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The Chinese billionaire owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers and THG, the struggling online retailer run by Matt Moulding, are among beneficiaries of a £6.5bn taxpayer-backed fund.
The Premier League football club, which is owned by a group of wealthy Chinese businessmen led by Guo Guangchang, tapped UK Export Finance, a government agency, for a £99m export development guarantee to help boost the club’s status overseas.
It is thought to be the first football club to secure funding from the scheme, which is designed to ensure that “no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance,” according to a report published by UK Export Finance.
THG, the retailer previously known as The Hut Group run by Matt Moulding, received an export development guarantee worth £147.7m. Airbus, meanwhile, benefited from a £98m guarantee to provide aircraft to Pegasus, a Turkish low-cost airline that is continuing to run flights to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Other beneficiaries include the Bamford Bus Company – owned by the son of JCB digger tycoon Lord Bamford – which received a £49m guarantee to manufacture and sell hydrogen buses.
In addition, a half a billion pound buyer credit guarantee was issued by the UK to Rec Uluslararasi Insaat Yatirim Sanayi Ve Ticaret, an Ankara-headquartered contractor that is building a high-speed railway in Turkey.
Wolverhampton Wanderers was one of the most active clubs in the transfer market, spending £178.4m over the last year, more than Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
But the export development guarantee issued to the Premier League club allowed it to grow commercial exports in clothing, brand advertising and overseas events. The state aid has also been guaranteed by Mr Guangchang and his co-owners.
A Whitehall source said that the clauses within the guarantee mean that it can only be used to support the club’s business in the UK.
Pegasus is one of a handful of international airlines still flying into Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine war almost 18 months ago.
Chief executive Güliz Öztürk told The Telegraph last month that she was “just running the airline” and would not be drawn on political decision-making.
She said: “We’re not flying in Russia, we’re just flying into Russia. So we don’t use the restricted airspace which [European aviation regulator] EASA has recommended not to use.
“By the Turkish authorities, these flights are permitted. This is really done on the basis of all the laws which are right in front of us.”
The UK was among the first to crack down on Russian airlines from entering the country’s airspace or touching down on British soil. Grant Shapps, the then-transport secretary said in February 2022: “Putin’s heinous actions will not be ignored, and we will never tolerate those who put people’s lives in danger.”