COMPENSATION CAMPAIGN FOR THE AFFECTED BY…
To leaders in the UK and European defence and technology sectors: in March 2025, the UK Ministry of Defence awarded a contract worth up to £1.6 billion for the supply of Lightweight Multirole Missiles. Our extensive investigation has raised serious concerns that this high-value opportunity was awarded to Thales UK without the fair, transparent, and competitive process required by law. If your company possessed the capability to compete for this work, you may have been unlawfully deprived of a substantial opportunity to win a multi-year contract, resulting in significant financial loss. Competition & Consumer Organisation Party Limited is building a collective action to seek compensation for the losses suffered by those unjustly excluded from this process. We invite you to contact us for a confidential assessment of your position. By joining forces, we can hold public procurement to account and recover the value of the commercial opportunity that was denied.
COCOO.uk is initiating a compensation campaign for parties potentially harmed by the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) decision-making process and the subsequent award of the £1.6 billion Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) contract to Thales UK (Belfast), announced around March 2025. We are investigating potential grounds for redress, including those arising from tortious conduct by the MoD.
This campaign seeks to identify individuals, businesses, and other entities who believe they have suffered or may suffer harm due to alleged irregularities in this specific procurement. Potential affected parties we are looking to hear from include competing defence companies, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), who believe they were unfairly excluded from the opportunity to compete for this significant contract or portions thereof. We are also interested in hearing from UK taxpayers who are concerned about the potential financial risk to public funds, especially given the contract’s funding mechanism involves a substantial loan to Ukraine underwritten by United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF), which could create a liability for the taxpayer if Ukraine defaults. Furthermore, elements of the wider UK defence supply chain and SMEs that might be adversely impacted by the consolidation of such a large contract with a single prime contractor, potentially limiting broader industrial participation and innovation, are encouraged to come forward
COMMON HARM
The commonality of harm we are investigating for potential tort claims, particularly for businesses, centres on economic loss and an unfair playing field resulting from a procurement process that may have been flawed, non-competitive, or conducted without due regard for established legal and policy frameworks. For UK taxpayers, the common concern revolves around the potential misuse or negligent risk exposure of public funds and a failure to secure optimal value for money in a contract of this magnitude.
BENEFITS OF JOINING
- Access compensation mechanisms.
- Express your concerns and provide evidence: You will have a platform to detail the damages suffered.
- Propose solutions: You will be able to contribute practical and legal ideas.
- Strengthen transparency and fair competition: You will support a constructive debate on the correct application of EU rules and the promotion of competitive markets.
- Restore trust: Your participation can be decisive in restoring the integrity of the competitive framework and the confidence of economic operators
Subscribing to a compensation campaign means joining a community of potentially affected parties to facilitate their compensation. Subscribing to a compensation campaign does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not commit you to any obligation, fee, or cost. If you believe that you or your organization may have been affected by the practices described below, please participate. Your information will help us assess the extent of the potential damage and join forces. Only if we unite can we demand a more just world. Subscribing does not commit you to any legal action nor does it imply any cost. The success of this campaign depends on successfully identifying parties affected by a common event caused by a pattern of negligence
ABOUT US
COCOO.uk is a British non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of fair competition, the protection of investors and consumers, and the safeguarding of the public interest. Our objective is collective redress on behalf of consumers and competitors to protect and promote their right to discipline responsible parties, both public and private. Oscar Moya LLedo is our Solicitor (the British equivalent of an “Abogado”) and plays a fundamental role in our mission to promote fair competition and protect the rights of consumers and businesses. SEE OUR CASEFILES Our Campaigns follow three phases:
PHASE 1: Identification of systematic deficiencies in compliance with legislation that protects consumers, competitors, and the public interest.
PHASE 2: Identification of potentially affected parties and uniting them through this platform. Most victims never receive compensation and never find out that they are victims entitled to compensation or restitution. This creates a significant imbalance in the justice system to the disadvantage of consumers and competitors. That is why we need to unite. United, we gain power to negotiate on equal terms.
PHASE 3: Negotiation of the payment of financial compensation or restitution to the affected parties
This campaign is necessary because COCOO.uk has identified serious concerns regarding the Thales NI contract. We have already submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a formal complaint to the Secretary of State for Defence, and a Letter Before Claim for Pre-Action Disclosure. These actions have been prompted by concerns about a potential lack of competitive tendering, insufficient transparency and justification for the Value for Money (VfM) assessment, the appropriateness of the UKEF loan guarantee funding mechanism, and whether alternative procurement strategies that could have benefited a wider range of UK businesses, including SMEs, were adequately considered. We believe the MoD may have departed from the established legal and policy framework for defence procurement, potentially acting unlawfully, irrationally, or with procedural impropriety
ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL HARMS
Potential causes of action that COCOO.uk is exploring, particularly concerning businesses that may have been wrongfully excluded or disadvantaged, include torts such as negligence by the MoD in the conduct of the procurement process, leading to foreseeable economic loss for capable and willing bidders. While difficult to prove, we are also considering whether the circumstances could give rise to a claim for misfeasance in public office, should evidence suggest that decisions were made with knowledge of or reckless indifference to their unlawfulness and the harm they would cause. For the broader public and taxpayer interest, while direct tort claims are challenging, the campaign aims to ensure accountability for the prudent use of public resources.
The alleged perjuicios (harms) include lost profits and business opportunities for competing companies and SMEs who were not given a fair chance to bid. For taxpayers, the harm includes the assumption of significant financial risk without adequate transparency or assurance of value, and the potential for an inefficient or less innovative defence supply base if competition is unduly restricted. There is also a public interest concern if procurement decisions are not made transparently and in accordance with the law and stated government policies regarding fair competition and SME involvement
LEGAL NOTICE
Subscribing to a Compensation Campaign does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not commit you to any obligation, fee, or cost. The allegations set forth herein are subject to an ongoing investigation and have not been proven before a court of law, unless otherwise indicated. All information provided will be treated confidentially in accordance with data protection regulations. This document contains the opinions, beliefs, and allegations of COCOO.uk based on currently available information and presented in good faith. These statements are subject to further investigation and should not be construed as definitive facts unless so established in a legal proceeding. COCOO.uk is a charitable society, not a law firm. The statements set forth herein are based on current information and are subject to further investigation. The basis for collective action resides in the fact that multiple entities and/or individuals may have suffered similar economic harm as a result of common conduct, for example, the overcharge paid by consumers or businesses, or mismanagement by the public sector