Non-profit organisation the Good Law Project is suing the UK government for awarding PestFix a £108 million contract to supply it with personal protective equipment (PPE) at the height of the coronavirus outbreak.
PestFix was the only bidder competing for the contract in early April, according to the Good Law Project, which issued proceedings for judicial review at the High Court yesterday.
The Good Law Project said the size of the contract, apparent lack of advertising, and the fact that there was only one bidder competing for it, led it to submit a series of questions to the government for answer.
The Good Law Project said that it had spoken with a “big market participant” which told them that “no one in the market knew that the contract was up for grabs”.
It also said the purchase order for was issued on April 10, “three days before the contract was concluded”.
Pestfix has defended its contract with the government.
It told the Financial Times yesterday: “We are a success story. We have not been sitting around on social media casting around for equipment; we had a thriving supply chain with China before the contract. We have nearly fulfilled our NHS contract and supplied over 67 million pieces of equipment.”
