Due for completion in Summer 2023, the £13m project at Imjin Barracks, procured by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) on behalf of the British Army, will deliver 69 new single ensuite bedrooms, with re-designed living and kitchen/diner facilities that will enhance the communal living experience for soldiers.

The Imjin project is the first of a new wave of carbon net-zero constructions that will see major improvements to the standard of Single Living Accommodation (SLA) provided to Service people. The buildings are designed to enhance and support the needs of the military personnel that call them home.

Director Basing and Infrastructure, Major General Richard Clements CBE was joined by Rob Vining from DIO and members of the project’s appointed contractor, REDS10, and technical service provider, Arcadis, to mark the beginning of construction of a new Single Living Accommodation (SLA) block at Imjin Barracks, Gloucester.

Major General Richard Clements CBE, Director Basing & Infrastructure said:

To be present at the start of construction activity at Imjin Barracks is a moment to be celebrated. Imjin is the first site to benefit under the Army’s Single Living Accommodation Programme which will invest £1.2bn and deliver 8,500 SLA bedspaces over the next 10 years. This is in addition to the 8,000 SLA bedspaces being delivered by the Defence Estate Optimisation, Army Programme. Investing in accommodation and the lived experience for our Service personnel is an immediate priority. We have listened to our soldiers and taken on board feedback to ensure a better lived experience for our people.

The SLA Programme will prioritise the modernisation of under-invested, core sites that are to be retained across the Army estate. It will focus on removing the last of the multi-occupancy rooms whilst continuing to renew the oldest accommodation on the estate, raising the average Single Living Accommodation condition from ‘fair’ to ‘good’.

Rob Vining, DIO, Deputy Head of Major Programmes and Projects (Army) said:

I’m extremely proud to be able to mark this key milestone with the British Army, REDS10 and our technical service provider, Arcadis, as we break ground on the first of many new modern, carbon net-zero Single Living Accommodation blocks.

Not only will the new blocks mean a massive improvement in the lived experience for our Service personnel, they also continue to demonstrate Defence’s commitment to carbon net-zero by 2050.

I have been so impressed with the work my DIO colleagues and our Industry Partners have done so far and look forward to being here when we handover to the Army in Summer 2023.

The block will be built by the appointed contractor Reds10 using modern methods of construction (MMC). This means 90% of the work can be completed off site for substantially faster delivery. The accommodation is designed to achieve very low energy usage intensity. The building will have solar panels, air source heat pumps for heating and hot water and a SMART building management system that learns how the building is used through a multitude of sensor data, ensuring that the building runs as efficiently as possible.

Paul Ruddick, Chairman REDS10 added:

It’s marvellous to be part of another project working with DIO and the British Army on improving the lived experience of our Armed Forces personnel. The triple-storey building at Imjin Barracks will not only harness MMC for faster delivery but also for a lower carbon, more energy efficient and higher quality product. Perhaps most crucially though, the design and construction are being driven by how the space will be used by Service personnel.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met with scientists and engineers developing revolutionary battery technologies in Glasgow – a year on from world leaders gathering in the city for the COP26 climate summit.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is supporting the Faraday Institution and researchers from the University of Strathclyde and the University of St Andrews, through its Transforming Energy Access (TEA) programme to help offer lower cost, more recyclable battery technology to developing countries.

The UK Government announced £126million of new scale-up funding for TEA during Energy Day at COP26 – focused on reducing carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes and securing better access to clean energy for 25 million people.

Since TEA was launched in 2015, it has provided 16 million of the world’s poorest people with improved access to clean energy and generated 96,000 green jobs.

The Foreign Secretary also visited the FCDO’s joint HQ at Abercrombie House, in East Kilbride, where almost 1,000 staff are at the heart of shaping and delivering UK foreign policy on issues such as climate change, including through the TEA programme.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Today’s visit is hugely important for me, to see first-hand how people in Scotland are building on the legacy of the UK’s COP Presidency in Glasgow to make progress in the fight against climate change.

Scotland is famous as an innovation superpower. It has given the world the television, telephone and penicillin, so it was wonderful to learn how Scottish scientists are continuing this rich tradition to develop the revolutionary new batteries of the future fuelled by cleaner energy.

The UK Government is proud to support vital work at the universities of Strathclyde and St Andrews which will help developing countries to access battery technologies to drive green growth and give millions a ladder out of poverty.

Nearly a tenth of the world’s population – 733 million people – do not have access to the electricity they need to light their homes, refrigerate their food, or keep cool in rising temperatures. Around 2.4billion people rely on dirty biomass fuels such as charcoal, firewood, or animal waste for cooking.

The Foreign Secretary used his COP26 anniversary visit to witness the start of refurbishment work at the FCDO’s joint HQ in East Kilbride.

The Foreign Secretary was shown a research project led by the University of Strathclyde, which is developing a low-cost battery which is expected to last longer and be more easily recycled.

St Andrews demonstrated battery technology made from common salt, which could enable a move away from materials such as lithium and cobalt which are more expensive, rarer and harder on the environment to source.

Both technologies are expected to be ready to test this year.

Notes to Editors:

• Images of the Foreign Secretary’s visit can be found here.
• More information on Transforming Energy Access (TEA) programme can be found here.
• The UK Government announced £126 million of new scale-up funding for TEA during Energy Day at COP26, increasing the programme’s budget to £225 million, with the aim of improving clean energy access for 25 million people in developing countries and saving 2.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
• According to the World Bank’s ‘Tracking SDG 7 – The Energy Progress Report 2022’, nearly a tenth of the world’s population – 733 million people – do not have access to the electricity grid. Around 2.4billion people rely on dirty biomass fuels such as charcoal, firewood, or animal waste for cooking.

Thank you Mr Chair and thank you Ms Ribeiro for your report and for yesterday’s event marking 25 years of your important institution.

Media freedom is an essential part of a healthy information ecosystem. The free flow of independently generated and evidence based information is the scaffolding for building democracy. We agree with you that media literacy is essential. People must be able to understand the role media plays in supporting democracy and security and be able to critically assess and use information. Disinformation leads to the polarisation of society and makes societies more insecure.

Your report, rightly focused on the impact of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine – your second report this year delivered against the backdrop of this war. In Ukraine, in those areas under temporary Russian control, journalists continue to be targeted, with at least eight killed and 18 kidnapped for reporting the facts of the continuing invasion.

We will never recognise Russia’s illegal attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory, nor the imposition of Russian legislation that seeks to deny the rights to freedom of opinion and expression. The rights of the people living and working in those regions under temporary Russian control remain protected under international human rights law. Independent journalists in those regions now face even greater challenges, yet their work remains as vital as ever, including efforts to ensure accountability.

Mr Chair, the report by the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) today also highlights in the Russian Federation the most severe deterioration of media freedom in the OSCE region in the past 25 years. An internal war of repression accompanying, and enabling, the external war of aggression in Ukraine. The Moscow Mechanism report on Russia outlines censorship, closure of independent media and websites, banning of foreign media, treason and extremism charges against Russian journalists for doing their legitimate work.

The actions of the Russian Government are not compatible with their obligations under international law and their OSCE commitments. They are not compatible with a proper functioning democracy. We support your call on Russia to fulfil its OSCE principles and commitments and ensure an enabling environment for media to freely report on matters of public interest without undue interference, threats and intimidation.

Belarus too remains in a downward spiral. The report found a clear pattern of systematic repression against independent journalism: judicial reprisals, arrests, convictions behind closed doors on trumped up charges, and lengthy imprisonments. Ms Ribeiro, we echo your call on Belarus “to stop prosecuting media workers as a deliberate way of sowing fear and silencing free voices.”

We greatly value your important work across the whole OSCE region, including in the Western Balkans and Central Asia, and on key topics such as the safety of journalists, on restrictive measures at the national level that limit media freedom, and on the dangers of misinformation and disinformation.

Yesterday we marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, yet, Ms Ribeiro; you describe the situation in our region as bleak. We cannot afford to be indifferent when journalists and media workers are killed, attacked, threatened or harassed. We must be relentless and determined to stamp this out.

We point to the 2018 OSCE Ministerial Council Decision on Safety of Journalists. This Decision has authority. Adopted by consensus. It is a road map for us all to provide a safe and enabling environment for journalists, and to ensure our laws, policy and practice fully comply with international human rights law and OSCE Commitments.

I would like to thank all those who contributed to the success of this year’s Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw. We heard from journalists and civil society actors fighting for improved media freedom across the OSCE region. The UK remains committed to continuing this dialogue and working with your office to implement some of the recommendations from the conference to ensure media freedom is protected and journalists are able to operate safely across the OSCE region.

Ms Ribeiro – we thank you for all the many activities that you are carrying out to fulfil your mandate. We all share the responsibility to respond and end impunity for crimes against journalists. The UK is committed to this.

Thank you Mr Chair.

Kayboo Limited was incorporated in 2010 and in 2011, purchased the luxury Hurst House Hotel in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire before renaming it The Corran Resort and Spa.

Keith Michael Stiles, currently from Donegal, was appointed a director of Kayboo in August 2012 and was responsible for the company’s investment scheme – known as a fractional ownership scheme – that secured funds to expand the hotel.

The fractional ownership scheme saw Kayboo agree, as landowner, to grant to a company limited by guarantee a 999-year lease on each individual hotel room. The company limited by guarantee would then grant a sub-lease to the hotel operator who would pay rent.

Investors would purchase membership in the company limited by guarantee, representing a fraction of that room, and become entitled to a share of the rent paid by the hotel operator.

Kayboo, however, went into administration in October 2016 and the company’s insolvency triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators uncovered that Kayboo received £6.4 million in respect of the existing hotel building (known as “Phase 1”), but the company only registered 3 leases for investments worth £585,000.

Further enquires discovered that Kayboo misled investors to believe that a scheme to develop 28 rooms in a nearby semi-derelict farmhouse at East House Farm (known as “Phase 2”) was low risk, that the property had been safely secured, and investors would be protected if the company became insolvent.

Kayboo received £10.6 million from investors to develop Phase 2. But no leases were registered, most of the property was never purchased by Kayboo and secured lenders did not give any permission for the scheme.

On 7 October 2022, the Secretary of State accepted an 8-year disqualification undertaking from Keith Stiles, after he did not dispute that he allowed Kayboo to mislead investors, and that it secured over £500,000 of deposits from December 2015, after he ought to have known that the company was insolvent.

Effective from 28 October 2022, Keith Stiles is banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Mark Bruce, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Keith Stiles allowed his company to misrepresent the true risks of its complex investment scheme to investors. Furthermore, he allowed the company to continue taking hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of deposits when he should have known that the company was insolvent and unlikely to honour its future commitments.

Thankfully Keith Stiles has been removed from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time. His disqualification should serve as a stark warning that we will investigate failed investment schemes such and sanction directors who mislead the public.

Keith Michael Stiles is from Donegal (Ireland) and previously of Studham (Bedfordshire) and his date of birth is 16 March 1959

Company Kayboo Ltd (Company Reg no. 07394929).

Keith Stiles’ disqualification concludes a series of investigations into individuals linked to Kayboo, including:

Details of misconduct

Solely for the purposes of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and for any other purposes consequential to the giving of a disqualification undertaking, Mr Stiles did not dispute the following matters:

“I allowed Kayboo Ltd to mislead investors from 2013 to 26 February 2016 in the sale of fractional leases in Phase 2 The Corran Resort, contributing to the loss of their investments totalling £10,603,700:

• Marketing material led investors to believe that East House Farm development would complete within 12 months, as part of a hotel complex in which they had purchased fractional leases. They were assured of security, that the leases were available to buy and that they could sell their leases on the open market. They were assured that, should Kayboo Ltd become insolvent, they would remain members of a company with a long lease on the room and they had the right to appoint a new operator to run the hotel. The only direct references to the properties not being owned by Kayboo Ltd were contained within the ‘Agreement for Lease and Sublease’ (which was part of the contractual documents provided to a number of the investors) which refers to an “Acquisition Agreement’ between Kayboo Ltd and the current owner and contains a condition that the former agreement is conditional on Kayboo Ltd acquiring the Property within 12 months, and the Agreement for Sale and Membership of a Company (which was provided to all of the investors) which makes one mention of “on acquiring the property”. Otherwise, this information was not disclosed to investors.
• However, both East House Farmhouse and 5 of the 8 barns were at no stage purchased, at no stage subject to an unconditional agreement to purchase, and no leave was obtained by the secured lenders controlling them to sell fractional leases on them. Legal advice was given to Kayboo Ltd on 3 June 2013 not to exchange contracts for any room sales without a firm agreement in place with the secured lender on the 5 barns.
• Kayboo Ltd additionally failed to disclose to investors that its attempts to obtain planning permission for Phase 3 of the development, vital to the success of the whole development, had been rejected on 17 June 2013 and (appeal) 27 October 2014, or that Kayboo Ltd had applied on 26 March 2015 for a materially altered plan of 200 lodges and restaurant, which was then rejected on 4 December 2015.

I allowed Kayboo Ltd to accept £557,400 from investors from 7 December 2015 to 26 February 2016 to their unreasonable risk and ultimate detriment, after I ought to have known, that Kayboo Ltd was insolvent.”

About disqualifications

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

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