London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Firm 'linked to Matt Hancock's family' given £5,500,000 mobile testing contract

Firm 'linked to Matt Hancock's family' given £5,500,000 mobile testing contract

A firm believed to have links to Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s family has been awarded a £5.5million contract to provide mobile coronavirus testing units.

A deal was struck with EMS Healthcare, whose chairman Iain Johnston is said to be a former business contact of Hancock’s mum and stepdad, Shirley and Robert Carter, the Byline Times reports.

Details of the deal, published yesterday, show the company, based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, was awarded a contract for £5,462,150 to supply the testing units to the Department of Health and Social Care.

The contract began on September 15 this year and is due to end on September 14, 2021.

There is no evidence to suggest Hancock or his family were involved in the arrangement of the contract.

But news of the deal comes as ministers face increasing scrutiny over ‘cronyism’.

Shadow Commons leader and MP for Walsall South Valerie Vaz recently called on the Government to probe contracts awarded and their links to the Conservative Party.


Matt Hancock speaks at a Downing Street press conference yesterday


The My Little Crony map shows the web of contracts between the Government, MPs and their pals


The ‘My Little Crony’ map shows how large numbers of contracts have been given to Tory political donors, family members and employees during the Covid-19 crisis.

Another investigation revealed how some companies and individuals had made millions as a result of the UK’s desperate scramble for PPE at the start of the pandemic.

The fiasco saw British firms respond to the call for a national effort to produce the protective equipment – only to be told it was no longer needed.

Mr Johnston and Mr Carter previously worked together as directors at GB Mailing Systems, which specialises in verifying individuals’ locations, from when the company was founded in 1989 until the early 2000s.

Mrs Carter is listed as a company secretary between 1989 and 1994.

Both businessmen are also said to have worked together at another now-dissolved firm, GB Datacare, from 1996.

On its website, EMS Healthcare said: ‘Our mobile medical units are at the heart of what we do, the frontline of our mobile healthcare business.’

A Department of Health spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘With more than 700 test sites now in operation including over 250 mobile sites, NHS Test & Trace is helping to break the chains in transmission of coronavirus.

‘Ministers are not involved in procurement decisions or contract management and to suggest otherwise is wholly inaccurate.

‘We continue to ensure all contracts are awarded in line with procurement regulations and transparency guidelines.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×