Revealed: Small family-run pest control firm with just 16 staff won £108MILLION contract to procure PPE for frontline NHS staff
- PestFix, which has 16 employees, was awarded a £108million contract in April
- Founder Dan England said that his firm may have been quicker to respond to the call for help
- The Government has spent £340million securing PPE since the virus outbreak
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Chairman of parliament’s public accounts committee Meg Hillier (pictured) said the committee and the National Audit Office would be scrutinising every contract handed out by the Government
A family-run pest control company that employs just 16 people was awarded a £108million contract to supply the NHS with PPE at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, it has emerged.
PestFix, which has net assets of £18,000, received the large contract in April when the Government was under increasing pressure to meet the demand for PPE.
Information collected by research company Tussell shows that the Government has spent a total of £340million on securing enough PPE to supply the NHS.
It comes after Matt Hancock last night announced a plan to make face coverings compulsory in hospitals for all staff, visitors and outpatients from June 15.
However, a furious NHS boss insisted the decision was made ‘without any notice or consultation’, as other frontline workers slammed the ‘pointless’ announcement.
The Times reports that the chairman of parliament’s public accounts committee Meg Hillier said: ‘The need for PPE for frontline staff is urgent and critical but tendering outside the normal rules can be risky.’
She also said that the committee, alongside the National Audit Office would be scrutinising every contract handed out by the Government.
Normally PestFix supplies customers with supplies for pest control but received the £108million contract after responding to the Government’s call for help.
PestFix founder Dan England said: ‘Some of the bigger players that would normally be supplying this were perhaps not as quick to react or as dynamic.’
Mr England disputed the reported figure of £108million but did not say whether it was too high or too low.
The contract runs for 12 months.
In other developments to Britain’s coronavirus crisis today:
- Care homes are still waiting for Covid tests after weeks of asking – as government rushes out kits to all residences where people are all aged over 65
- Boris Johnson is drawing up a ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to slash red tape and help get the economy moving again
- Militant union chiefs vow to strike over government’s plan for volunteer ‘army’ to hand out free face masks on London Tubes
- Matt Hancock warns protesters not to gather at George Floyd demonstrations this weekend amid fears they are spreading the virus
- WHO finally says everyone should wear a mask while in shops, on public transit or anywhere you can’t keep six feet apart
- Prince William and Kate Middleton reveal they’ve been secretly answering crisis helpline calls and phoning people who are vulnerable during the pandemic
- Health Secretary says country could have localised restrictions after data reveals the crucial R rate is above 1 in North West and South West
Last month it emerged that the Government had awarded £1billion of state contracts to companies without public tender.
Companies including Randox Laboratories and US-run Brake Bros were among the companies to have been handed contracts.
The Government fast-tracked the rules on awarding state contracts so that they didn’t have to allow a time period for other companies to bid for the work.
The contracts included a voucher scheme for children for free school meals, providing food boxes for vulnerable people and coronavirus testing services.
At least 177 contracts have been handed to companies by the government to deal with the pandemic.
115 of those contracts were awarded under the fast-track route.