Stay Belvedere Hotels Limited (SBHL), a company formerly managing dozens of hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK, has been removed from the Home Office’s supply chain amid serious concerns over its poor performance and failure to comply with contractual obligations. Despite receiving almost £705 million predominantly from government contracts related to asylum accommodation in a single year, the firm under directors Safwan Adam and Bassam Gilini controversially paid out over £45 million in dividends to shareholders, raising questions over profiteering at taxpayers’ expense.
SBHL operated 51 hotels, including the Ibis Budget in Bishop's Stortford, promoting itself as a ‘four-star all-inclusive’ provider offering English lessons, cooking classes, and additional support. However, these claims belie troubling issues of underpaid staff—some reportedly earning as little as £5.60 an hour, below the legal minimum wage—missed payments to landlords, and shockingly substandard accommodation conditions for vulnerable asylum seekers.
Company records show Adam and Gilini each held 17.5% via holding companies and raked in at least £7.8 million each in dividends, while SBHL achieved pre-tax profits of £75.7 million on an £888.2 million turnover during 2020-2022. Executive bonuses totalling £2.5 million were also authorised. Yet frontline workers and landlords were left struggling, exposing a scandal of public funds being siphoned off by well-connected business figures with no proven expertise in refugee accommodation management.
Both directors maintain low public profiles regarding the firm, despite Adam’s notable political donations exceeding £760,000 last year to the Liberal Democrats, coinciding suspiciously with government contracts flowing generously to SBHL. Gilini’s background as a property developer and pop-up business operator offers little reassurance of relevant experience in this critical, sensitive sector.
Operating as subcontractor to Clearsprings Ready Homes—supplier to the Home Office under a £2 billion annual contract since 2019—SBHL’s failings prompted the government to terminate its involvement, even as Clearsprings continues until 2029. Responsibility for these hotels is now transferring to companies like Mears, Serco, and Corporate Travel Management (CTM), the latter already criticised for mismanagement in asylum housing.
Disturbingly, some hotel owners remain unpaid by SBHL, risking eviction for already vulnerable asylum seekers. Meanwhile, SBHL admitted shifting to a ‘new agency model’ under an unnamed affiliated entity, anticipating a steep revenue drop. Charities working with refugees have condemned these developments, accusing firms like SBHL of exploiting public funds while delivering harmful living conditions. Refugee Action’s chief Tim Naor Hilton rightly condemned the situation as "rip off" of taxpayers with no benefit to those seeking sanctuary.
This case exemplifies the broader failure of the government’s migrant accommodation policy, which continues to drain vast sums—£5.5 million daily—while allowing private contractors to pocket enormous profits without delivering adequate care. Over 38,000 asylum seekers remain housed in over 200 hotels, despite official pledges to phase out these costly arrangements. The Office for Value for Money has repeatedly criticised these contractors for record profiteering, urging the Home Office to adopt far more cost-effective, humane alternatives.
The current Labour administration, instead of correcting this flawed system, risks perpetuating the costly and chaotic status quo. It is clear from SBHL and similar firms that private sector solutions to asylum housing mainly serve to enrich shareholders rather than provide proper support or value for the British taxpayer. The new government must urgently implement stronger oversight and insist on accountability, cutting out profiteers and restoring dignity to a system currently riddled with waste and exploitation.
In the meantime, scrutiny will remain on companies like SBHL’s directors, whose involvement in this scandal highlights the dangerous intertwining of private gain and political donations, undermining public trust. As the coalition government falters under the weight of its immigration failures, there is an urgent need for alternative voices championing fiscal responsibility and tougher immigration controls to hold such exploiters to account for the good of the nation.
Source: Noah Wire Services