Report lifts lid on Liverpool firm’s role in Unite corruption scandal

Flanagan Group, the company appointed to build a hotel and conference centre in Birmingham, overcharged Unite by “at least £30m”, according to an internal investigation by the union.

Flanagan Group has previously blamed “radical changes to design and working practices” for the cost increases, according to the BBC.

Unite the Union’s interim report into allegations of historical corruption under the leadership of former general secretary Len McCluskey states that the main contractor appointed to build the Birmingham complex was owned by “good friends” of McCluskey.

Sections of the report are redacted, including the name of the main contractor, due to an ongoing police investigation. However, it is known that Flanagan Group was the company behind the construction of the complex.

Read the full report 

The report also states that an investigation of Unite emails shows that Flanagan Group “arranged football final tickets and flights, including at least one private jet flight, for McCluskey”.

McCluskey’s lawyers told the BBC he paid for his own travel in full, and, to his recollection, always paid the cost of his football tickets.

The Unite report states that Flanagan Group was appointed on the Birmingham project following “apparently no tendering process, despite no experience of this kind, and a record of failures in previous Unite projects”.

The union estimates that the project came in more than £70m over budget, attributing at least £30m of this to overcharging by the contractor. The final build cost was more than £110m. An independent valuation found it was only worth £38m, according to the report. The project is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, according to Unite.

Julian and Paul Flanagan, the owners and founders of Flanagan Group, are awaiting trial for bribery as part of Operation Aloft, a Merseyside Police Investigation into allegations of corruption at Liverpool City Council.

Place North West contacted Flanagan Group but was unable to speak to anyone for comment.