There have been reports of overcrowding, bed bug infestations and a lack of privacy in Clearsprings accommodation.
Graham King, whose firm Clearsprings Ready Homes holds £1bn in Home Office contracts to house asylum seekers, has now become a billionaire.
King, who has previously donated money to the Conservative Party, has received complaints from residents in Clearsprings accommodation over overcrowding, bedbugs, substandard food, and a lack of privacy.
Last year, the companies’ profits rose to £91 million, from £62 million the year before.
The Times noted that King made his debut on the Rich List only last year when he appeared at No 221 with £750 million. This year, he ranks 154 with a reported fortune of £1.015 billion.
Migrant Help, a charity supporting refugees, has received numerous complaints about Clearsprings-managed accommodation. In 2022 alone, the charity submitted 348 complaints to Clearsprings on behalf of service users.
Clearsprings recently lost a contract with Slough Borough Council, which had been managed by one of its subcontractors.
Angela Eagle, the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, stated in the Commons that the contract was terminated due to “significant elements of one of Clearsprings Ready Homes subcontractors’ behaviour and performance falling short of the standards expected from a Government supplier.”
A recent Open Democracy investigation found that Clearsprings paid £17.1m in consultancy fees to a UAE-based firm Bespoke Strategy Solutions (BSS).
However, they found that UAE corporate records show that BSS was founded years after Clearsprings said it made its first payment to the firm in 2018/19.
Registered founder of BSS, Swati Naidu, said the company was established in 2022 and stated: “I am the sole shareholder, director, manager, with no connections to whoever this Graham King is.”
Clearsprings is still yet to clarify the ownership of BSS and explain why it cannot be found on the UAE corporate register.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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