Brazenboastofanothercompany charging£40,000forthe‘Ultimate’ honoursapplicationpackage
AWARDS INTELLIGENCE claims to have a 6 per cent success rate in gaining Queen’s Honours for its clients, some of whom are charged up to £40,000 for its ‘Ultimate’ service.
A glossy brochure reveals the Mayfair-based company’s pricing structure – from the ‘Windsor’ package at £4,900 plus VAT, the Balmoral deal at £7,900, up to the £14,900 Sandringham service, which includes 1 ‘professionally drafted letters of support’ and an 8,000-word ghost-written nomination.
For between £3 ,000 and £40,000, it will provide candidates with their ‘Ultimate’ package, which includes the direct involvement of its chief executive, Mark Llewellyn-Slade.
Marketing literature is emblazoned with pictures of well-known figures receiving their honours, including Baroness Michelle Mone and Olympic dressage gold medallist Carl Hester, with only a tiny disclaimer on the final page to clarify these individuals are not clients.
Baroness Mone said she had never heard of Awards Intelligence and was ‘furious’ they had used her image, while Mr Hester branded it ‘misleading’ and said he was shocked.
An employee from the firm, which has been operating for 13 years, told an undercover reporter it has worked with 900 clients in total, with up to 200 a year now signing up.
It was revealed in 201 that Dragons’ Den star James Caan had paid £ ,000 to the company and was later awarded a CBE.
Mr Llewellyn-Slade, who runs Awards Intelligence, said it was a transparent process because there was a box on the application form they were required to tick to show the nomination had been professionally prepared. He said the company had ‘informal feedback from the Cabinet Office’ that they like wellpresented nominations and the firm actually helped bring ‘really worthy candidates to the attention of the Honours system.’
He said: ‘It’s predominantly about giving extraordinary, ordinary people the opportunity to get the recognition they deserve.’