[QUOTE=Rjk;5124641]
Quote Originally Posted by lisvaneblue View Post

sorry but it does seem extremely suspect to me, and I think there should be an enquiry into all of these contracts.
I had so e exposure to the process for trying to obtain ventilators earlier in the year and that seemed pretty dodgy too.
the timing of this is extremely suspect.
if any of us were to try setting up a brand new company with no track record and win a huge contact within 7 weeks competing against existing suppliers for PPE then that would seem miraculous wouldn't it?
It's obviously not a one-off but was a deliberate pattern. Very small companies with no track record in the sector suddenly being awarded multi-million pound contracts whilst traditional suppliers were being frozen out.

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/08/7...ackaging-firm/

https://www.cityam.com/government-fa...-control-firm/

What seems to be a common thread is these companies sourcing the PPE from China. It could be that this was the only realistic source for the bulk of the supplies required but direct contracting was politically unacceptable. Crikey there are people on here that won't buy a chinese takeaway in Cardiff because they blame "them" for the crisis who will no doubt be viewing this approach with utter horror.

What else is clear is that the intermediaries in these companies will have made massive profits for seemingly little effort. It will be interesting to see how Government met the intermediaries and how the intermediaries met the Chinese, some of which may come out if the National Audit Office is ever allowed to perform its statutory role.