Tag: ECO4

Caveat Emptor!

On By JacIn Business and Commerce, Welsh Government, Welsh Labour45 Comments

Over the past year I’ve written a few times about companies in Wales profiting from the UK government’s ECO4 scheme, through cavity wall insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, etc.

Most recently, I’ve had to write about one of these companies going belly-up leaving dissatisfied customers; either suffering from poor workmanship that needed remedial work, or else jobs left unfinished.

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A BIT OF BACKGROUND, AND THE FIRST UPDATE

The first piece I put out was Saving The Planet – The Globalist Way! in July last year. This was followed by ‘Corruption Bay’ Living Up To Its Name? in December. Then, following the collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions, the next piece, in early January, was Grab The Money And Run!. Finally, towards the end of January, it was Cairngorm Capital – The Kiss Of Death.

Consumer Energy Solutions was part of a group of Welsh companies ultimately owned by Cairngorm Capital of Edinburgh through Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd. (Or, more likely, someone else owned them but operated through Cairngorm.)

But now there’s a new kid on the block in the form of New Dragon Holdco Ltd. The three directors of this new company, formed January 22, can be seen below. They all work for Oaktree Capital Management.

I used to see photos like those hanging up in cinema foyers when I was a kid, there from the days of silent movies. Where’s Rudolph Valentino?

Oaktree’s based in Luxembourg for its European operations, but can be ultimately traced to an address in Los Angeles. Though registered in the state of Delaware, which serves as a kind of internal tax haven in the USA. But it’s not straightforward, as the group accounts filed with Companies House for Oaktree Capital UK Ltd make clear.

Oaktree is another of those companies that makes nothing, grows nothing, and performs no service for the benefit of mankind. Just another gang of sharp-suited spivs shuffling around other people’s money to make themselves rich.

The parasite capitalism that bedevils and seeks to control the modern world.

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FURTHER UPDATE

In those earlier posts, another company that came into the frame was Quidos. Or rather, a number of companies operating under that name. Quidos seemed to provide training and accreditation for the ECO4 ‘retrofit’ companies listed in the panel above.

Originally based in Bath the Quidos companies trace back to the group through the involvement of Nick Pritchard of Bangor. Here’s a list of Pritchard’s many companies. Though now it needs updating, because a new name has appeared on the Companies House register as a minority controlling interest in Quidos Pure Ltd.

That name is Philip John Stanley. So what can I tell you about Mr Stanley? Let’s start with his Linkedin page. (Not sure about that waistcoat.)

To begin with, and to judge by the addresses of his previous companies, he lives in Liverpool. In fact, I compiled a list of companies with which he’s been involved. Here it is in pdf format.

The companies he’s formed since 2013 have a number of things in common. Most noticeably, that none of them ever turns a profit. They either fold without filing accounts or they return losses. How does the poor man survive?

And then there’s the strange matter of two companies with the same name, Love to Feel. Now I’m fairly sure that’s not allowed by Companies House. But Stanley got around it by naming one Love to Feel Ltd and the other Love to Feel Limited.

But why would anyone do that? It’s guaranteed to cause confusion.

The ‘Ltd’ company is based in Liverpool, and files as dormant. The ‘Limited’ company – Dissolved in May 2024 – gave its address as Bryn Derwen, Parc Menai, Bangor.

But the reason Philip John Stanley is appearing here is because of what seems to be a real departure for him, both in the line of business, and in locations.

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CONSUMER RIGHTS

If you go to the table I linked to above, you’ll see two Community Interest Companies (CIC). Now a CIC is not supposed to make a profit and, as the name suggests, it should serve the public interest.

One advantage of a CIC is that it’s easier to set one up with Companies House than it is to register a charity with the Charity Commission. Fewer questions are asked.

Consumer Rights Ltd was launched in November 2021, in Liverpool. It converted to a CIC January 12 2023, and the following day moved to Bryn Derwen, Parc Menai, Bangor.

Though Bryn Derwen appears to be holiday accommodation. Consumer Rights CIC seems to bounce between this address and the Business Centre, Llys y Bont.

There is a Consumer Rights website. (Here in pdf format.) At first sight I though it was an official government site. It has that ‘look’ to it, even similar colours to the Ofgem website.

Might this confuse people, like the two Love to Feel companies?

Less than a week after Consumer Rights CIC moved to Bangor Stanley launched Consumer Rights (Scotland) CIC. Giving an address in Leith, Edinburgh.

Does it link with Consumer Energy Solutions and the other companies in the group being – for public consumption – owned by Cairngorm Capital of Edinburgh?

A director in both Consumer Rights companies was James Joseph Rimmer. Here’s his Linkedin page. He spent over 17 years with Experian, one of the ‘big three’ credit bureaux. Major stakeholders in Experian are BlackRock and Vanguard.

Clearly, Rimmer would know how to use databases.

And Quidos Pure moved its address last month from Bath to Bodlondeb, Conwy, the old council offices now leased by Pritchard.

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REMEMBER NEV?

Another name we encountered in the table of Stanley companies I linked to, was Neville Wilshire. Which may sound familiar; if so, it’s because he was the star of the television series The Call Centre. He died in December 2021.

Which might answer the question: What’s the relationship between Consumer Rights CIC and the companies shown in the panel at the top? Including Consumer Energy Solutions, with its dissatisfied customers and unpaid former employees?

There clearly is a connection, for Stanley is a person with significant control of Quidos Pure Ltd. Majority control of Quidos Pure rests with Quidos Holdings Ltd, controlled by Pritchard. And Pritchard links with the other companies.

Also worth remembering that CES was based in Swansea. Like Nev’s call centre.

The company that links Neville Wilshire with Philip John Stanley is EAGA Card Ltd. It was originally based at these salubrious offices in downtown Chepstow, with accountants Macario Lewin. Which also has a presence in Swansea.

After moving its address to Llanelli EAGA Card Ltd was Dissolved in December 2022, after Neville Wilshire’s death. So I got to wondering about the EAGA or Eaga name.

There was a company of that name in Newcastle “supplying energy efficiency products“, bought up in 2011 by Carillion, and the name then disappeared, according to Wikipedia. There was also an EAGA Charitable Trust, which ceased in 2020/21.

But it seems the name was revived by someone in the same line of business as the Geordie original. And by January 2021 people were being cold called.

That may have been Neville Wilshire’s company. Or perhaps it was Philip John Stanley. For by then Stanley could have learnt how to use databases from Rimmer, and call centre know-how from Wilshire.

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THOUGHTS

Consumer Energy Solutions Ltd (CES) has departed this mortal coil, and last month the Administrator issued a Statement of Affairs. Assets available for “preferential creditors” amounted to £307,915. Yet the claims from employees alone amounted to £586,185.

Certainly, there are some creditors that’ll hardly notice the loss, such as American Express, owed £689,536. Or HMRC, owed £1,188,925. But many creditors are small local suppliers.

The total deficit was £112,671,723. With almost all that owed to ‘Alter Domus Trustees (UK) Ltd (Oak Tree)’. Presumably referring to Oaktree Capital Management, mentioned above.

This, I believe, is a debt spread across the group. Where the picture is no rosier. For all the shares in CES are held by Diversity Network Holdings Ltd, of Cardiff Business Park, Llanishen, where a Receiver was appointed February 11.

As you can see, the trading name appears to be Heatforce, or Heatforce (Wales) Ltd, which is still in business. Certainly, that’s how it appears. But the most recent accounts, up to year ending January 31, 2025 (showing a loss), acknowledged “difficulties“, restructuring, and the involvement of Oaktree.

But of course, these accounts were filed with Companies House before Consumer Energy Solutions went bust.

You’ll notice other companies mentioned in the restructuring. City Energy Network Ltd is still with us, as is City Energy Facilities Management Ltd, and so is Laver Group Ltd.

Of the other companies in the group panel at the top, accounts are now overdue with Companies House for those that haven’t officially gone into liquidation or receivership.

UPDATE 25.03.2026: First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off has been issued against City Training Group Ltd, Simply Electric Metering Ltd, and Advance Energy Services Ltd.

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CAIRNGORM CAPITAL, A PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION

As you’ve read, Cairngorm Capital of Edinburgh is central to the collapse of CES and other companies in the group.

I earlier made a reference to “parasite capitalism” to describe Cairngorm, but maybe a better description would be ‘slash and burn’.

We invest in profitable companies that have the potential for transformative growth.

That’s Cairngorm’s business model; and yes, bankruptcy is certainly “transformative“.

In January I put out, ‘Cairngorm Capital – The Kiss of Death‘. In that piece I looked at other companies, outside of Wales, that got involved with Cairngorm. And found a very similar story with them.

One was Sentry Doors, near Doncaster. And I recently received a message from a former Sentry Doors employee. You can read it here.

That is a very unhappy ex-worker.

And yet it gives a personal insight into the Cairngorm business model we’ve seen in Wales – take over, put in (or buy) accomplices, treat the workers (and customers) like shit, run the company into the ground, grab what you can, do a runner.

The reference made to ‘ESW Knowles’ is to a linked company in Birmingham, that last June changed its name to Sentry Fire Safety Group Birmingham Ltd.

The directors there work for Cairngorm, and this company is covered by the same charge with Oaktree Bank PLC as covers Sentry Doors.

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CONCLUSION

A big part of the problem is that when governments have shovel-loads of cash to throw away on schemes like ECO4, with poor regulation and oversight (if any at all), then such schemes will draw people who, to put it kindly, will be less than honest.

And this will involve both local companies and foreign investors. With the former being used by the latter to grab the loot.

Here’s perhaps a personal example of what I’m talking about. Just last week the leaflet below came through my letter-box.

I phoned the number given, on Sunday, and again yesterday. Both times I got an American voice telling me the number was disconnected. What’s the point of distributing a leaflet with a non-working number?

The QR code links to the website. Which suggests a company called ‘FTCH Wales’. Using the same, unobtainable phone number. The Companies House registration gives the address of a Colwyn Bay solicitor.

(As for the ‘accreditations’ on the bottom – ignore them. Yer pays yer money and yer gets yer little badge, no questions asked. Or you just copy and paste.)

Googling the phone number brought up a link to FTCH Group, in Liverpool, possibly above an Italian eatery. (FTCH stands for First Time Central Heating.) The website provides the following message:

Yeah, I know the feeling.

In view of what happened to Consumer Energy Solutions (Reminder), and given the web of linked companies, some collapsed, the shady foreign investors, the missing money, the cold calling, there should be an official investigation.

But there won’t be.

Because the ‘Welsh Government’ is utterly useless. When it comes to money, business, or running an economy, those virtue-signalling clowns in Corruption Bay have been out of their depth since devolution started on May 6 1999.

They were always easy prey for sharks and shysters. But let’s look ahead.

After the Senedd elections on May 7 Labour will be out of power. Plaid Cymru looks likely to emerge with most seats, but not enough for a majority, so that’ll mean a coalition or some kind of agreement.

Things can only get worse.

A hell of a lot worse.

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2026

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Wales Ruled By The Wampis?

On By JacIn Climate, Colonialism, Environmentalism26 Comments

I am indebted to a good source for introducing me to an outfit I’d never heard of, called Local Partnerships LLP. Here’s the website, and here’s the Companies House entry.

Sticking with the CH filings, we see three names under ‘Officers’. The Designated Members are H M Treasury and the Local Government Association, but the self-styled ‘Welsh Government’ is just a ‘Member’.

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INTRODUCING THE WAMPIS

Let’s start with the Local Partnerships website, which tells us . . .

Our purpose is to help public sector organisations face the ever-increasing challenge of meeting rising demands for services, with shrinking budgets.

Last week Local Partnerships brought out their Wales Annual Impact Report 2025. So let’s go through it, see what joys it offers up.

In Chair Keith Fraser’s Foreword, in the very first paragraph, we read a reference to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Insane legislation, the authorship of which is claimed by privately-educated, globe-trotting climate fanatic, former Assembly Member for Pontypridd, and now good-life smallholder, Jane Davidson.

Though I’m persuaded there was much input from others.

This Act now dictates everything done by the ‘Welsh Government’, public bodies, local authorities, and just about everybody else. Forcing Wales to commit economic suicide on the false premiss that we are threatened by an anthropogenic climate crisis.

But now it gets rather strange. For as the Introduction to the Act itself says:

No disrespect to the Wampis . . . but are we seriously expected to run a complex, post-industrial society by following the example of a Stone Age Amazonian tribe?

And if you’re wondering about “the Seventh Generation Principle“, it also comes from Native Americans, this time the Iroquois, whose territory I believe straddled the eastern border between the USA and Canada.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting the strong whiff of bollocks here with all this “indigenous wisdom“. It echoes all the other ‘wisdom’ and advice attributed to sage old Indians . . . that was made up by LSD-dropping hippies in the 1960s.

Despite the patronising ‘noble savage’ trope being widely debunked it inspires and infuses the 2015 Act; and even though it’s hailed as an “example to the world” . . . the Act remains, eleven years on, an example nobody has been daft enough to follow.

Who’s gonna tell the Wampis!

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GEMS FROM THE REPORT

As I pointed out earlier, on the surface, Local Partnerships describes itself as a body helping public sector organisations. But I don’t think that’s strictly true. Let’s delve into the Report again.

And let’s go to page 11, where we encounter a rather curious juxtaposition:

Sustainable Farming Scheme business case approved for a national, multi-year programme

new National Park in Wales progressed toward designation.

What public sector bodies or small local projects are being aided here?

The Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) is designed to reduce farming in the name of saving the planet. (On the advice of the Wampis?) And it’s being pushed by the ‘Welsh Government’ in its war against the Welsh family farm.

The truth is that it’s a policy to free up land for investors and the wildlife trusts and other bodies said investors control or influence through funding and other means. But this ambition doesn’t confine itself to land. For those behind it want to put a value on everything, including the air we breathe – and then make us pay for it.

The new national park proposed for the north east, provisionally named Glyndŵr National Park, is rejected by local authorities and most people living in the area.

Proven by the fact that in a survey conducted by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) most of the support for the idea came from outside the area affected, even from outside of Wales. And it still only managed 53% backing.

The groups that want the new park are the usual suspects, like the Open Spaces Society, urging its largely English membership to show their support. But this is supposed to be a decision made within Wales.

Despite local objections, and external interference, it seems to be a done deal.

Whatever happened to ‘local democracy’? Well, that concept is only invoked when it supports a pre-determined outcome. Which, in this case, means it’s disregarded.

The SFS crops up again, on page 23. In fact, it gets the whole page. And it’s mentioned again on page 24.

Is Local Partnerships helping with local projects or dictating ‘Welsh Government’ policy?

On page 17 we find a reference to “Re:fit“. Does this refer to what I think it refers to? I suspect it does because later in that same sentence we see ” . . . fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes including Warm Homes, NEST and ECO“.

Was Local Partnerships involved in the ECO4 fiasco that led to the collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions, which I wrote about last month in, ‘Grab The Money And Run!‘?

Climate bullshit in a domestic setting

Next, a remarkable map of where Local Partnerships operates. Now I’m not very good with figures, but I don’t need to do any counting to see that the bulk of the projects being helped and funded are in Cardiff, or within 15 or 20 miles of Corruption Bay.

So many dots that some have to be located out to sea!

Pembrokeshire has a single project! Conwy two. Gwynedd three. Yet this is how devolution works. This is how devolution was always supposed to work. Cardiff gets the lion’s share of everything.

Preferential treatment that even extends to rugby.

Page 17 mentions the UK government’s Climate Change Committee (CCC). I know it describes itself as an “independent advisor“, but that’s a smokescreen.

Here’s a letter from the CCC, in July last year, to Huw Irranca-Davies SM, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs. It says:

We recommended that the Fourth Carbon Budget should be set to require average annual emissions over the five-year period from 2031 to 2035 to be at least 73% lower than the 1990 baseline, including Wales’ contribution to international aviation and shipping.*

I suppose 73% lower than the 1993 baseline is achievable, if you close the odd steelworks, stop people driving cars, etc. But why do we need to make this reduction?

And what the hell is Wales’ contribution to “international aviation and shipping“? Are they suggesting Powys closes Llanfair Caereinion International Airport?

Later in the letter we read:

Carbon units, also known as international carbon credits, represent a reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 (‘the Act’), the Welsh Government has the option to purchase international credits to help meet Wales’ emissions targets.

So not only are we expected to pursue the self-destructive idiocy of Net Zero, and swallow the scientific illiteracy that says CO2 is destroying the planet, but if Wales falls short ‘we’ can buy ‘International carbon credits’ to make up the shortfall.

Where would the ‘Welsh Government’ get these ‘credits’? Has it bought any?

Throughout the Local Partnerships document there’s hardly any reference to jobs, or the economy; just the fabled ‘green economy’, and the equally mythical ‘green jobs’.

Why am I not surprised!

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CONCLUSIONS

It seems to me that the “close cooperation” Local Partnerships claims with the ‘Welsh Government’ means ensuring that Wales follows the Westminster line. It may even mean that Wales is used to test certain ‘initiatives’ before they’re rolled out in England.

So much for devolution, you might say. But again, this was always a purpose for which devolution was intended.

Here’s another thought. One of the two full partners in Local Partnerships LLP is the Local Government Association (LGA) which represents local authorities. Local Partnerships bangs on relentlessly about green energy, and how we must invest in it.

So did the LGA have a role in Welsh local authorities investing £68m of their pension pot in Bute Energy? Will there be further investment?

Finally – and I make no apologies – I’m returning to the Future Generations legislation, and the reference in the Act’s preamble to taking direction from “indigenous wisdom“.

The Act to which all other legislation, initiatives, polices, must submit or conform, and predicated on the claimed ‘wisdom’ of Indian tribes in the Americas.

Or look at it this way . . . What about the genuine wisdom of Welsh farmers, whose families have been on the land for generations? Wisdom that’s more relevant to Wales than that of Wampis and Iroquois.

So why are our farmers ignored, even vilified?

Only a fool, or an enemy of Wales, would ignore our farmers and claim to be guided by those who’ve never heard of Wales. Unfortunately, there are too many fools and enemies dictating what we must do in our country.

Which makes Local Partnerships suspect in my book. So watch out for it in future.

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2026

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Cairngorm Capital – The Kiss Of Death

On By JacIn Corruption, Globalism18 Comments

This is a follow-up to my previous piece on the collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions Ltd (CES), owned by Cairngorm Capital. I suspect CES will be followed by linked companies that have also been taking advantage of the UK government’s ECO4 scheme, due to end in March.

Even before the scheme ends MPs are calling for an investigation into the shambles into which it degenerated. Demanding the Serious Fraud Office be involved.

Cairngorm is a private equity firm using leveraged buyouts. In other words, borrowing money to buy companies, loading the debt onto those companies, bumping up their value, then getting out as quickly as possible with as much loot as they can.

A business practice many regard as unethical, even a form of asset stripping.

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QUICK RECAP

Here’s the group of companies we’ve looked at in earlier posts.

Cairngorm’s arrival was soon followed by loans or Security Accession Deeds with Alter Domus Trustees (UK) Ltd. Which is in turn owned by Alter Domus DCM (UK) Ltd.

A Security Accession Deed is a legal document used to add new parties—such as borrowers, guarantors, or lenders—to an existing security trust deed or loan agreement.

Following the ownership trail brings us – according to latest accounts filed with Companies House – to the Eighth Cinven Fund. Cinven is another private equity firm.

This fund raised $14.5bn. Here’s the Cinven website. Most of the money came from pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. For example, $280m from New York State Common Retirement Fund. A further $167m from California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

It all links up when we see that Alter Domus is listed as one of Cinven’s ‘portfolio companies’. Cinven has offices across Europe, but prefers to be based in, and subject to the easy-going regulations of, Luxembourg and Guernsey.

BlackRock may even be involved.

Alter Domus, the leading global provider of tech-enabled fund services for the private equity, real assets and private debt sectors today appointed Mark Wiseman as Chairman. Mr. Wiseman is the former Head of Active Equities and Chairman of BlackRock’s Alternatives Business, as well as President & CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

All that said, the latest accounts filed with Companies House by Alter Domus DCM (UK) Ltd tell us what you see below:

Cortland is based in Chicago. Which might explain Alter Domus US LLC. Also involved, and mentioned in this 2017 article, is Permira Funds. This latter entity is ultimately owned by Permira Holdings Ltd of Guernsey.

That’s enough links!

So . . . these Welsh companies pocket lots of money from the ECO4 scheme, get involved with Cairngorm Capital, and more money is pumped in from God knows where.

Which could mean that the pension fund to which Minnie Schwarz, retired teacher of Indian Falls, New York State, belongs, may have been used to do Mrs Jones’s cavity wall insulation in Llansamlet.

Cos it’s a small world.

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A LITANY OF ENGINEERED FAILURE

The first link in the chain after our local boys is obviously Cairngorm. And given that these Welsh companies are either already up Shit Creek or heading at full-speed in that direction, I decided to look at other companies with which Cairngorm has become involved.

Mindful of what I found on the Cairngorm Linkedin page.

Going through the Cairngorm website I turned up this list. So, naturally, I checked out these companies.

First, Bromborough Paints. And it’s quite an interesting tale.

Let’s start with this report from October 2022, telling us that Bromborough Paints had got involved with Cairngorm in March 2021. Then, after takeover, it rebranded to Paintwell.

And there were loans taken out. With Cairngorm acting as security agent.

Bromborough Paints had been in business for 60 years. The last accounts before the involvement of Cairngorm show a gross profit of £5.9m (Net profit £1.06m) on a turnover of £16.9m. And total equity of £12.4m.

Finally, Paintwell went into administration and was taken over by Brewers Decorator Centres. It’s alleged there is £30m in unsecured creditor claims.

‘Unsecured creditors’ are often redundant employees, local suppliers, the little people, not institutional lenders.

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Next it’s Building Supplies Online Ltd. If it’s this company, then it was dissolved in September 2023. Though this article from June 2025 mentions CMO Group Ltd, also in Plymouth. CMO began life in June 2021 with a share issue of £50,000.

Against CMO there are two outstanding charges with Clydesdale Bank.

Not sure what’s going on here but, rather like some women I’ve known, it don’t look good from any angle.

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Moving on to E-Zec Medical. (CH entry.) Where, by a long and tortuous ownership route (maybe a dozen companies!) we arrive at Emil W. Henry Jr of 717 Fifth Avenue, Suite 12a, New York, New York, United States. He took control in February 2025.

So who is he? Well, I found this:

Mr. Henry is the CEO and Founder of Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm focused on infrastructure investment opportunities. Prior to founding Tiger Infrastructure Partners, he was Global Head of the Lehman Brothers Private Equity Infrastructure businesses, where he oversaw global infrastructure investments

Here’s the website for Tiger Infrastructure Partners.

Along the way, while chasing the ultimate owner, I noticed loans from Glas Trust. A name that’s cropped up on this blog more than once. Control of Glas Trust probably rests with yet another private equity firm, Levine Leichtman.

The most recently filed accounts for EZEC do not paint a healthy picture.

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No 4 on the list is Grant & Stone Group. Which Cairngorm took over in November 2019. And things looked good, expansion followed.

Grant & Stone is now owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners III LP. I got that from the most recent accounts filed with Companies House, up to 31.12.2023. Companies House is still waiting for the latest accounts.

There are, predictably, two outstanding charges with Alter Domus Trustees (UK) Ltd.

I suspect Grant & Stone is another one about to bite the dust.

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Next up is Independent Builders Merchants Group Ltd. Here’s what Cairngorm has to say. Though it needs updating. Again, two outstanding charges with Alter Domus Trustees (UK) Ltd.

At the time of writing, the accounts are overdue with Companies House.

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Now we move on to MRO+ Solutions Group Ltd. This began life in December 2017 as Cairngorm Acquisitions 5 Bidco Ltd. It’s now owned by two-year-old Zinc Group Topco Ltd. Though ownership ultimately rests with Martin Green.

MRO is now losing money, and there are of course outstanding loans.

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Millbrook Healthcare is the next stop. Bought by Cairngorm in 2019. At the top of the Millbrook ownership pile is Millbrook Healthcare Holdings Ltd, owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP.

To my untrained eye, this is not a company in good financial health.

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Fasten your seatbelts as we look at National Timber Group. This report from just last November might explain where we’re going. However, it seems there was a very recent ‘rescue’ by a Welsh company.

But don’t get carried away, because top of the ownership pile here seems to be National Timber Group Topco Ltd. Owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners II LP. With accounts overdue with Companies House. The most recent accounts filed (y/e 31.12.2023) show turnover dropping and, after returning a small profit in 2022, a whopping loss of £22,738,3045 in 2023!

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On now to Sentry Doors. Sentry Doors Holdings Ltd was Dissolved in July last year. Though other companies in the group, such as Sentry Fire Safety Group Ltd, seem to retain the semblance of life. Though I’m not convinced.

Not clear which is the top company, but I am sure that everything is ultimately owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners II LP.

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The next entry is Verso Wealth Management. Things seem to be chugging along quite nicely. Though I’d watch for the two outstanding charges with Glas Trust.

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The penultimate case study is Whyte Bikes. Here’s the website.

This company was owned by Cairngorm until very recently, then sold to Irish company Causeway Capital. This entry below, listed under ‘Post Balance Sheet Events’ on the most recent accounts suggests the association with Cairngorm was not to Whyte’s advantage.

There are four outstanding charges, two with Cairngorm. So don’t build your hopes up.

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Finally, a comment to my blog directed me to this Linkedin post. It’s worth reading. As are some of the comments. Not least because it gives us yet another company with which Cairngorm Capital has been involved. So let’s check it out.

The company is Customade Group Ltd. Dissolved at the end of 2019. I suggest the name to focus on among the directors is Neil Andrew McGill. Here’s his Linkedin page. And here he is getting a special mention from Cairngorm in December 2018.

McGill is now Group CFO at Verso Wealth, which we looked at just now.

Note the four outstanding charges. Two with Cairngorm.

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So there you have it. The companies Cairngorm gets involved with are rarely unalloyed successes. In fact, there may not be one success among them.

There’s more chance of finding someone in the WRU hierarchy who understands rugby, and knows something about Wales, than there is of finding a Cairngorm success story.

But then, it all depends how you gauge ‘success’. Somebody, somewhere, is making a packet, but it won’t be the workers at the companies getting shafted by Cairngorm. Nor the small local suppliers left with unpaid bills.

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ASSET MANAGEMENT & PRIVATE EQUITY

The financial world in recent decades has seen the rise of those who make nothing, grow nowt, contribute little to the wealth of nations, but become extremely rich, and politically powerful.

I’m referring to asset managers, most of which are US based. The Big Three being BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street. There are many, many others, like Alter Domus and Emil W Henry Jr.

They invest pension funds, personal savings, sovereign wealth funds, and money from other sources, with only one intention – making money. Which may be good news for Minnie Schwarz in Upstate New York, but is often bad news for those at the other end of the chain.

Which always seems to be us.

And while Cairngorm may protest they don’t invest in “distressed companies“, the companies they invest in soon end up in that state.

As for Consumer Energy Solutions, I’m convinced that what happened there couldn’t have been done without the cooperation of some of the directors at CES and the wider group.

So while I support MPs’ call for the Serious Fraud Office to look into the abuse of the ECO4 scheme, I also believe we need our own investigation in Wakes into the collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions and the behaviour of the wider group.

Focusing in particular on certain prominent individuals.

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2026

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Grab The Money And Run!

On By JacIn Corruption Bay, Public Funding, Welsh Business Community31 Comments

In this piece I’m going to look at the collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions (CES) earlier this month, ask what could have gone wrong, and consider what the future might hold.

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BACKGROUND

There is a group of companies in south Wales involved in ‘retrofitting’ homes with cavity wall insulation, solar panels, loft insulation, heat pumps, etc., capitalising on the UK government’s ECO4 and related schemes.

They’ve experienced rapid growth in recent years. Most seem to be still in business, but the largest among them, in terms of turnover and profit, is in administration.

These companies are all owned by Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd, which is in turn owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP, part of the Cairngorm Capital group of Edinburgh.

I’ve written about these companies a couple of times. Most recently with, ‘Corruption Bay’ Living Up To Its Name? just last month. I urge you to read it so you understand better the background. Also, the histories of some of the principals involved.

It’s quite fascinating.

◊

CONSUMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Something I remarked on last month was the huge increase in turnover and profits being reported by CES in its returns to Companies House. Here’s a clip from the most recent accounts (to 31.01.2024) which will explain what I’m talking about.

By any criteria, in any sphere of business, these figures are remarkable. So where did all the money go? And why is CES in administration?

Go to the accounts and scroll down to Note 25, where you’ll see under ‘Related party transactions’ that £74,326,749 came as revenue from City Energy Network. You’ll also see mention of the companies we’ll be looking at in a minute.

The directors who must claim credit for these profits have all now left the company.

The three I wish to focus on are: Ahmud Saleem Furreed, Lewis Edward John, and Stephen Mark Williams. All joined CES 19.01.2016, when the company was formed. They left either in June or September last year.

What are these talents of the retrofitting business up to now?

Before proceeding, it might be worth throwing out there that Furreed is a Labour party donor. I can’t speak for the political affiliations of the other two.

Here’s the Companies House list of Furreed’s companies. I’ll ignore some of the older ones and start with Assure Connect Ltd, where we find the three I’ve just introduced.

This company was formed in September 2019, has filed no accounts, uses as its address the old Evening Post offices in Swansea, and is presumably facing strike-off.

Next up is Majasala Ltd. And now it gets interesting. Formed in March 2023 this company’s ‘investments’ jumped from zero in year ending 31.03.2024 to £4,443,982 in a year! Furreed is the only director and sole shareholder of this ‘management consultancy’.

Though thanks to ‘creditors’ Majasala returned a deficit of £447,961.

Now we turn to WRYL Ltd, also based in the SA1 Waterfront district. This outfit was born 10.03.2023 and buried unmourned 20.08.2024. During its brief existence Furreed, John and Williams were the directors. It filed no accounts.

But before its demise, WRYL was taken over, in March 2024, by View Investments Ltd. Where we find Nicholas Simon Pritchard! (More on Nick later.) View Investments was formed 19.10.2023, yet in is first accounts, 30.10.2024, Pritchard’s company could declare assets of £5,486,684.

Where could it have come from?

We now turn to Secret Squirrel Property Ltd. What a lovely name! Is it a reference to squirrels hiding their nuts? This company was launched 18.11.2024, so it hasn’t needed to file accounts yet.

But a confirmation statement tells us that each of the following owns 1,000 shares: Majasala Ltd (which we’ve already looked at), LEJ Holdings Ltd, and TWE Partnership Ltd. So let’s see what entertainment they can provide.

LEJ Holdings, launched 9 March 2023 is, as the initials suggest, the company of Lewis Edward John. The most recent accounts paint the following picture.

Total assets of over ten million pounds, all arriving between the end of March 2024 and the end of March 2025, but virtually all wiped out by creditors. With the  accounts saying only, “owed to related parties“.

TWE Partnership Ltd paints a similar picture. Some five million pounds in assets, most of it accounted for by ‘debtors’, with creditors leaving just £217,000 in the piggy-bank.

Back to Furreed, and his most recent venture, Claimwise (UK) Ltd. Launched three days before Christmas just past. Four directors; Furreed, a younger man of the same name, perhaps his son, plus his regular partners, John and Williams.

The younger Furreed has a real estate company, JFurreed Property Network Ltd, formed in August last year. And just before Christmas he started up JFurreed Holdings Ltd.

So . . . after the most recent accounts for Consumer Energy Solutions, and before it was announced that the company had gone belly-up, ∼£25,000,000 appeared in the accounts of companies run by the three individuals who’d been directors of CES, and another company that was transferred to Nick Pritchard.

Companies that had virtually, or even literally, nothing before these windfalls.

You can draw your own conclusions on these rags to riches stories.

UPDATE 03.02.2026, RUMBLING ON:

This article is from today’s Western Mail. It also appeared in the Daily Post.

◊

CAIRNGORM CAPITAL PARTHERS AND THE ‘LAST MAN STANDING’

Earlier I wrote, “These companies are all owned by Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd, which is in turn owned by Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP, part of the Cairngorm Capital group of Edinburgh“.

But as the website tells us:

Cairngorm Capital is a specialist private equity firm providing investment capital, strategic insight and sector-specific expertise to leading UK companies. We invest in private mid-market companies that have the potential for further substantial growth.

Which suggests that Cairngorm can act as a conduit between investors looking for “companies that have the potential for further substantial growth” and companies that fit the bill and need investment.

And that might be the case with Consumer Energy Solutions and the linked companies in the group. But if so, then where might the money be coming from to begin with?

After doing work like this for a few years I’ve noticed that ‘background’ companies will often have a representative serve as a director and/or a senior officer within the company invested in to keep an eye on things.

With the retrofitting group we’re looking at, we saw Cairngorm Capital LLP had its representatives in the forms of Matt Anstead, former managing director, and Andrew Steele, managing partner.

Steele succeeded Anstead on the board of holding company Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd just before Anstead left to join Benoil Services Ltd.

When we look at who’s left in the companies subordinate to the Topco, we see one name, the sole director, and that name is Robert Benjamin Nathaniel Brodie. So it’s worth asking if Brodie might be representing someone else. And if so, then who?

One possibility – and admittedly I’m flying a kite here – is the company he left in March 2024, Ensera UK Bidco Ltd. Which for some reason is not listed in his Linkedin page.

This company is owned by Stark UK Topco (Guernsey) Ltd, owner of Jewson, the builders supplier. Which is where it gets a bit messy. For Google AI tells us:

Stark UK Topco (Guernsey) Ltd is part of the larger Stark Group, a major building materials distributor, and is ultimately owned by CVC Capital Partners Fund VII, a global private equity firm that acquired the STARK Group in 2021. CVC manages investments for various global institutions, including pension plans, meaning it’s owned by many investors worldwide. 

And there seems to be little doubt about it. “Fund VII will have over €16 billion of equity capital available to invest. It is the largest European fundraising on record.”, says Simpson Thacher.

Though there has been the odd hiccup.

We are clearly dealing with major investors. And serious money.

But the point is that Brodie was tied up with this lot, then joined the retrofitting companies we’re looking at. So let’s look at when Brodie joined the companies that were out in the field, as it were, doing the work. Which excludes the ‘Dragon’ companies. (Click on date for details.)

In all these companies he is now the sole director. After leaving Ensera UK Bidco Ltd, ultimately owned by CVC Capital partners Fund VII, on March 22, 2024.

Diversity Network Holdings Ltd 28.05.2024.

Advance Energy Services Ltd 28.05.2024.

City Energy Facilities Management Ltd 28.05.2024.

Simply Electric Metering Ltd 28.05.2024.

City Training Group Ltd 28.05.2024.

Consumer Energy Solutions Ltd 31.05.2024.

City Energy Network Ltd 24.06.2024.

Heatforce (Wales) Ltd 01.07.2024.

Still clutching the string of my ever-so-pretty kite . . . Robert Benjamin Nathaniel Brodie could be representing those behind CVC Capital Partners Fund VII, who’ve been investing in these Welsh companies through Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP.

If I’m wrong, then why did Brodie get involved in the first place, and why is he the last man in the wheelhouse when everybody else has abandoned these sinking ships?

UPDATE 20.01.2026: A fresh comment to my earlier post on these companies suggests that getting involved with Cairngorm often results in going bust. So I checked. And it’s true. Here’s what I put out on X.

◊

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

Earlier I mentioned Nicholas Pritchard, Bangor City ultra, businessman. To help you appreciate what a busy boy he’s been, I compiled a list of companies he’s been involved with for the piece I put out last month. Here it is.

There have been a few developments.

When writing last month’s piece I was particularly intrigued by Pritchard’s involvement with the company Quidos of Bath which, as you’ll see from the image below, provides both training and accreditation.

Some might think that a company wanting to take advantage of government schemes, and then send out untrained – but ‘accredited’ – operatives to do sub-standard work, would find a company like Quidos attractive.

There is now a long list of Quidos companies, some even giving Welsh addresses. Such as Quidos AI Ltd, Quidos Capital Ltd, Quidos Facilities Ltd, and Quidos Protect Ltd. These new companies or acquisitions were launched, or changed name, less than a year ago.

Control is often exercised through Quidos Holdings, or another Pritchard company giving an Essex address, where Quidos Group Ltd is based. Just look at who’s funding Quidos Group – Pritchard himself and View 2 Investments Ltd.

The latter, a company set up in October 2024, is due to be struck off by Companies House for not filing a confirmation statement.

Think about it . . . View 2 Investments, set up 29.10.2024, is lending money to another Pritchard company, Quidos Group, formed April 2024, and giving a Romford, Essex address, to buy substantial semi-detached properties in Holyhead!

Another Pritchard company giving an Essex address is Hathaway House Holdings Ltd.

In the address given for a number of Pritchard companies you will have seen the name ‘Bodlondeb’ a few times. This is the fine old council building in Conwy, now leased to Quidos Investments Ltd.

I wonder what Pritchard has planned for the old pile?

Enough! I’m going giddy.

◊

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Let’s think again about the 25 million quid we looked at earlier; will Furreed, John, Williams and Pritchard really be keeping it, or is it going somewhere else? Maybe after they’re taken their cut?

And let’s not forget they have shares.

The three CES directors were paying themselves big salaries, and also paying CES money into their private companies. It was probably the same throughout the group. And “close family members” were recruited as “subcontractors“.

But beyond the financial, there are other considerations.

Not least, the customers left in the lurch. With shoddy work that needs fixing, or jobs that have simply been left unfinished. Disgruntled customers even have a website. Here’s how it reported ‘The Collapse of Consumer Energy Solutions‘.

One homeowner with whom we are in contact felt forced to sell their home after the devastating impact of a CES install. Another was moved into a care home pending restoration of their heating. And another family with an ill child claims to have been temporarily rehoused by their local authority

We’ve looked at the possible role of Quidos in training and accrediting those who worked for CES. But what about TrustMark, which seems to be funded and owned by the very companies it should be monitoring?

And local authorities that put companies like CES on their ‘Approved’ list? We know that Ahmud Saleem Furreed is a Labour party donor in the Merthyr Tydfil & Aberdare constituency, are there other political connections?

The reason for the collapse of CES and the other companies is almost certainly the impending end of the ECO4 scheme, scheduled for March 31. With so much public money having been allocated, there should be a forensic investigation of whether the money was well spent.

Seeing as we’ve been looking at Welsh companies that operate across the UK, and have gained a bad reputation, for themselves and for Wales, it should be a matter of concern for our politicians. And our media.

But our politicians are virtue-signalling clowns who spend most of their time trying to outdo each other in Wokery. While our media regurgitates their vapid utterances, trying to make us believe such laughable posturing will do anything to improve the real world we poor mortals inhabit.

There should now be a thorough investigation into what went wrong with CES and associated companies. But it won’t happen. There may be attempts to put right the botched work, the unfinished jobs – which will use up more public money.

But otherwise, there’ll be little more than hand-wringing and platitudes.

That’s due to the fact that too many of those who should have been monitoring the activities of these companies, protecting the public interest, were either negligent, or complicit.

Because that, gentle reader, is the state we’re in.

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2026

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‘Corruption Bay’ Living Up To Its Name?

On By JacIn Climate, Colonialism, Development Bank of Wales, Labour Party36 Comments

This is a big post, in two ways. First, because there’s a lot of money involved. And second, because an incredible claim I stumbled upon throws up a very disturbing possibility.

◊

HITTING THE BIG TIME (REVISITED)

In July I wrote about companies in south east Wales being bought out and having lots of money pumped into them. You’ll find it here; ‘Saving The Planet – The Globalist Way!’.

These companies are involved in, “energy efficiency“; which means ‘retrofitting’ homes with solar panels, cavity wall insulation, heat pumps, loft insulation, that kind of thing.

They’re all linked under the holding company Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd. From the most recent accounts submitted to Companies House here’s a list of the companies owned.

And here’s my table of the interlinked companies and individuals involved, in pdf format with working links. (And helpful notes!)

The majority shareholding in Dragon 2023 Topco lies with Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP of Edinburgh. Part of the Cairngorm group of companies. Dragon 2023 Topco’s directors are: Robert Brodie; Chris McLain; Andrew Steel, managing partner of Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP; and Jonathan Neale.

Steel is also named as the controlling interest.

Another key player is, or was, Matt Anstead, managing director of Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP. Below is a clip from Anstead’s Linkedin page.

You’ll see Anstead joined Cairngorm around the time they took over the Welsh companies. Was he brought in for that job? And was the takeover funded with three loans in 2024 from Metro Bank?

Funding to the companies themselves comes from Alter Domus, a company registered in Luxembourg, that seeks ‘alternative investments’, and was recently taken over itself by another private equity firm Cinven.

What’s really behind it is, as ever, money. Local companies expand thanks to the UK government ECO4 scheme, making them attractive to bigger fish; while also offering opportunities for others to profit from investing in these companies and then claiming to be saving the planet in some way.

There are obviously pay-offs for those who’ve been previously involved in the companies, and of course jobs are created; but as ever – this being socialist Wales – the real money leaves the country.

I make that point because, as you should know by now, I support the capitalist model, and I have no objections to profits being made. But as a Welshman, and a nationalist, it pisses me off to see the profits leave Wales.

Wasn’t devolution supposed to improve things?

Before pushing on maybe I should remind you that July’s post was in two parts. One dealt with the companies taken over by Cairngorm Capital; the other with companies in the same area, and the same line of business, that were taken over by Buckthorn Partners LLP of Jersey.

Maybe I’ll return to this second lot another day.

◊

NICK PRITCHARD

Now we’re going to look at another man with a role in (he certainly benefitted from) the takeovers we just looked at. Though it’s not always easy to figure it out.

If the name rings a bell, it might be because Pritchard appeared in a Nation.Cymru article a few weeks back written by Martin ‘Shippo’ Shipton. It recounted Pritchard’s conviction in 2010 for growing cannabis, or providing premises where it might be grown.

So why bring it up now? Because Pritchard is associated with Reform UK, and may wish to stand for the UK parliament. This interest in his past is another sign of the desperate establishment that recently sent down Nathan Gill for something he said in 2018, and is now hunting for people Nigel Farage might have thrown milk over in kindergarten.

All done because the Globalist elite, and the political and media establishments they control, are getting worried by the rise of the ‘far right’ across the Western world. And so, as a mouthpiece for the Corruption Bay Uniparty, Nation.Cymru must get stuck in . . . or risk losing its ‘Welsh Government’ funding.

That said, Nick Pritchard is an interesting character; he seems to be a bit of a Jack the Lad, always looking for ways to make money. Nothing wrong with that as long as you stay on the sunny side.

But things never seem to be simple with Pritchard. Take this piece from Ideas Fest promoting his appearance at some event next year (my highlighting):

In 2013, Nick founded City Energy Network, an innovative energy efficiency consultancy based in Cardiff. The company specialises in the full retrofit journey from initial consultation to the implementation of the renewable measures recommended, his group of companies plan, and installs energy efficiency and low carbon measures for both homes and businesses and also specialises in Local Authority large scale projects.

But it makes no sense.

For a start, City Energy Network Ltd (CEN) was formed in 2011, but Pritchard’s name never appeared as a director or a shareholder. Perhaps because, Pritchard, sent down in 2010 for three-and-a-half years, would have been in prison when CEN was formed.

And what’s included in “the group of companies“?

Seeing as 2013 is mentioned by Ideas Fest, Pritchard may have been represented by one or both of Nicola Vaughan and Michelle Roberts, who became CEN directors 31.01.2014.

But even after he was released from prison I’m fairly sure Pritchard would have been disqualified from acting as a director for a few years. If he was operating through Roberts and / or Vaughan at CEN then “proxy management” is a criminal offence.

Coinciding with the arrival of Roberts and Vaughan all 100 CEN shares were transferred to Diversity Network Holdings Ltd (DNH), which Roberts and Vaughan had joined 28.01.2014. Pritchard didn’t become a director until April 2020.

A declaration dated 28.01.2015 shows the 100 DNH shares now distributed thus:

Though Pritchard did join Diversity Network Ltd 14.05.2012, which might have been not long after he was out of prison. And surely disqualified? Also directors were Michelle Roberts and Shelley Roberts.

There are other anomalies I could point out. Check names, DoB, dates.

When he was sent to prison Pritchard was reported to be in the “lettings business” in Bangor and other parts of north west Wales. He’s from Bangor, passionate about the local football club, he serves on the city council, so how and why did he get involved with companies in a totally different line of business at the opposite end of the country?

Hoping to make sense of it on a wet night with no football on the telly, I compiled a list of the companies Pritchard’s been involved with. Here it is, with the company name serving as a hyperlink.

You’ll see three company names in yellow blocks. These are also found in the previous table I linked to, showing the companies taken over by Cairngorm Capital. His past involvement with these companies perhaps accounts for Pritchard’s sizeable share allocation in holding company Dragon 2023 Topco Ltd.

You’ll see other individuals there with sizeable shareholdings. All have been involved with the companies we’re looking at. And Ahmud Saleem Eamon Furreed is a Labour party donor. (There may be other donors.)

Obviously, companies doing the kind of work we’re looking at need a stamp of approval, some accreditation. From a company like Quidos of Bath. And as you can see if you scroll down on that link, you have to pay for it.

But Pritchard now seems to own Quidos through year-old Quidos Holdings Ltd!

It could make life easier when you’ve got big stakes in companies ‘retrofitting’ and you also own a company that’ll give them a certificate to put up on the office wall saying they know what they’re doing.

Though many would disagree. Such as those involved with this website. Or those who gave these reviews to a company that’s among the clutch bought up by Cairngorm.

And we’ve all heard tales of cavity wall insulation resulting in damp and other horrors. I could tell you my own story.

You might have noticed that in some of his most recent business ventures Pritchard has been joined by celeb economist Dylan Jones-Evans.

What the hell is that about?

◊

WHERE IT GETS WEIRD

While researching this article I stumbled upon a remarkable letter addressed to Paul Davies AS/SM, in his capacity as chair of the Senedd Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee.

It gets included in this piece because I’m convinced there’s a connection to what you’ve just read. Anyway, here’s the (redacted) letter. I urge you to read it carefully and consider what it alleges.

After reading it I last Monday I e-mailed Paul Davies asking what had happened to the complaint. Here’s his response. (The links don’t work as there’s an issue with linking to pdf docs created from e-mails.)

So here’s the link to the report on the DBW he references (Section 9).

I asked if I could use his response and he agreed.

I would have tried to contact the complainant, but one problem was that I believe he’s moved from his original address. The other reason will be given later.

What the letter alleges is that the complainant (hereinafter referred to as ‘A’) came up with a good idea, and was doing quite well . . .

The company grew quickly and gained significant market traction with companies such as Sainsburys Supermarkets and BT Openreach.

But presumably needing to expand, ‘A’ in 2017 applied to Finance Wales (now Development Bank of Wales) for a loan. That’s when things started going wrong.

Not only does ‘A’ claim he had to take on “a bank-appointed expert”, and pay that ‘expert’ £150,000 pa, but . . .

Less than 1 year later, I was accused of taking “unauthorised funds” from the company’s bank account and sacked.

This happened to be just 1 month after my refusal to sell the business to BT Group.

I lost my job, my shares (approx £3.8m at that time), my patent (£13m-£17m valuation) and was forced to go bankrupt in September 2018.

Is the complainant suggesting a link between him refusing to sell up to the BT Group and the criminal charges that soon followed?

Things got even worse. ‘A’ was arrested, tried at Swansea Crown Court – but was acquitted by the jury. (Which might explain why the Labour government in Westminster wants trials without juries.)

To add insult to injury . . .

To note, after my dismissal the business was moved from Lampeter . . . where we employed up to 17 local people to Cardiff. Where they employed only 3.

After the business moved to Cardiff, both [name redacted] and [name redacted] set up new battery storage business, using my invention, and even got further funding from DBoW for these copy cat companies.

That is one hell of a story. And yet, if you think about it, the danger of such an outcome is always there. Just imagine . . .

Dai Schmuck out in the sticks comes up with a good idea, but he needs money to expand. So he goes to the Development Bank of Wales. They appoint ‘advisors’, who may move in the same circles as the bank officials who give them the gig.

The DBW admits to appointing the same favourites as ‘advisors’ again and again.

In a follow up letter to the Committee’s session with the Bank, the Chief Executive noted that it did re-appoint the same people
multiple times if it thought that person was a good match and had capacity.

Though an unscrupulous ‘advisor’ might say to himself: “Hang on, this bloke’s got a good idea – let’s nick it and make a fortune“. It’s a sweet system, but only if you’re well connected in Corruption Bay.

I could tell you more, but I’d be sticking my scrawny neck out. What I will say is that as I know the name of the company ‘A’ is referring to I can probably identify those he claims ripped him off.

From what I can see, ‘A’s allegations seem to have been kicked into the long grass. Maybe nobody in Corruption Bay wants to know the truth. Or perhaps they don’t want us to know the truth.

But the real twist is that ‘A’ is now teamed up with Nick Pritchard. And this happened soon after he started making waves with his letter to Andrew Davies.

What the hell is that about?

◊

CONCLUSION

We need an independent investigation into the Development Bank of Wales.

In particular, we need to know how it chooses ‘advisors’ for small companies needing help. We also need to know the conditions imposed on those companies. And the behaviour expected of the ‘advisors’.

But then, it’s unlikely anyone will get straight answers. Because Wales is corrupt.

All devolution has done is give Labour more chances to be corrupt, more money to squander, while also providing more opportunities for cronyism. Third sector outfits, pressure groups (closed to non-socialists), are funded to fight problems that don’t exist.

Sinecures and non-jobs for insiders proliferate.

In recent decades Labour’s joined forces with Plaid Cymru. Together, they’ve built a fortress they see as a bastion from where they combat racists, homophobes, climate deniers, Islamophobes, a white supremacist countryside, misinformation, and colonialist Welsh cakes!

In truth, it’s ‘Corruption Bay’, and its enemies are honesty and openness.

Because what they get up to must be kept secret. This explains why Corruption Bay is unique in the Western world in refusing to have a register of lobbyists. “Why do you need to know?”

But I’m forgetting Cairngorm Capital, Nick Pritchard and the rest . . . here we have a man with a ‘colourful’ past, dubious associates, now teamed up with Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, who’s often critical of the DBW. Pritchard also teamed up with ‘A’ soon after ‘A’s complaint against DBW was heard.

What the hell is that about?

Answers on a postcard please. (I will not accept diagrams or flowcharts.)

♦ end ♦

© Royston Jones 2025