Guto Harri, right, interviewing Boris Johnson on S4C
GUTO HARRI IS A NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HYDRO INDUSTRIES, BASED NEAR LLANELLI. SINCE HARRI JOINED THE FIRM IN 2018, HYDRO HAS ENJOYED A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UK GOVERNMENT, AND LAST YEAR WON TWO MULTI-MILLION-POUND CONTRACTS WITH EGYPT & SAUDI ARABIA. HARRI, WHO ALSO PRESENTS S4C’S FLAGSHIP POLITICS SHOW AND FRONTS THE CHANNEL’S SENEDD ELECTION COVERAGE, WAS JOHNSON’S TOP SPOKESPERSON WHEN THE PM WAS LONDON MAYOR AND THE PAIR ARE STILL ON FIRST NAME TERMS. THE FULL REVELATIONS ARE DETAILED IN A SPECIAL NEWS FEATURE BY INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST MARC EDWARDS FOR VOICE.WALES.
A former spokesperson and friend of Boris Johnson, Guto Harri, helped to win a £150millon contract to clean industrial sludge at a major overseas gas and oil terminal just days after meeting the Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street.
The deal was clinched by west Wales firm Hydro Industries Limited to help the Egyptian East Gas Company to build a water treatment plant to clean waste effluent from oil and gas exploitation on Egypt’s Red Sea Coast. The contract, which was signed in Downing St and announced on 2nd March 2020, came just 4 days after Mr Harri and his business associates were guests at a St David’s day reception hosted by Boris Johnson.
After the reception, Hydro Industries tweeted a photograph of Harri and others from the company standing outside 10 Downing Street. The firm hailed its new “$200million dollar deal with Egypt,” and added it was “Grateful for the PM’s support and encouragement.”
The business agreement with the Egyptian East Gas Company was personally endorsed by Harri’s former boss: “This is exactly the type of contract in the post-Brexit era that showcases the best of UK industry,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Harri, who was Johnson’s most senior PR official during his time as London Mayor, became a non-executive director of Hydro Industries, based in Llangennech, Llanelli, in 2018. In February 2020, the firm secured a separate overseas deal, this time to treat industrial sludge for the Saudi Arabian oil industry. The contract is understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and with the potential to run into millions.
Guto Harri would not say when asked how many times he and Hydro Industries executives had met the Prime Minister, other Government Ministers and senior public officials since he became a non-executive director of the company in 2018 but in a statement, he said:
“Hydro industries harnesses home-grown Welsh technology to clean up industrial waste, protect the environment and provide safe drinking water for some of the most disadvantaged people in the world. We also provide much needed high quality jobs for scientists, engineers and others in Llangennech. I am proud to be involved.”
Recent weeks have seen multiple revelations of special treatment being afforded to the close associates of the UKs most senior politicians, including Boris Johnson himself.
Yesterday in Parliament, when asked to answer questions about Conservative Party donors Johnson refused twice to answer who had made the initial payment for his luxury flat refurbishment.
Separately, the scandal involving former Prime Minister David Cameron and his lobbying of senior Tory Ministers on behalf of collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital, as well as Mr Johnson giving personal assurances over tax arrangements to the businessman James Dyson, has brought allegations of sleaze in British politics to the fore.
From 2008 to 2012, Guto Harri was Director of External Affairs for Boris Johnson as London Mayor. Since then, the two have maintained a close relationship. When the Prime Minister was struck down with Covid, Mr Harri appeared on Sky News at the beginning of April 2020 as someone who knew the PM well and could judge his mood. He described his former boss as a leader who wanted to be “at the heart of things” making “big judgment calls”, and “running the show” with urgency and determination.
“He leads from the front and he’s one of the most talented communicators you can imagine,” Harri said.
Harri became a non-executive director of Hydro Industries Limited in 2018. The previous year the company made a loss of £3 million. But between 2019 and 2020, its net assets grew threefold to £12.5 million. Last year it had more than £5 million in cash in the bank.
On its Twitter account the company has boasted of its close relationship with the UK Government since 2018. In the summer of 2018, CEO Wayne Preece joined the then PM Theresa May’s trade mission to Africa.
The bounce in Hydro’s fortunes coincides with Boris Johnson’s occupancy of 10 Downing Street since 2019. The firm secured the highly lucrative Egyptian and Saudi contracts in early 2020. The Governments of both countries have been condemned for extensive human rights abuses and stand accused of murdering journalists. In September last year, the UN said that Saudi Arabia may have committed war crimes in Yemen.
UK Government support is key to British companies gaining access to big overseas contracts, often involving foreign governments. Following the deal with the Egyptian East Gas Company, Hydro CEO Wayne Preece hailed “Hydro’s developing relationship with UK Export Finance” and said the relationship would enable the company to “capitalise on our major breakthrough in this sector, further enhancing our British and global brand.”
UK Export Finance is the British Government’s export credit agency, overseen by the Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss. It plays a pivotal role in helping firms like Hydro secure major international contracts by underwriting large loans.
In February 2020, Hydro boasted of opening a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, In September last year, they opened another office in Cairo, Egypt.
In recent years Guto Harri has also worked for two lobbying firms with close links to senior Tory party figures.
The revelations raise questions about Guto Harri’s role as host of S4C’s Y Byd yn ei Le, a key part of the channel’s Welsh Senedd Election coverage. Polling day is on May 6th.The Welsh Conservatives are looking to make historic gains in next week’s vote and are desperately trying to avoid fallout from scandals engulfing the party leadership in Westminster. In response to questions about the channel’s editorial compliance role in selecting its Election line-up, S4C said in a statement that Harri was a freelance presenter who displayed ‘total professionalism’ in his approach and the channel was satisfied the programme provided impartial scrutiny to all parties.
The full details about Mr Harri’s involvement with Hydro Industries, and his access to the Prime Minister, are documented in full in a major investigation written by investigative journalist Marc Edwards for voice.wales.
