The profits of a small family furniture business in Nottingham rocketed by an astonishing 4,700 per cent after disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock helped it land a £29m government contract for PPE at the height of the pandemic, MailOnline has learned.
Monarch Acoustics Ltd, owned and run by husband-and-wife team Stuart and Sophie Hopkin, was given the £28.8m contract to supply surgical gowns after being referred to the fast-track ‘VIP lane’ by Mr Hancock in May 2020.
According to company accounts, the financial effects were severe.
Turnover leapt from £9.8m in 2019 to £38m in 2020, and pre-tax profits ballooned from just £267,000 to a hefty £12.6m over the same period.
At the end of the 2019 financial year the firm, which has only 80 employees, had just £41,000 in the bank, yet a year later that figure had grown to a cool £10.2 million.
To expedit supply of PPE, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), created an exclusive supplier list in the initial stages of Covid-19.
Monarch Acoustics Ltd, run by Stuart and Sophie Hopkin (pictured) was awarded a £28.8m surgical gowns contract despite appearing to have no prior experience in PPE manufacturing
Ministers, MPs and Lords were able to make recommendations to top officials about firms that might help to secure PPE for health workers, when the UK was having difficulty obtaining equipment in 2020.
The National Audit Office (NAO) stated that firms recommended by this route were considered more credible and needed to be dealt with with greater urgency by the cross-government PPE group.
Because of the extreme circumstances, these companies weren’t subject to regular checks.
A total of 47 firms were awarded contracts worth a total of £4.7bn by the VIP lane, and companies on the list had a 10 times greater success rate of securing contracts.
Monarch Acoustics managingdirector Mr Hopkin is pictured with his wife on their Facebook page, looking dapper in fancy dresses including those of lions and giraffes.
Mrs Hopkin, 35 years old, posted another photo, one of herself as a pregnant woman above the NHS rainbow symbol. Another picture was taken with two of her children in ‘All-in-this together’ rainbow tees with the #StayatHome government message.
Stuart (pictured) and Sophie’s company was recommended for the PPE contract by Matt Hancock via the VIP lane during the early stages of the pandemic to fast track supplies of PPE
Boris Johnson’s government was accused of cronyism following revelations that some companies were granted high priority lane access, which expedited their bids to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE).
The government had refused to reveal details of the priority access scheme – but four Tory MPs and three peers have now been named as ‘referrers’ in a list of 47 firms that won PPE contracts through the VIP lane.
A list of PPE deals proving lucrative, published by Politico and the Good Law Project shows that the former health secretary Mr Hancock was involved in securing work at four firms including Monarch.
Until the pandemic, Monarch – also known as Monarch Educational Furniture – does not appear to have any experience of PPE, judging from its website or Mr Hopkin’s LinkedIn profile.
“Monarch Education Furniture” is owned by his family with more than 25 years of experience in the production and sale of high quality furniture. Customer service should be our number one priority. We strive to meet and exceed the expectations of all customers in terms of value, quality and service.
They state that the company has been in existence for more than 30 years. Their website says: “With warm customer service and amazing lead times you won’t find elsewhere, we have carved out a special place in the educational furniture industry.
Monarch Acoustics opened new production facilities near Nottingham in 2016. According to Monarch Acoustics’ press release, the building would be used exclusively for educational furniture and not PPE.
“In our purpose-built Nottingham factory measuring 96,000 sq. ft., we produce a variety of stock units as well as custom projects that meet complex requirements of education, healthcare and the public sector.
Healthcare appears to be the sale and manufacture of furniture that is used in hospitals. According to the website, this includes: “furniture to nurse’s stations and wards, bedside and clinic storage, waiting areas, surgeries and IT.”
PPE isn’t mentioned on the site, but it is in the 2020 accounts that Companies House has lodged. It is said: “During the Year the Company had the chance to diversify, because of the Covid pandemic. This involved several contracts utilising existing suppliers. This is what explains the large increase in turnover.
The Hopkins, who make up two of the three directors of Monarch Acoustics, live in a large modern detached £750,000 house in the middle of a leafy village about a 20-minute drive from the centre of Nottingham.
The firm’s secretary, Mrs Hopkin also owned a photography company called Sophie Marie Photography (SMP).
Yellowplace has an online listing that states, “SMP Offers Fun Photo Shoots. Based In Nottingham.” Specialist in newborn, baby, and child photography.
Monarch Acoustics Ltd. and Matt Hancock (pictured below) are not known to have any relationship.
Companies House reports that Gary Frost, a 60-year old director of Monarch is based in Leicestershire.
Monarch Acoustics, a company that produces high-quality products and services for the public, announced in 2016 that it was moving to new production facilities. The factory is located near Nottingham Airport.
According to their press release, the building would be used exclusively for educational furniture.
The release stated that Monarch Education Furniture was a family-owned company, which has been producing furniture for schools for over 30 years.
“Our company has experienced significant growth in the last 10 year and we were busiest during 2014 trading.
“As the market leader in storage furniture for education, we developed our manufacturing processes using innovative machinery and cutting-edge fixings.
MailOnline questions were not answered by Stuart Hopkin (pictured), or Mr Hancock.
“We have a strict quality control system in place and will only send furniture we love. We are proud of our workmanship and provide a high quality product.
MailOnline did not reach Stuart Hopkin nor Mr Hancock.
MailOnline received information from a person close to Hancock that Monarch approached Health Secretary to inform him they had already supplied the US government. They were then given their names to civil servants organizing PPE.
The source added: ‘They ended up supplying millions of life-saving items of PPE. The process was followed, and the entire thing was triaged. It was all about saving lives.’
Another Tory was also mentioned in the list of those who assisted nearly 50 firms to win PPE contracts that were worth thousands during the lockdown.
Lord Feldman (a former tennis partner for ex-PM David Cameron) referred three businesses before they received untendered contract using the VIP fast lanes’.
Following an affair between Mr Hancock and his aide that led to a lockdown, Hancock left the job in summer. A list of 47 business names compiled by the Good Law Project included three referrals. Referrals were also made by Dominic Cummings, ex-No10 pilot, senior ministers such as Michael Gove.
After the incident, companies could obtain lucrative PPE equipment contract contracts through a highly-criticized system designed to expedite supply of essential material to help alleviate NHS shortages.
No evidence suggests that the politicians had any role in awarding contracts for businesses to which they were referred during the procurement process.
Lord Feldman denied wrongdoing and said he was simply passing ‘credible offer to officials’ from Maxima Markets. SG Recruitment. Skinnydip.
They were later awarded contracts worth £65million between them. Jolyon Maugham, Good Law Project director, told MailOnline that the scale at which public money was funneled into pockets of people who were able to rely on Ministers for VIP treatment is simply staggering.
“The VIP Lane funnelled huge sums of public funds into the pockets and wallets of Tory-linked individuals.
“It made it even harder for the NHS to purchase the PPE they needed. The poor suppliers and political connections of the civil servants made it difficult to purchase the correct stuff.