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New: The government has wasted at least £150 million on face masks which can't be used by the NHS. The masks were bought from a family investment fund, Ayanda Capital, in a deal brokered by a government adviser. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ministers-waste-150m-buying-unusable-masks-from-banker-5v8390xtp Thread follows 
The masks in question are FFP2 masks. 50 million were ordered and at least 43.5m have been delivered. They have ear loops and the current standards require head ties meaning they are unusable, the govt has admitted during legal case brought by @GoodLawProject
They were part of a £252 million contract with Ayanda Capital, a family office owned by Tim Horlick, ex-husband of City figure Nicola Horlick, through a company based in the tax haven of Mauritius. Ayanda has never sold PPE before or won a govt contract before.
When the government appealed for PPE suppliers in late March, 24,000 offers were lodged in a fortnight. Ayanda's came via Andrew Mills. Mills became a senior adviser to the company's board but he also has another role: he's on the Liz Truss's Board of Trade at Dep for Int. Trade
When he made the offer, Mills didn't say he was representing Ayanda. He said he was representing Prospermill, a small company he set up with his wife in 2019. That company has no financial accounts but the govt was still prepared to do business with it.
Later the counterparty was switched to Ayanda, something Mills and Horlick say was always intended. Ayanda say they always said their masks has earloops and govt ok'd them when the contract was signed.
The other part of the contract, worth a bit under £100m, was for 150m Type IIR masks. These have been delivered but are awaiting further testing before being used. In fact, the @GoodLawProject (GLP) has found several cases unusual PPE suppliers' products haven't been used yet.
Remember the family-run pest control supplies company PestFix? The £32m worth of isolation suits they supplied are sitting in a warehouse in Daventry. So too are gowns supplied by a confectionery wholesaler from Northern Ireland.
They're all awaiting further testing. All told, the government handed out at least £5.5bn in emergency PPE contracts. Labour and the Lib Dems say there are serious questions to answer on the procurement process. GLP's cases continue. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/how-an-obscure-company-landed-the-contract-to-procure-ppe-wmps5kpjh
