A Ferret investigation has found there was no registration to sell vapes at the Union Street premises in Glasgow where a major fire started - and we can reveal the name of the company behind the shop.
Britain Remade is the apparently “grassroots” group leading the push to overturn Scotland’s ban on nuclear power. But The Ferret has found that two of its directors come from a firm which lobbies for the UK’s biggest nuclear company — prompting claims “vested interests” are behind the campaign.
Britain Remade organised the recent launch of the ‘Scotland for nuclear energy’ campaign and has repeatedly called for the Scottish Government to reverse its long-standing opposition to new atomic energy.
The “pro-growth” group campaigns to make it easier to build things in the UK – including housing, transport links and clean energy. It says it is “independent” and “grassroots”.
But it has been alleged that Britain Remade has close ties to the London-based public relations firm, Stonehaven.
Stonehaven represents EDF – the French energy giant that owns Scotland’s last operational nuclear power station at Torness in East Lothian. EDF could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of any move to lift the ban on new nuclear plants.
A Ferret investigation into the relationship between Stonehaven and Britain Remade has uncovered that BRM Futures Ltd – the private company behind the campaign group – recently named two senior Stonehaven figures as directors.
We also found other overlaps including that Britain Remade had been incorporated at an address that was previously the registered office of Stonehaven, by an individual whose name resembles that of Stonehaven’s finance director.
Journalism that follows the money – and demands answers.
This story took time, digging, and persistence. The Ferret is reader-funded investigative journalism, so we can report in the public interest, not for clicks or advertisers.
Journalism that follows the money – and demands answers.
This story took time, digging, and persistence. The Ferret is reader-funded investigative journalism, so we can report in the public interest, not for clicks or advertisers.
Critics argued the public has “a right to know who is behind any campaign” otherwise there was a risk of Scottish democracy being “undermined behind closed doors”.
Britain Remade told The Ferret it had “never taken a penny of corporate money”, sets its own priorities, and campaigns “on what we think matters for the country”. It also said any claim that funders get a veto on anything it writes or campaigns on is “categorically untrue”.
However, despite direct questions, it did not confirm the nature of its relationship with Stonehaven or whether it had been set up by anyone at the firm. Stonehaven did not respond to a request for comment.
Companies House filings – updated on 3 February, just two days before the Glasgow launch of the new nuclear campaign – show that BRM Futures Ltd appointed Pandora Lefroy and Rachel Wolf as directors in October 2024.
Lefroy has worked at Stonehaven for over ten years and is now the firm’s managing partner. Wolf is the chief executive of Public First, another consultancy firm bought by Stonehaven last year, and now sits on the board of the wider Stonehaven Group Holdings Limited.
Filings show that BRM Futures Ltd was incorporated in February 2022 on the first floor of an office building called Thavies Inn House, in the Holborn area of London. Until three months previously, that same address had been Stonehaven’s registered office.
The sole founding director listed on the incorporation document was Henry Frank Lewis. He resigned in November 2022 when the campaign was officially launched and current staff members Sam Richards, Sam Dumitriu and Jeremy Driver were appointed.
The public has a right to know who is behind any campaign pursuing a policy, including crucially who funds it. — Prof James Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
Stonehaven’s finance director is Harry Lewis. Britain Remade did not respond to a question about whether he and Henry Frank Lewis were the same individual.
Like EDF, Britain Remade is named as a client of Stonehaven on the professional lobbying register. It has also reportedly used technology provided through Stonehaven to launch a petition on onshore wind that secured over 11,000 signatures.
James Mitchell, a professor of public policy at the University of Edinburgh, said the public should be “very wary” of any organisation which was unwilling to provide “such basic information”.
“The public has a right to know who is behind any campaign pursuing a policy including crucially who funds the campaign and with what level of funding,” he said.
Despite its ‘grassroots’ credentials, Britain Remade does not accept individual donations from the public – although it says this is a “long-term ambition”.
Instead it is funded by “grants from a range of organisations”, although just two are named on its website – Coefficient Giving and the Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF).
Coefficient Giving’s contribution appears to have been limited to a £75,000 grant to look into reducing the costs of nuclear energy. High costs are one of the reasons the Scottish Government consistently says the country does not need new plants.
QCF’s funding has been more sustained and sizable. Charity Commission filingsshow it gave more than £8.5m to BRM Futures Ltd from the year it was incorporated in 2022 to 2024.
QCF itself receives its funding from the investment firm Quadrature Capital. In 2024 Quadrature Capital made headlines after it gave a £4m donation to the Labour party ahead of that year’s general election.
QCF has backed a number of mainstream climate groups – including some which have previously supported The Ferret’s environmental reporting – and there is a debate within the climate movement about the role that nuclear power could play in the future energy mix.
But transparency campaigners said the scale of its backing for Britain Remade could have a significant impact on the debate around nuclear energy in Scotland.
Juliet Swann of Transparency International UK said it was “of particular concern to see such large amounts of cash circulating”.
Being able to leverage wealth and privilege risks not just promoting private interests, but also damaging trust in our democratic systems. — Juliet Swann, Transparency International UK
Swann said: “Think tanks can be extremely influential in policy making so knowing who funds them is a matter of public interest.
“Being able to leverage wealth and privilege risks not just promoting private interests, but also damaging trust in our democratic systems.”
Her view was echoed by the former head of media at the Scottish Greens, James Mackenzie, who works as a lobbyist for various environmental causes. He said campaigns that don’t disclose who they are working for risk “undermining Scottish democracy behind closed doors”.
“There is no good reason for ministers to agree to meetings with any organisation which isn't fully transparent about where its money comes from,” Mackenzie added.
His former boss, ex-Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, claimed the campaign appeared to be driven by “right wing voices and vested interests”.
A number of staff at Britain Remade have previously worked for Conservative politicians or causes. Its chief executive, Sam Richards, was previously an adviser on energy and environment policy to Boris Johnson when he was in Downing Street.
That has led the campaign to be branded a “Tory think tank and lobby group” although Britain Remade says it is non-partisan.
“There are a lot of companies who have made a lot of money out of nuclear energy and who would love to inflict costly white elephants like Sizewell C [the planned new nuclear plant in England] on Scotland,” Harvie argued.
“Nuclear energy is dangerous, slow to build and extremely expensive, and it is unnecessary in Scotland where we have a vast renewables potential that we are yet to realise.”
Britain Remade argues that new nuclear plants could provide back up generation when renewable generation is not possible – such as when the sun does not shine or the wind does not blow. This makes it essential to meeting Scotland’s climate targets, it argues.
The group says it began to campaign against Scotland’s ban on new nuclear after being part of a successful effort to overturn a restriction on onshore wind farms in England.
“Britain Remade is a campaign group set up in 2022 focused on making it quicker, easier and cheaper to build the clean infrastructure Britain needs,” chief executive Sam Richards told The Ferret. “Funders support our mission because it’s pro-growth and pro-decarbonisation.
“We have never taken a penny of corporate money. We set our own priorities and campaign on what we think matters for the country - from lifting the onshore wind ban in England to the ban on new nuclear energy in Scotland.
“Any suggestion that funders get a veto on anything we write or campaign on is categorically untrue.”
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Paul is an investigative journalist with a focus on the environment, energy and climate change. His work has been featured by Channel 4 News and the UK’s leading newspapers. When not Ferreting he can be found walking and listening to podcasts.
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