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Twelve firms are handed contracts worth total over £500m to provide PPE

Revealed: Twelve firms are handed contracts worth total over £500m to provide PPE – and claim thousands of pounds on furlough

  • Firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to list of suppliers
  • But firms still took taxpayer-funded handouts and critics have questioned morality of them accepting cash
  • They include Euthenia Investments run by Sabia Mokeddem
  • Ms Mokeddem was given £880,000 in 2020 to arrange supply of 55,000 overalls from Hong Kong wholesaler 










Twelve companies awarded contracts worth more than £500 million in total to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) after being placed on a ‘VIP lane’ of bidders also claimed hundreds of thousands of pounds in furlough cash, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to an exclusive list of Department of Health and Social Care suppliers following recommendations from Ministers, MPs, Lords and top officials – but still took taxpayer-funded handouts.

While the companies are not accused of any wrongdoing, critics have questioned the morality of accepting the cash. Labour MP Meg Hillier, Chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘Some companies have done very well out of the taxpayer during the pandemic.

‘There are clearly big questions to be asked about why they were doing so well and also claiming such large amounts of furlough.’

The firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to an exclusive list of Department of Health and Social Care suppliers following recommendations from Ministers, MPs, Lords and top officials ¿ but still took taxpayer-funded handouts (stock image)

The firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to an exclusive list of Department of Health and Social Care suppliers following recommendations from Ministers, MPs, Lords and top officials – but still took taxpayer-funded handouts (stock image)

The firms include Euthenia Investments, run by Sabia Mokeddem, who was given £880,000 in 2020 to arrange the supply of 55,000 overalls from a Hong Kong wholesaler.

She was recommended to the ‘VIP lane’ by Lord Agnew, who resigned from the Government last week in frustration at its woeful record on tackling Covid fraud.

The 25-year-old, a French financial trader who lives in London, also claimed about £10,000 of furlough cash between May and August last year. Ms Mokeddem – who had no previous experience of supplying medical equipment – last night said that her company had furloughed one employee who was later made redundant.

Lord Agnew said yesterday that he had ‘operated a brutal, simple triage system’ for those who contacted his office seeking help with bids.

They include Euthenia Investments, run by Sabia Mokeddem (pictured), who was given £880,000 in 2020 to arrange the supply of 55,000 overalls from a Hong Kong wholesaler

They include Euthenia Investments, run by Sabia Mokeddem (pictured), who was given £880,000 in 2020 to arrange the supply of 55,000 overalls from a Hong Kong wholesaler

Another firm, Monarch Acoustics, saw its year-on-year profits soar by 4,700 per cent after it was given a £28.8 million contract for surgical gowns in 2020.

The company, which specialised in making furniture and has 80 employees, was recommended for the ‘VIP lane’ by Matt Hancock, the then Health Secretary.

Its owners Stuart and Sophie Hopkin bought their £1.15 million home in a village near Nottingham without a mortgage last year.

Nonetheless, Monarch claimed up to £80,000 in furlough payments between December 2020 and last March, according to official documents.

The company did not respond to a request to comment.

Another company, NKD International, took £8,000 of furlough money between January and May last year after being awarded a PPE contract worth £135,000 for surgical gowns.

In total, 47 firms were awarded contracts worth £4.7 billion after getting a spot on the ‘VIP lane’.

There is no suggestion that any of those who recommended them acted improperly.

A spokesman for the Government said that its pandemic furlough scheme had ‘provided a lifeline to more than a million businesses… and protected nearly 12 million jobs’.

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