Dear North East Procurement Organisation,

I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, the information detailed below in sections 1, 2 and 3.

The financial model for Bloom Procurement Services Ltd, is that the Public Sector organisations pay Bloom Procurement Services Ltd when a service is delivered in whole or in part, Bloom Procurement Services Ltd then pay the supplier who delivered the services in whole or in part. This means at any period of time Bloom Procurement Services Ltd has received millions of pounds of public funds for services delivered by other third parties and has not paid the supplier who has delivered the service.

Bloom Procurement Services Ltd is now wholly owned by V4 UK Holdings Ltd (31 March 2019 Annual Account), with the other trading company being V4 Services Ltd with the controlling person of all companies being Mr A. J. Adams.

Bloom Procurement Services Ltd, represents in excess of 99% of revenue for the total group of companies and a material amount of that expenditure is transacted through the NEPRO contracts and specifically NEPRO2. Bloom Procurement Services Ltd have a total amount inter-group debt of £1,147,621 (31 March 2019 Annual Accounts), this has increased from £238,226 (31 March 2019 Annual Accounts). It is clear that the group companies are substantially dependent upon Bloom Procurement Services Ltd and that there are material inter-group transactions, it also follows that all Statutory Director benefits and renumeration, in whatever form and from whatever group company, are also materially dependent upon Bloom Procurement Services Ltd. Hence some of the following request for information relate to the V4 UK Holdings Ltd and the entire group of companies and other freedom of information requests focus solely upon Bloom Procurement Services Ltd.

The following information includes basic management and financial management information that any company should be reporting against on a regular basis and should involve no overhead to retrieve from standard management and financial management systems and/or should already be known by a Contracting Authority managing a substantial contract on behalf of the Public Sector.

Section 1
For Bloom Procurement Services Ltd relating to financial years April 2015 to March 2016; April 2016 to March 2017; April 2017 to March 2018: April 2018 to September 2019:
1. What was the total Public Sector spend invoiced using NEPRO2 for each of the financial years or part year including commission?
2. What is the contractual obligation under NEPRO2 for Bloom Procurement Services Ltd to pay suppliers that have completed in whole or in part services received by the Public Sector customer?
3. How much commission was paid to NEPO for each of the financial years or part year?
4. What was the minimum, maximum and average amount of Public Sector funds held by Bloom prior to paying suppliers for each of the financial years or part year?
5. What was the minimum, maximum and average number of creditor and debtor days for each of the financial years or part year?
6. What specific measures of performance, including quality of outcomes, quality of services provided, and customer satisfaction have NEPO been monitoring as part of contract management for each of the financial years or part year?
7. What is the aggregate trend for each of these measures of performance for each of the financial years or part year and how are they baselined and reviewed?
8. What was the average rate of employee turnover, excluding Statutory Directors for each of the financial years or part year?

Section 2
For V4 UK Holdings Ltd (incorporating all group companies) relating to financial years April 2015 to March 2016; April 2016 to March 2017; April 2017 to March 2018: April 2018 to September 2019:
1. What financial analysis, assessment and ongoing monitoring have NEPO undertaken during NEPRO2 with regards to V4 UK Holdings Ltd for each of the financial years or part year?
2. Have NEPO undertaken any analysis or assessment of the total renumeration, including expenses, hospitality, dividends, exceptional payments, loans, salary, bonuses and pension contributions (and any other form of renumeration) paid to the Statutory Directors and family members in aggregate for each of the financial years or part year to ensure these are proportionate and reasonable in light of the Public Funds being spent and the published accounts during the contractual period of NEPRO2?

Section 3
1. What financial monitoring and review processes did NEPO undertake throughout the contract management of NEPRO2?
2. What financial assessment has NEPO undertaken following the publication of the various group and group company accounts for 31 March 2019?
3. Specifically, with regards to the published accounts of Bloom Procurement Services Ltd, dated 31 March 2019, what assessment has been undertaken with regards to the Balance Sheet and specifically page 21, notes 10 and 11 detailing the debtor and creditor position?
4. Did NEPO ever formally raise any financial concerns with Bloom Procurement Services Ltd, if so when, what are they and how have they been addressed?
5. What safeguards have NEPO implemented to ensure that suppliers are protected from late payment or the potential of non-payment?
6. What financial analysis and monitoring are NEPO undertaking during NEPRO3 and for which Group entities?
7. What detailed financial due diligence did NEPO undertake prior to awarding NEPRO3 to Bloom Procurement Services Ltd for V4 UK Holdings Ltd and Bloom Procurement Services Ltd?

Yours faithfully, Mrs Franklin

Dear NEPO Governance,

You indicated a response would be provided on or before 3rd January, no response has been provided to date. Could you please confirm when a response will be provided?

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Franklin