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The COVID Inquiry just completed four weeks of hearings centred on the controversial procurement decisions made by Boris Johnson’s Government during the pandemic.
Of particular interest was the use of a VIP lane by the Cabinet Office and Department for Health and Social Care to procure PPE — a system that fast tracked offers from politically connected companies, many of whom had never previously supplied PPE to the NHS.
The previous Conservative Government was forced by the Good Law Project to reveal the names of the suppliers who benefited from the VIP Lane, and in November 2021, finally published the list of 51 names following a long-running battle.
However, those 51 suppliers declared by the DHSC may just be the tip of the iceberg.
In February 2022, Good Law Project was leaked internal DHSC documents that suggested a further 18 companies benefited from the VIP Lane, but this was dismissed by the DHSC which claimed: “It is inaccurate to claim that all of these companies were referred to by the High Priority Lane route.”
But, new evidence published by the COVID Inquiry and analysed by the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition (UKACC) now supports the initial claims made by GLP and in fact goes one step further to reveal the names of at least “20 other suppliers who received 48 contracts worth £1 billion” Via the VIP route.
Half a decade on we still don’t know the scale of the VIP lane operation
Gavid Hayman, executive director of open contracting partnerships and co-chair of the UKACC told the inquiry that “we are still not sure we have got to the bottom of all those VIP contracts”.
He added: “It appears that the evidence to the Inquiry on VIP Lane suppliers from DHSC conflicts with that of the Cabinet Office.
“The Cabinet Office evidence appears to omit 20 other suppliers who received 48 contracts worth £1 billion according to the DHSC evidence. I am not sure who is right but it is bad that we still don’t know for sure five years on. Hopefully, My Lady, you will get to the bottom of it.”
The contradicting evidence provided by the Cabinet Office and referred to by the UKACC is in the form of a detailed spreadsheet now made public by the inquiry for the first time.
Remarkably, every PPE supplier awarded a contract by the Government during the pandemic can then be filtered into “VIP” or non-VIP categories, revealing the names of potentially 20 new VIP suppliers.
These 20 suppliers went on to secure PPE contracts valued at £1 billion according to a detailed review conducted by UKACC.
But the confusion doesn’t end there…
To date, the names of 51 VIP lane suppliers have been made public by the DHSC. However, earlier in the month, the Government’s former Chief Commercial Officer Gareth Rhys Williams confirmed to the inquiry that yet another company had mistakenly been missed off the list.
That company was Luxe Lifestyle, a previous investigation by the Good Law Project revealed that Luxe were awarded a £20 million PPE deal following an intervention by former Conservative Party Ministers and Chairman Greg Hands.
Rhys Williams said in his witness statement to the inquiry: “A further HPL company, Luxe Lifestyle was identified in May 2024 following a review of evidence in preparation for this Inquiry.”
Last week it was reported the HMRC were currently investigating Luxe Lifestyle, which led to the arrest of the firm’s director, Karen Brost, on “suspicion of fraud by failing to disclose information, conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and fraudulent evasion of income tax”. Her husband, Tim Whyte, is suspected of acting as a shadow director and is also being investigated in connection with the same offences.
Furthermore, two officials working in the VIP lane during the pandemic claim another –politically connected PPE supplier – Bunzl was also dealt with via the VIP Lane, also known as the High Priority Lane.
Bunzl had long been affiliated with Conservative Peer Lord Feldman, who was also working as an advisor to Health Ministers during the pandemic.
Speaking to the inquiry this month Andy Wood, a deputy director and commercial specialist, working for the Cabinet Office, said Bunzl was a “significant, credible offer” that was dealt with via the VIP lane after coming “into contact with the government via ministers and senior officials”.
Wood’s claim was supported by another senior civil servant, Max Cainduff, who stated during his hearing on 6 March 2025 that Bunzl was a “really good lead” that potentially came into the VIP lane.
Gavin Hayman, of the UKACC said: “I am not sure who is right but it is bad that we still don’t know for sure five years on” the true extent of the VIP lane.
He urged the Inquiry to establish the true picture by “conducting a comprehensive review of the scale of and outcomes from the VIP Lane”.
So far, the names of 51 recipients of the VIP lane have been published by the Government, but this could be woefully short with potentially a further 22 PPE suppliers missing from the list.
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