Fraud, Charities and Steve Bannon – Where’s the Money Going?
The arrest of Steve Bannon, President’s Trump ex-adviser, hit the headlines this week. Along with several other men, he is accused of siphoning off funds that were given to a […]
Entries by Peter Smith
Ayanda Capital Facemasks Contract – Were Basic Procurement Principles Forgotten?
It is a while since I wrote about the PPE (personal protective equipment) process in the UK government and health sector, but the stories continue to emerge and some are […]
The Explosion in Beirut Highlights Major Procurement and Supply Chain Failings
The explosion and resulting disaster in Beirut this week is a tragedy for all the people affected and for the entire city, as well as for the country of Lebanon. […]
Health Minister in Zimbabwe Arrested Over Alleged PPE Procurement “Fraud”
All over the world, medical staff have struggled to find enough PPE (personal protective equipment) to meet their needs and protect themselves in a time of pandemic. The problems have […]
Satellite of Love? The Perm Sec Doesn’t Think So…
A ”Ministerial Direction” sounds like a very dry and boring aspect of civil service bureaucracy, but that is far from the case. It happens when a government Minister in the […]
Want Some Cheap Consulting? How the Big Firms Game the Supplier Selection Processs
Psssttt! Wanna buy a cheap consultant? Top quality, only £20 a day. Or, tell you what, you can have some for a tenner if you like. Yeah. Just £10 a […]
July 2023 – NAO Report Calls Sunak’s Home Insulation Scheme “A Fraudster’s Paradise”
In an unusually hard-hitting report dated July 10th, 2023, the UK’s National Audit Office criticised the home insulation scheme introduced in 2020 by the then-Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. The first problem, […]
Do You Need a Helicopter, Mate? I Can Do You a Deal…
Is that expensive “sea bass” in the restaurant, or that you buy as “Category Manager – Fish” for a frozen food manufacturer – really sea bass? Or is it a […]
Conflicts of Interest – Be Alert !
Conflicts of interest lie behind many cases of procurement corruption and indeed other “corruption” in its widest sense. Often, these are not the highest profile or most serious examples – […]
Spend £5B with Private Hospitals? Hang on a Minute, Treasury says…
We’re seeing so many interesting procurement and supply chain issues during the pandemic, but focus tends to shift week by week. We’ve had the challenge of finding more ventilators, which […]