As marmalade-droppers go, it took some beating. News that the Government is to pay two accountancy firms half a billion pounds to train civil servants on skills including how to use artificial intelligence came as a big surprise to Whitehall watchers.
The award of up to £465million to KPMG and EY – the biggest to any of the big four accountancy firms since at least 2012 – came despite a pledge from Labour when it came to power two years ago to halve spending on consultants that had hit record levels during the pandemic.
But it is not just the bean-counters who are making hay from taxpayer-funded contracts.
Some of Britain’s biggest companies are also cashing in on a series of major infrastructure, outsourcing and defence projects funded by the public purse.
With one exception, the ten biggest suppliers to the Government listed on the stock market have seen their share prices soar under Labour, an analysis by The Financial Mail on Sunday shows – see table.
