Recommendation 22

The Department did not monitor the profitability of Randox before deciding to award contracts to the company. The Department said that when contracts were awarded in 2020, it did not have the time or the ability to undertake this sort of monitoring.44 The latest accounts Randox has filed with Companies House are for the year to 30 June 2021, in which it reported a profit of £177 million for that year. This is more than a hundred times greater than the profit of £1.2 million that Randox reported for the 18-month financial period to 30 June 2020 (which included the first three months of the pandemic).45 In addition, the company’s external auditors have issued a Qualified audit report in respect of two matters relating to stock balances, which may mean the profit for 2020–21 was higher than stated in the accounts.46 Any further profits from the COVID-19 testing contracts we looked at will fall into future financial years. The Department said it was not in a position to answer whether Randox could have been in financial difficulty if it had not received government testing contracts. It noted that due diligence would have looked at hazards and risks associated with the financial stability of the company, but it was not able to confirm this had been the case as due diligence on Randox was not documented.47