Thames paid £1m to advisory company part-owned by PM aide

A corporate intelligence company part-owned and formerly run by the prime minister's business adviser has been paid more than £1m by Thames Water as it tries to avoid renationalisation, the Guardian can reveal.

- John Collingridge Anna Isaac Jasper Jolly

Hakluyt, which was run by Varun Chandra until his appointment as Keir Starmer's business adviser last July, has worked with Thames since 2023, providing political and strategic advice.

That commercial relationship between Thames and Hakluyt has continued since Chandra joined No 10. He is now tasked with finding a private sector solution for Thames and preventing Britain's biggest and most troubled water company from collapsing into state ownership.

That presents a potential conflict of interest, as the 40-year-old still owns a multimillion-pound stake in Hakluyt and is entitled to receive dividends from the Mayfair company.

A No 10 source said Chandra had no personal involvement with Thames when at Hakluyt and had made all the relevant declarations as part of his appointment.

In the spring Chandra intervened in last-ditch talks to persuade the US private equity group KKR to buy Thames Water, including speaking to KKR's co-founder Henry Kravis.

Several politically connected Hakluyt employees have also been advising Thames, including a former speechwriter to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and Rishi Sunak's former deputy chief of staff.

The revelation underlines Hakluyt's reach, as well as the revolving door between business and politics.

The company, which was founded by former MI6 officers, claims to have advised almost half of the FTSE 100 companies and more than three-quarters of the top 20 private equity groups.