Latest news with #Kilgour
Evening Standard
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Evening Standard
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe granted Freedom of the City
Ms Kilgour, a lifelong supporter and a season ticket holder at St James' Park, said: 'Eddie Howe will forever be a hero to Newcastle United supporters for his achievements during his time at the club so far, and I'm thrilled members recognised the significance of his contribution to our city by approving to bestow upon him the Honorary Freedom of Newcastle.
The Courier
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Courier
Dundee care boss says Keir Starmer is playing politics with vulnerable people
A Dundee care home boss says Sir Keir Starmer's changes to the UK's immigration system will force operators to reduce the number of council-funded places. The prime minister unveiled plans on Monday to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas. It prompted outcry from social care sector leaders who say they are reliant on foreign labour. Dr Robert Kilgour, chairman of Renaissance Care, which operates care homes in Blairgowrie and Dundee, says he has been 'shocked' by the UK Government's treatment of the sector. He accused the Labour administration of a 'knee jerk' reaction to the success of Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK. 'It should be about people not politics, and vulnerable people at that,' he said. 'I don't think they've thought it through.' Instead of a visa scheme for carers, firms will have to hire British nationals or extend existing visas. Sir Keir says his changes will 'reduce immigration significantly'. His government promises a new fair pay agreement for care staff to encourage British nationals to take roles in social care, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper seemed unable to say how this would be funded when pressed. Dr Kilgour says providers will have to reduce the number of council-funded places to meet the government's demand of increasing wages to make caring more attractive to UK workers. He says around 70% of residents in his homes are state-funded, though he is exploring ways of decreasing that. He said: 'It's fairly two faced of the prime minister and the government to say this. 'On the one hand they're saying we need to recruit more in the UK and we need to pay our staff more – both of those statements I'd be 100% in agreement with, I'd love to pay our staff more – but when your main customer won't pay the true cost of care and pay you more, then what options do you have? 'I'm working on a few initiatives to reduce our dependency on local authority funding by bringing that percentage down.' He says will look to eventually increase the number of privately funded residents to 50%. If other providers adopted a similar approach to increase their income then it would inevitably make finding care harder for those who cannot afford to pay. Dr Kilgour says operators may also be forced to announce further closures due to this latest 'attack'. 'I know loads of operators are looking at closing homes. I closed one last month due to the National Insurance changes. I know of others with this latest attack by the government on the care sector.' The care chief also says the changes will also make fixing problems in the NHS even more challenging. He added: 'It's a fact that you cannot fix the NHS without first fixing social care. 'But at every turn, they seem to be determined to make social care worse.' Sir Keir accused industries of being 'almost addicted to importing cheap labour' over investing in the skills of British workers. 'Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,' he said.
Daily Mirror
06-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Man told police 'I'm glad it's over' as officers checked his fridge during raid
Once a successful businessman, Gary Swift, 39, was left bankrupt after a failed hotel project in Chester, but turned to drug smuggling and was caught bringing 750kg of cocaine back to the UK from South America A businessman told cops "I'm glad it's over" as he was arrested with 750kg of cocaine. Former hotel owner Gary Swift and Scott Kilgour were en route back Wales after sailing to Suriname in South America to collect the enormous haul, which had a purity of 83 per cent and a value of £24million wholesale and at least £60million on the streets. Swift had been a successful entrepreneur, having been behind a venture to transform a hotel in Chester. He is said to have sold his own home and invested hundreds of thousands to fund the venture. However, he was declared bankrupt in 2010 after the hotel was shuttered. At court, he described himself as a "bankrupt builder" and claims he was "talked into" making the drug run by a customer at his hotel. However, the National Crime Agency had a different view on Swift, describing him and his co-defendant post-sentencing as "highly organised criminals". As part of a weekly series looking back at Merseyside's criminal history, the ECHO has taken a closer look at the plot, which was doomed from the very beginning. Swift, of Huyton, spoke proudly to his local paper after he bought the Eaton Hotel in Chester. He said he had initially considered a move to the south coast due to his interest in sailing before he decided he wanted to stay local. Swift said when he first invested in the hotel it "was looking a bit tired", but soon after it had "19 rooms with a bar, restaurant, and al fresco dining in the basement" under the trading name Canalside Inn. At some point after his money struggles began, Swift decided to take on the smuggling venture and enlisted Kilgour to help. In December 2017, some 18 months before the eventual seizure, Kilgour was rumbled when he performed a dummy run, which ended in embarrassment. Faced with difficult sailing conditions, he needed rescuing and was towed into Fishguard harbour for repairs, an incident that vitally alerted suspicious authorities. But undeterred by this setback, Swift and Kilgour bought a yacht for €50,000 from a seller in Mallorca in December 2018, Spain, and set to work concocting their audacious plan. But the earlier botched reconnaissance mission meant Border Force employees had started to watch the Scouse pair, putting them under close surveillance. So when they arrived in Pembrokeshire, after travelling more than 7,000km across the Atlantic, the authorities on board cutter HMC Protector swooped in and put the yacht on lockdown on August 27, 2019. Officers who boarded the vessel carried out a "deep rummage" at Fishguard Harbour until they found the illegal haul. Upon arrest, Swift said to officers: "I just want to say that I am guilty. I have got something substantial on the boat and they will find it." However, before his arrest, Swift threw his phone into the sea. Drivers later recovered it from the sea bed to carry out further examinations. He later admitted "I'm the bad one here," and asked custody officers to pass a message to the NCA revealing the number of packages on board the yacht. The court heard the drugs were packed into every available storage space on board, including the fridge. The footage, released to the ECHO by the NCA, showed officers clad in forensic white suits recovering the weighty packages. Swift was jailed for 19-and-a-half years while Kilgour received a 13-and-a-half years sentence in January 2020. Both were told they will serve half of the sentence. Judge Paul Thomas KC told Swift he was "the driving force behind a complex operation" and added to Kilgour: "This enterprise wouldn't have worked without your assistance". He told the pair of them: "You took a gamble and lost. Now, you must pay the price." Speaking after the two men were sentenced, Jayne Lloyd, NCA regional head of investigations, said: "Today's result shows what will happen if you try to flood our streets with millions of pounds worth of potentially deadly drugs - you will be caught and you will face the consequences. Drugs aren't just damaging to the people that take them, they fuel violence and exploitation, damaging communities and leaving destruction in their wake. "It's thanks to the work of the NCA, Border Force officers, and the Spanish National Police, that two highly organised criminals are behind bars and that these drugs haven't made their way onto the streets." The ECHO revealed Swift had previously flown to Suriname via Amsterdam in March 2019. While in the former Dutch colony he messaged friends back in Merseyside talking about a house he was planning to buy there, and discussing where he should put the swimming pool. A source who knew Swift added: "This was his last big job and he planned to start a new life over there after this on haul. But it was not to be." During a proceeds of crime hearing in July 2021, Swift received a confiscation order worth £328,071. The NCA seized the SY Atrevido along with a second sailing yacht, the SY Mistral, which were both suspected to have been used by the gang. Three Rolex watches, a Panerai watch, and a Tag Heuer watch were also found. Investigators have obtained court orders to restrain a third sailing yacht, caravans, five cars, two vans, and a house in France. Kilgour was also subject to a proceeds-of-crime hearing, where it emerged he had assets worth £4.07. NCA regional head of investigations Mark Spoors said: "To compound the misery of spending years behind bars, Swift has now been stripped of his illicit wealth, which he has accrued through his criminality." The ECHO also revealed in 2022 that the NCA seized the Nori - a yacht moored in Albert Dock that previously belonged to Swift. The 50ft yacht features a kitchen and dining area, sleeping quarters, and a bathroom. The same source told the ECHO Swift had been living on the boat before her arrest. She added: "Gary must have been fairly good with yachts because he managed to sail across the Atlantic twice."
The Herald Scotland
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
A flexible way to harness the power of procurement in Scotland
Paisley-based Scotland Excel, established in 2008, is the Centre of Procurement Expertise for the local government sector in Scotland, working with all 32 local authorities. It is a non-profit-making organisation funded by the councils with a remit to work collaboratively with them and its associate members, from the wider public and third sectors, to secure the best value for money and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector procurement in Scotland. One particularly effective route to achieving this best practice is Scotland Excel's Flexible Procurement Service, set up five years ago, that uses a model which allows organisations to source procurement expertise as and when they need it. For example, the Flexible Procurement Service team can provide expert consultancy services or manage projects and provide tendering on their behalf. As Shelly Kilgour, Scotland Excel's Category Manager for the Flexible Procurement Service explains, her team supports the essential services across various aspects of an organisation's business. 'The key word is 'flexible' and this allows us to step in if an organisation finds itself needing support because of a staff shortage at a particular time or if they need a 'quick fix' due to time constraints,' she says. 'Whether they require short-term or long-term support, we can offer that,' Mrs Kilgour continues. 'We take the pressure off. We can help them bridge a gap while they get people on board. Every business owner will experience times when they need support and the public sector is no different. 'The Flexible Procurement Service was established in 2020 at a time when the world changed because of Covid and now, when transparency is so important and all of the organisations we work with have an obligation to the public purse, offering value for money and adopting the most cost-effective procurement practices are crucial.' Working with Scotland Excel's 32 councils and 172 associate members, the Flexible Procurement Service has delivered procurement work covering a range of areas including social care case management, legal services, outdoor event management, local planning and town investment consultancy, national IT systems and data platforms, as well as engineering, estates management and construction works. The team uses each client's standing orders and templates, making sure every procurement aligns fully with their internal processes and legislative requirements which, as Mrs Kilgour explains, maintains consistency and quality and means when clients undertake future procurement exercises, they can easily replicate the process. As the Flexible Procurement Service marks its fifth anniversary, and after awarding its 135th contract – bringing the total value of contracts it has handled to £39 million – Mrs Kilgour reflects on the fact that it has been involved in 200 projects for 26 Scottish organisations, ranging from councils and housing associations to leisure trusts, arm's-length external organisations (ALEOs), and universities. 'We have delivered successful projects across a diverse range of category areas, including information and technology, construction, facility management, and environmental maintenance among others,' she points out. 'We are versatile and remain committed to expanding our offerings based on the evolving needs of our clients. Over the past five years, our team has grown and evolved, continually expanding our capacity and reach to better serve our clients,' she adds. 'We have established strong, lasting relationships and to date, we have nine repeat clients, including our very first flexible client.' Repeat users of the Flexible Procurement Service include Crown Estate Scotland, assisted by the team on 45 projects, and Dumfries and Galloway Council which worked with the team on 18 projects between 2022 and 2024. The team has also worked closely with Dundee City Council on 61 projects which the council described as 'invaluable to the sustainability of service delivery.' Recent projects have seen the team delivering two urgent direct awards from national frameworks and tendering for a Microsoft licencing agreement, securing a 3% saving against the client's budget. Fifteen contracts have been awarded in the first three months of 2025 alone. 'When you consider that we are still a relatively new service and quite a small service – just a team of seven right now – I think it's fair to say that we've made a big impact,' she says. 'And we are growing and evolving as those we work with grow and evolve. We have amassed a range of experience allowing us to support our clients and streamline their processes. 'Our unique point of difference over procurement consultancy support, which can come with a hefty price tag for organisations, is that our team becomes embedded within the organisation we are working with – when you come to us, we are a full service and your project gets all the support that comes with that, not just one point of contact. Our clients tell us how reassuring that is – and this model also ensures value for money, compliance, transparency, and real value for money for the taxpayer. 'It's well-documented how difficult the environment is for public sector organisations at the moment, so everyone is looking for ways to operate more efficiently. For example, some housing associations may not be in a position to justify having a dedicated procurement team – that's where we can step in.' Looking ahead, Mrs Kilgour expects the Flexible Procurement Service to develop more partnerships with housing associations. 'We see potential in that space and are looking to expand our team,' she says. 'We are a respected and reliable procurement resource with a proven track record. 'That we can step in at any point in the procurement cycle also gives peace of mind to organisations that their procurement contracts are delivered on time, and essential services are in place.'
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Reeves's tax raid forces care home to close
Labour has been accused of showing 'a profound lack of support' for Britain's care sector after Rachel Reeves's tax raid forced a leading operator to close one of its homes. Robert Kilgour, the founder of Renaissance Care, said he had been left with no choice but to close one of his 19 care homes in Scotland last week as a direct result of the Chancellor's Budget, which sparked an increase in running costs. He attacked the Government over its 'profound lack of support and understanding of the care sector', as he warned that the closure is just the 'tip of the iceberg' across the UK's strained social care sector. The closure comes after Mr Kilgour, who employs more than 1,400 workers and houses more than 700 residents across his Renaissance care homes business, repeatedly raised concerns about the impact of higher National Insurance contributions (NICs). He said the policy change, which includes lowering the threshold at which NICs is paid from £9,100 to £5,000, would cost his business hundreds of thousands pounds extra a year. The extra burden has since prompted the closure of the home, with Mr Kilgour claiming he had 'sleepless nights' over the decision. 'It is hugely disappointing that it has come to this because they have been warned,' he told The Telegraph. 'I did not think that the Labour Government would make the social care sector worse and it's completely shocking that they have done so. I fear a tsunami of closures in the second half of this year and in the first half of next year. 'That is going to lead to more beds being blocked and longer NHS waiting lists. And reducing waiting lists is the whole reason Ms Reeves has said she is raising taxes. 'They have really shot themselves in both feet by doing this.' Mr Kilgour, who opened his first care home in 1989, also said it was particularly 'galling' that publicly funded care homes had been shielded from Ms Reeves's £25bn tax raid, unlike those in the private sector that are bearing the brunt of higher levies. He highlighted a new survey which said 50pc Scottish care homes were actively considering closure. Edward Argar MP, shadow health and social care secretary, said: 'Conservatives, and the care sector, warned the Labour Government again and again of the devastating impact their jobs tax would have on social care providers already under pressure. 'And we now see a hugely-respected figure in the sector setting out those real-world consequences very clearly. 'Labour's jobs tax, coupled with the changes to thresholds, has piled yet more pressure on providers, and they in many cases will be faced with no option but to close homes.' The impact of the tax raid has led to a group of private care homes launching legal action against the Chancellor. Care England, the industry body for private care homes, has announced a judicial review in the hope of securing a carve out from the tax rises. Martin Green, the group's chief executive, told The Telegraph: 'This judicial review marks a critical moment for adult social care. 'The decision to increase National Insurance contributions without exempting the care sector is a political signal that social care remains an afterthought.' The Government was contacted for comment. By Robert Kilgour It's not rocket science, just a simple fact that you cannot fix the NHS crisis without first fixing the long-standing crisis in social care. Social care desperately needs a 10-year funding and workforce plan, better integration with the NHS and enhanced use of technology, including AI. Recent UK governments of all different colours have repeatedly failed to deliver on their promises to reform social care. For too many years it has been 'NHS first and social care second'. That makes no sense when you consider what would happen to the NHS if social care were to collapse. Social care was already running on fumes by the time of the July 2024 general election, after many years of government neglect and lack of proper funding and the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the energy crisis. I did not expect the new Labour Government to make social care reform an urgent priority and I was not surprised when they kicked it into the long grass with yet another commission. The Casey Commission, which will not issue its final report until 2028, is the third independent commission on social care reform in England to be created over the last three decades. I was, however, shocked when they made things far worse with the employers' National Insurance changes in Rachel Reeves's October 'tax bombshell' Budget. These changes have now come fully and painfully into place from April 6 this week. The 8.7pc rate increase from 13.8pc to 15pc was bad enough but the reduction of the starting threshold from £9,100 to £5,000 was the real killer blow, particularly for the retail, hospitality and care sectors who employ a high percentage of part time staff. This is a shocking betrayal by this Government of all the amazing front-line pandemic heroes and all the vulnerable individuals for whom they care. I hoped for some small crumb of help in the recent Spring Statement but was again disappointed. This time however, I wasn't surprised. It is painfully clear that the Chancellor and this Government appear to have no grasp of how just critical things are at the front line of social care. This was demonstrated by ENI tax relief being given to the public sector but not the independent sector despite them providing a public service. Where is the fairness in that – more public sector good, private sector bad. It is good to hear that Care England is set to launch a judicial review of the Chancellor's actions in this regard. Although Renaissance Care is a private company, we provide a public service with 70pc of our residents being local authority funded. We provide a good quality of care at half the cost of Local Authority run care homes to the taxpayer. We have also seen Local Authority fee increases for this coming year vary between zero and 6pc, the majority somewhere in the middle. That is totally inadequate for the sector to be able to cope with all the Budget increases and changes. As night follows day, care homes will close as a direct result of the October Budget. That will lead to more NHS blocked beds, more cancelled NHS operations and longer NHS waiting lists; a huge own goal by this Government. It was therefore, with a heavy heart and much sadness, that Renaissance Care announced on Tuesday the very difficult decision to close one of our 19 care homes as a direct result of the financial impact of Budget measures and the profound lack of support and understanding of the care sector by the Government. Disturbingly, our closure may be the tip of the iceberg in light of a recent Scottish Care survey showing that 50pc of Scottish care homes were actively considering closure. It is clear that we urgently need to have a level playing field of care provision and cost of care between the independent and voluntary sector and the public sector – taxpayers deserve nothing less. Robert Kilgour is founder and chairman of Renaissance Care Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
