Latest news with #FlanaganGroup
Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Times
‘I was followed home', says Unite boss as fraud inquiry deepens
The boss of Unite said that she was harassed and 'followed home' for trying to uncover the truth about Unite under the leadership of Len McCluskey. Sharon Graham, who took over in 2021 on a pledge to 'leave no stone unturned to get to the truth', said that she had endured 'horrendous personal attacks' as the process got 'ugly'. On Tuesday, a report about a scandal-hit hotel complex in Birmingham found that the union, which is funded by workers' fees, was overcharged by £30 million. The main contractor, the Flanagan Group, owned by men whom McCluskey called his 'good friends', paid for the former union boss to fly out to watch the Champions League final two years running, including in a private jet, the report found. The report said that the union believes that there is evidence to support criminal investigations into two 'very senior' former Unite officials. The case was passed to the Serious Fraud Office last year but no arrests have been made. Unite said that the 'reports are with the police'. The union's auditors found that there was a 'pervasive fraud environment' at Unite and that 'former members of senior management appear to have been motivated to commit fraud'. Ten suspects have also been identified in a separate investigation by South Wales police into bribery, money laundering and fraud relating to contracts for affiliated services offered by the union. Graham, who has struggled to pull the union from the shadow of its past, said that 'to get here has been an extremely difficult process and quite frankly an ugly one'. 'Those with much to lose, and their supporters inside and outside the union, have done all in their power to attack me,' she said in a foreword to the report. 'I have had to endure horrendous personal attacks over three years, both from vested interests and those with blind loyalty to factions. 'I expected turbulence of course, but even I was shocked at the lengths being gone to: despicable online abuse and being followed home.' She claims that her opponents operated a 'scorched earth strategy that was adopted by some supporters of a faction tied to the past' to 'lie' about Unite. • Unite leader Sharon Graham defends strategy of targeting bosses' families The union ultimately paid £112 million for a hotel and conference complex in Birmingham, £74.5 million more than it was worth. On Tuesday, Unite announced that it had wiped £66 million from its accounts as an 'impairment'. The profit mark-up was double the industry norm and the contracts were signed by McCluskey against the advice of lawyers, the report found. The Flanagan Group, a Liverpool-based construction firm, later arranged football tickets, hospitality and flights, including at least one private jet flight, for McCluskey, the report said. Two of the matches were the 2018 and 2019 Champions League finals in Kyiv and Madrid, the latter of which he travelled to by private jet. The owners of the Flanagan Group 'consistently organised and paid for' his tickets, and there is 'no indication' McCluskey reimbursed them. Lawyers for McCluskey have previously told the BBC that he paid for his own travel in full and did not recall attending all of the domestic matches in the Unite report. • Unite left fearing fraud squad's might A statement issued to The Times this week by Carter-Ruck, McCluskey's lawyers, said: 'Our client is deeply disappointed by the statements and report published today by Unite, which were issued without any prior reference to him, and he is considering his legal rights in this regard. 'As this matter is understood to remain the subject of ongoing police investigation, it would be inappropriate of McCluskey to comment in detail on it at this time. Suffice to say that such allegations as have been published regarding our client are categorically rejected by him as inaccurate, selective and highly misleading.' In interviews with a KC leading Unite's investigation, McCluskey denied that he overruled staff or lawyers over the contract, and instead said that he had delegated many key aspects of the project to Ed Sabisky, Unite's former finance director, who died in 2020. The Times called the Flanagan Group for comment on Tuesday. Their representative declined to answer questions or give an email address.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Len McCluskey's rank incompetence is finally being exposed
I've a rule of thumb which, over the past decade, has pretty much always proved correct. Find an ally of Jeremy Corbyn – especially one who spent most of the former Labour leader's period in office arguing that the party's anti-Semitism crisis was made up by his opponents – and you'll find that, sooner or later, something else emerges which casts doubt on what we might call their status as an upstanding member of society. Step forward Len McCluskey, former head of Unite. Yesterday an internal union dossier, based on a report by a KC, was revealed to have found that he took flights on private planes and tickets to see his team, Liverpool FC, play in the 2018 and 2019 Champions League finals in Kyiv and Madrid. The flights and tickets were, according to the report, provided by the same company which was building a multi-million pound hotel and conference centre in Birmingham for the union. They were, the report says, 'consistently organised and paid for by' the Flanagan Group, with 'no indication' that McCluskey ever reimbursed the company. McCluskey had called the company's bosses 'good friends'. The project is currently the subject of an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. According to the dossier, the Flanagan Group overcharged Unite by at least £30 million. The report also alleges that McCluskey 'overruled' staff and the union's lawyers when he signed the contract with the Flanagan Group. Construction lawyer, Martin Bowdery KC was commissioned by McCluskey's successor at Unite, Sharon Graham, to investigate the circumstances around the hotel project. According to the leaked report, he found that there was 'no competitive tendering process', that the Flanagan Group had 'a history of poor performance, delays… and cost overruns on previous contracts' and that Unite spent 'at least' £72 million more than the hotel and conference centre project was worth. The original estimate for the project was £7 million but by its opening in 2021 Flanagan Group had been paid £96 million for its work. The report says that £30 million of that was overcharging and the company submitted bills 'massively over the original estimates'. In a separate finding, a loan of £400,000 from Unite towards the purchase of a £700,000 flat for McCluskey was said not to have been authorised by the executive committee in advance. In response, McCluskey's lawyers said the former union leader was 'deeply disappointed' by report, which the he claims was issued without any prior reference. The flat loan, according to his lawyers, was made as part of Unite's home equity scheme': 'At all relevant times, this scheme was open to all officers of the union, in recognition of the expectation that most, if not all, of Unite's officers would (at that time) work from the union's central offices in London. We are instructed that the scheme did not require prior approval from the Executive Council on a case-by-case basis.' McCluskey's lawyers' statement said he was unaware of concerns by Unite staff or lawyers when the hotel contract was signed, did not recall signing it and was uninvolved in the selection of the Flanagan Group. They added that he paid for his travel to the football matches in full and travelled on a commercial flight for one, and that when he attended with the Flanagans he paid his way – and did not believe he attended all the domestic matches detailed in Unite's report. One thing is clear from McCluskey's time as leader of Unite: he was a malign influence on British politics. At the time of his friend Jeremy Cobyn's Labour leadership, McCluskey said the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party was 'wildly exaggerated' and that the leaders of the Jewish community had shown 'intransigent hostility and an utter refusal to engage in dialogue', asking that they engage in dialogue before the divide between them and the party became entrenched. McCluskey's support for Corbyn – and the funding that came from his union – empowered and prolonged the former leader's time in office, which not only pushed Labour on a path to its worst ever result in 2019, but which led to the Jewish community fearing for its future in the UK. Whatever comes next for Len McCluskey, Britain is better off that he is now a man of no significance or influence whatsoever.
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Leftie union boss Len McCluskey took private jet rides from building firm that overcharged Unite by £30m, report reveals
LEFTIE union baron Len McCluskey took private plane flights and football tickets from a building firm, a report reveals. The firm is also said to have overcharged Unite by at least £30million for building a £96million hotel. An internal investigation by the union said the Flanagan Group, run by pals of McCluskey, was handed the job to build the hotel complex in Birmingham without a single rival bid. Sharon Graham, who has since replaced McCluskey as Unite general secretary, hired barrister Martin Bowdery KC in 2021 after she found a £125million black hole in the union's accounts. She told the BBC: 'I was absolutely astounded. It's either rank incompetence, or something else.' The report, seen by the BBC, says McCluskey ignored legal advice and personally signed off the building contract. He later got private flights to two Liverpool Champions League finals on planes arranged and paid for by the Flanagan Group. Unite said there is no evidence he ever paid them back. The report also said he got tickets to five Liverpool matches, four with hospitality. McCluskey's lawyers told the BBC he paid for his own travel in full and always paid for his football tickets. They claim he does not recall signing the main contract and denies overruling anyone. The hotel ended up swallowing £125million of Unite cash and is now worth just £38million. Union boss Len McCluskey torn apart by voter after defending Corbyn in fiery LBC interview Ms Graham has brought in new auditors, staff and a crackdown on dodgy deals. The Flanagan Group refused to comment but previously claimed the project was 'an exceptional asset'.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Len McCluskey took private jet paid for by company given union contracts
A former boss of Unite took a private jet paid for by a firm that is building a hotel for the union, an investigation has found. Len McCluskey, who was the Unite general secretary for a decade, also attended football matches with the firm's representatives, who paid for the tickets. An investigation ordered by Sharon Graham, Mr McCluskey's successor, found the Labour-affiliated union was overcharged for the construction of the hotel in Birmingham by at least £30m. It spent almost £100m on the hotel and conference centre after costs ballooned over the course of its construction. The company, which BBC News has reported to be the Flanagan Group, was run by people described by Mr McCluskey as 'good friends' of his. The report, published on Tuesday, said the former union boss signed the contracts and 'overruled Unite staff who raised questions about the firm, and overruled lawyers who advised against the contracts'. Mr McCluskey has argued that the decisions around the hotel contractors were made by the union's former finance director, who died in 2020, but the report was unable to confirm it. 'Getting to truth has been ugly' Ms Graham told Unite representatives that 'getting to the truth has been ugly' but promised that she would work to get the union's money back. According to the internal report, emails showed that the company 'arranged football final tickets and flights for him [Mr MCluskey] including at least one private jet flight'. It added: 'The evidence for this comes from tickets and flight information sent to Len McCluskey's Unite email. There is no indication that Len McCluskey later reimbursed them.' The emails showed that Mr McCluskey received tickets and flights to the Champions League Final in Kyiv in 2018 and the same final in Madrid the following year. He also appeared to attend at least five Liverpool FC matches, four with matchday hospitality. There is no suggestion Mr McCluskey breached any gifts or hospitality rules, because the union did not have a policy while he was leader. Ms Graham introduced a gifts and hospitality policy after becoming general secretary. 'Asset for the union' Mr McCluskey's lawyers told the BBC that he paid for his travel in full and recalled travelling with a commercial carrier on one of the flights. They added that he had occasionally attended football matches with the Flanagan Group but paid his way and did not believe he even attended all the domestic matches claimed by the report. Mr McCluskey and Flanagan Group have previously said cost overruns were partly because of the hotel project using unionised labour. The Flanagan Group declined to comment to The Telegraph, but have previously told the BBC: 'We would like to make it clear that this scheme was delivered fairly and should be regarded as an exceptional asset for the union.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Len McCluskey took private jet flights arranged by building firm, report claims
Len McCluskey, the former head of Unite, accepted private jet flights and football tickets arranged by the company building a multimillion pound hotel for the union, according to an internal dossier. The Flanagan Group, which is run by friends of McCluskey, overcharged Unite by at least £30m for the Birmingham hotel and conference centre project, the interim report said. It also found that McCluskey 'overruled' advice from staff and the union's lawyers in signing the construction contract with the Flanagan Group. Unite's report said the flights and tickets were 'consistently organised and paid for by' the company and there was 'no indication' that McCluskey later reimbursed them. McCluskey's lawyers, Carter-Ruck, have been approached for a comment by the Guardian. They told the BBC he paid for his travel in full, and, to his recollection, always did the same for his football tickets. He denied he had overruled staff or lawyers. The Flanagan Group did not respond to requests from the BBC and the Guardian for comment. McCluskey, who was Unite's general secretary between 2010 and 2021, was a key player in the labour movement and the leading financial backer of Jeremy Corbyn when Corbyn was Labour leader. The spiralling costs of the Unite hotel in Birmingham, which was supposed to be a financial investment, have hung over the union for years. The Serious Fraud Office launched an inquiry into the project last year. Sharon Graham, who replaced McCluskey as general secretary, commissioned a specialist construction lawyer, Martin Bowdery KC, to investigate the project's costs and accounts. A summary of his interim report, seen by the Guardian, said: The union spent 'at least' £72m more than the hotel complex was worth. Unite awarded the Flanagan Group the contract to build the hotel with 'no competitive tendering process' and despite the company 'having a history of poor performance, delays … and cost overruns on previous contracts'. McCluskey described the company's bosses as 'good friends'. A £400,000 union loan towards the purchase of a £700,000 flat for McCluskey had not been authorised by the executive committee in advance. McCluskey's lawyers said he was not aware of the concerns of staff or union lawyers at the time the construction contract was signed, did not recall signing the main contract and was not involved in the decision to select the Flanagan Group. His lawyers have said he categorically rejected any suggestion of improper dealings. McCluskey took flights to watch his team, Liverpool FC, play in the 2018 and 2019 Champions League finals in Kyiv and Madrid, according to Unite's report. It said McCluskey received tickets for five Liverpool games in the UK, four of which included matchday hospitality. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines UK Free newsletter Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion It said 'the evidence for this comes from tickets and flight information sent to Len McCluskey's Unite email'. McCluskey's lawyers told the BBC he paid for his travel in full and recalled travelling with a commercial carrier on one of the flights. They said he occasionally attended football matches with the Flanagans but invariably paid his way and did not believe he attended all the domestic matches detailed in Unite's report. Initial estimates for the hotel project in 2012 suggested it would cost around £7m. In the end, Flanagan Group was paid a £96m for its work on the four-star hotel and conference centre, which opened for business in 2021. In his report, Bowdery said £30m of that was overcharging and the company submitted bills 'massively over the original estimates'. In one instance it is claimed the company charged £1.3m for work that should have cost £90,000. The Flanagan Group was also paid £3.7m for adverse weather delays even though it was 'not entitled to extra payments for adverse weather', the report states. The company did not respond to repeated requests for comment but has previously told the BBC it was proud of its work on the scheme and costs had risen because of 'radical changes to design and working practices'. According to the report, McCluskey said the decision to appoint the Flanagan Group was made by Unite's former finance director, Ed Sabisky, who died in March 2020. The report said that McCluskey signed the main contract.
