The controversial asylum hotel in Epping is boosting the fortune of an Australian tycoon worth £300million – who was previously responsible for the farcical Bibby Stockholm migrant barge.
Jamie Pherous's firm is making tens of millions of pounds from British taxpayers, thanks to Home Office contracts paying more than £1.6billion for the accommodation and transport of asylum seekers.
The UK wing of his company made more than £100million profit in the two years to summer 2024 alone, and is raking in millions more despite its first flagship job, housing migrants on the docked Bibby Stockholm, descending into farce.
The floating hostel in Portland, Dorset, was evacuated when it was found to be riddled with deadly legionella bacteria in August 2023, and the costly project was later scrapped by Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government.
Yet Mr Pherous, 56, who jumped on the migrant gravy train in 2023 after decades booking business trips for executives, continues building his vast fortune from 10,000 miles away, in balmy sub-tropical Brisbane, Queensland.
