London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 03, 2025

Second Cabinet Office adviser hired by Greensill while in civil service

Second Cabinet Office adviser hired by Greensill while in civil service

David Brierwood joined David Cameron’s government in 2014 and two months later was recruited to Greensill Capital

A second Cabinet Office adviser was hired by Greensill Capital while working for the civil service, raising further questions over revolving doors between the government and the scandal-hit firm.

Former Morgan Stanley banker David Brierwood was brought into the heart of government during David Cameron’s administration in 2014, the same year Greensill’s founder Lex Greensill apparently took on a similar role. Two months later, Brierwood was recruited to join Greensill Capital’s board as a director.

Brierwood remained a Greensill director throughout the rest of his Whitehall appointment, which lasted more than three and a half years, according to his LinkedIn profile, which also showed that he resigned from the supply chain finance firm in February this year.

On Tuesday it emerged that the government’s chief commercial officer, Bill Crothers, had joined Greensill while remaining a civil servant – in a move sanctioned by the Cabinet Office. The revelation prompted alarm within No 10 over the growing scandal.

It came as Downing Street started to lose control of its grip on the response to the saga. Three select committees announced probes into the scheme, which is likely to mean cabinet ministers such as the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and health secretary, Matt Hancock, will be asked to give public evidence.

Brierwood, who advised on government procurement and its management of suppliers, was part of a new breed of “crown representatives” within the Cabinet Office – management consultants and corporate experts meant to help the government liaise with the private sector and identify ways to save money.

Within months of joining the Cabinet Office in October 2014, he was recruited to join Greensill Capital’s board as a director.

He was one of a string of former officials and paid representatives in the Cabinet Office and wider government – including former primer minister David Cameron, former home secretary David Blunkett, former homelessness tsar Dame Louise Casey and Crothers – that Greensill targeted for hire. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Greensill’s hires.

Nick Davies, programme director at the Institute for Government, said the revelation about Brierwood raised further questions about the inadequacy of impartiality rules at the heart of government.

“Crown representatives play an important role managing the relationship between government and key suppliers,” he said.

“Whether or not individuals breached the rules, Greensill clearly thought it would benefit from hiring a network of people with senior positions in the Cabinet Office.

“The inadequacy of current rules means that we can’t be sure whether government decisions have been shaped through private channels by those with a financial interest in the outcome.”

Labour’s Rachel Reeves said there were growing questions about Greensill’s reach.

“We’ve been saying Tory sleaze is back, but in many ways it seems it never really went away,” she said.

“Revelations like this keep growing the web of the Greensill scandal, and show us how much the Conservatives have weakened the measures meant to keep cronyism and conflicts of interest in government in check.”

Crown representatives, which can be part-time roles, work within the Cabinet Office and take charge of the relationship with large suppliers across government, to act as a single point of contact for the whole of government.

Unlike full-time civil servants, they are more likely to have other roles in the private sector. Lex Greensill was described as a crown representative, though that title has raised eyebrows in Whitehall. “It is not the kind of job you can combine while running your own major international company,” one source said.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Crown representatives do not participate in the procurement process nor are they able to award any contracts.

“They are part-time senior executives recruited for their working knowledge of a sector to help ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

“All crown representatives go through regular propriety checks and cannot work with a supplier where there could be a conflict of interest. Mr Brierwood’s crown representative role was not anything to do with supply chain finance.”

The revelation came as the business appointments watchdog said that Crothers had breached rules by failing to declare a trustee role he took up within a year of leaving office.


On Thursday, Lord Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), wrote to Cabinet Officer minster Michael Gove to say that Crothers had broken rules that require ministers and ex-civil servants to declare any paid or unpaid role taken within two years of leaving office.

Crothers worked in Whitehall for eight years, including as the government’s chief commercial officer overseeing £40bn of annual government spending.

It emerged on Tuesday that he started advising Greensill two months before he left the civil service in November 2015, with approval from the Cabinet Office. He became a Greensill board member in August 2016 and accrued a shareholding estimated to be worth $8m (£5.8m) in 2019.

Crothers became an unpaid trustee of the industry body, the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, in November 2016 but did not inform Acoba at the time.

In a letter informing Acoba of the breach, Crothers said: “I am afraid that when appointed, I did not think that Acoba approval was required due to it not being a not-for-profit charity and an unpaid trustee role. I am sorry for this honest mistake.”

Crothers separately contested that he had misled Acoba when it was asked to issue advice on plans to launch his independent consultancy firm, Commercial Common Sense, nearly a year after it was incorporated in September 2015. He said all the business conducted over that year was linked to invoices that had already been approved. The Guardian has attempted to contact Brierwood.

On Thursday, Downing Street was forced to defend the Conservative peer Francis Maude, who is implementing changes in Whitehall for Boris Johnson.

Maude, who runs his own consulting firm – which he set up with Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Simone Finn – recruited Crothers to the Cabinet Office during the Cameron administration and contracted him to work for his firm, Francis Maude Associates, after leaving office.

Downing Street rebuffed calls for Maude to step back from his role in the Cabinet Office while an independent inquiry into the lobbying scandal, chaired by the corporate lawyer Nigel Boardman, is carried out.

“This is an individual who brings a huge amount of relevant experience to this role,” Johnson’s spokesperson said.


No 10 had hoped to contain the response to the growing scandal by launching the Boardman inquiry where evidence can be given in private, though Johnson said it would have “carte blanche” to recommend changes.

But mounting pressure meant three select committees of MPs announced plans to carry out their own probe. The public administration and constitutional affairs committee formally announced on Thursday morning it would conduct a full inquiry into lobbying rules.

The Treasury select committee said it would look at the appropriateness of Sunak and Treasury officials’ responses to Cameron’s lobbying efforts and regulatory lessons from the collapse of Greensill Capital last month.

On Thursday, the public accounts committee, chaired by Labour MP Meg Hillier, announced it would launch an inquiry into supply chain financing and Covid corporate financing facilities – the fund to which Cameron hoped to gain access on behalf of Greensill. The former prime minister will be invited to give evidence.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
×