show that Lord Flight is a paid member of the investment committee for Guinness EIS. (the investment part of GAM).
One would wonder if the investment committee were involved in the Thriva investment decision?
Lord Flight is a former Conservative MP and a former deputy chairman of the Conservative party. He is also on the advisory boards for the Think Tanks, The Institute of Economic Affairs and the Centre for Policy Studies.
The connections between Thriva and the Lords doesn't end with Lord Flight. Thriva had a meeting with Lord Bethell on 20th May 2020, regarding Covid testing. Lord Bethell was a minister at the DHSC in 2020 and was involved in Test & Trace.
Another investor owning 5.2% of Thriva is Pembroke VCT. One of their directors is Tory MP Jonathan Djanogly. Pembroke VCT Chief Exec is Andrew Wolfson, younger brother of Conservative Lord & large political donor Simon Wolfson (of Next Plc), who also shows on his register of interests as having shares in Pembroke VCT.
Thriva were awarded their first covid contract worth £64 million in August 2020, via the without competition covid contract award procedure. Thriva had 'self-referred' to the VIP route. DHSC records show £46.3 million spend with Thriva between November 2020 and September 2021. UKHSA records show £53 million spend between November 2021 and August 2022.
Thriva won a second testing contact worth £124 million in July 2021, this was via an open procedure. Lord Bethell again met with Thriva, this time with Dundee University representatives in September 2021.
Thriva also appointed director Colin Malloy between September 2021 and April 2023. Malloy is better known as the man behind the Medicine Discovery Catapult Team, the lab testing facility used during the pandemic. It is worth noting that Thriva don't do their own testing, they outsource, essentially they are a Tech company.
In February 2023, Thriva appointed a further two members of the Lords to their advisory board. Baroness Blackwood is a former Conservative MP & was appointed chair and Lord O'Shaughnessy being a former advisor to David Cameron when he was Prime Minister.
We are not suggesting anything untoward by any of the parties named above.
We are highlighting that over 15% of Thriva is owned by investors that are clearly linked to Conservative Lords. The Guinness Asset Management & The Pembroke VCT investments have both seen significant increases in their value since the Covid contract awards.
It is also worth noting that the DHSC contracts spend, accounts for circa 80% of Thriva turnover for the last 3 years!
Investors in Thriva include Guinness Asset Management (GAM) holding 10.6% of the shares. Increasing their shareholdings in May 2020 Guinness Asset Management (GAM) was formed by Tim Guinness in 2003. Prior to that Guinness had co-founded Guinness Flight in the 80's alongside the now Lord Flight.
There is no mention of Lord Flight on the GAM website, however his Lords register of interests show that Lord Flight is a paid member of the investment committee for Guinness EIS. (the investment part of GAM).
One would wonder if the investment committee were involved in the Thriva investment decision?
Lord Flight is a former Conservative MP and a former deputy chairman of the Conservative party. He is also on the advisory boards for the Think Tanks, The Institute of Economic Affairs and the Centre for Policy Studies.
The connections between Thriva and the Lords doesn't end with Lord Flight. Thriva had a meeting with Lord Bethell on 20th May 2020, regarding Covid testing. Lord Bethell was a minister at the DHSC in 2020 and was involved in Test & Trace.
Another investor owning 5.2% of Thriva is Pembroke VCT. One of their directors is Tory MP Jonathan Djanogly. Pembroke VCT Chief Exec is Andrew Wolfson, younger brother of Conservative Lord & large political donor Simon Wolfson (of Next Plc), who also shows on his register of interests as having shares in Pembroke VCT.
Thriva were awarded their first covid contract worth £64 million in August 2020, via the without competition covid contract award procedure. Thriva had 'self-referred' to the VIP route. DHSC records show £46.3 million spend with Thriva between November 2020 and September 2021. UKHSA records show £53 million spend between November 2021 and August 2022.
Thriva won a second testing contact worth £124 million in July 2021, this was via an open procedure. Lord Bethell again met with Thriva, this time with Dundee University representatives in September 2021.
Thriva also appointed director Colin Malloy between September 2021 and April 2023. Malloy is better known as the man behind the Medicine Discovery Catapult Team, the lab testing facility used during the pandemic. It is worth noting that Thriva don't do their own testing, they outsource, essentially they are a Tech company.
In February 2023, Thriva appointed a further two members of the Lords to their advisory board. Baroness Blackwood is a former Conservative MP & was appointed chair and Lord O'Shaughnessy being a former advisor to David Cameron when he was Prime Minister.
We are not suggesting anything untoward by any of the parties named above.
We are highlighting that over 15% of Thriva is owned by investors that are clearly linked to Conservative Lords. The Guinness Asset Management & The Pembroke VCT investments have both seen significant increases in their value since the Covid contract awards.
It is also worth noting that the DHSC contracts spend, accounts for circa 80% of Thriva turnover for the last 3 years!
Summary
The soon to be appointed Covid Commissioner will not be reviewing contracts awarded related to Covid testing. They will focus purely on PPE contracts. Our investigations would suggest that many politically connected companies were awarded contracts for both PPE and Testing. It appears somewhat strange, that not all contracts are being reviewed.
The soon to be appointed Covid Commissioner will not be reviewing contracts awarded related to Covid testing. They will focus purely on PPE contracts. Our investigations would suggest that many politically connected companies were awarded contracts for both PPE and Testing. It appears somewhat strange, that not all contracts are being reviewed.
