Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Robert Jenrick, a frontrunner for leadership of the Conservative party, has accepted a further donation from the company that took a loan from an untraceable firm based in the British Virgin Islands, amid ongoing questions about the ultimate source of funds. The Spott Fitness has now given Jenrick £100,000. The firm is his single biggest donor, although he’s had plenty of others. Since July’s election the Newark MP has declared donations totalling £339,000 – the highest for an individual representative. A fortnight ago, Tortoise revealed that The Spott Fitness, which has no employees and is more than £300,000 in debt, had received a loan from Centrovalli, a business registered in the British Virgin Islands. Questioned repeatedly about the cash last weekend, Jenrick insisted it was a “normal” donation, and that he had “registered it in the correct legal manner”.
On Monday Phillip Ullmann, who has previously donated directly to the Tory MP John Hayes, outed himself as the source of the money, saying The Spott Fitness was “part of my family’s group of businesses”.
Ullmann said in a statement: “I don’t want there to be any suggestion that I’m hiding anything, and I understand the importance of donor transparency. So I’m happy to confirm my connection to Spott.”
However, Ullmann’s name does not appear on the list of people with significant control in The Spott Fitness at Companies House. Neither is he listed as a director at any point in the company’s history.
A spokesperson for Jenrick told Tortoise that Ullmann’s connection to Spott could be traced through Centrovalli Ltd, which took a stake in the company last December, a month before the loan was transferred. However, information about the company on the BVI register is not publicly available. Ullmann could not be reached for further comment.
Earlier this week, Labour called on the Electoral Commission to investigate the donation. A spokesperson told Tortoise it was still considering whether to do so.
Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations for Transparency International UK, said serious questions remained about the provenance of the funds, “which grow in significance every time Spott Fitness Limited makes a new donation”.
Even though Ullmann has identified himself as having made the contributions through the company, Goodrich said it was reasonable to ask how this was possible when the individual in question appears nowhere on the business' paperwork.
“BVI companies are notoriously opaque, so the public cannot know who owns Centrovalli without it being declared on the UK corporate register.”
