Australian travel firm linked to £1.6bn of Home Office migrant contracts amid Epping hotel protests

Corporate Travel Management (CTM), the Brisbane-based firm led by founder Jamie Pherous, has continued to earn substantial fees from Home Office contracts to provide accommodation and transport for asylum seekers even as one of the properties it booked — the Bell Hotel in Epping — became the focal point of national protests.

Company accounts show CTM's UK arm reported more than £100 million in profit in the two years to the summer of 2024, and reporting indicates Home Office spending on accommodation and transport for asylum seekers linked to companies in this sector exceeds £1.6 billion. CTM has been reported to have taken bookings for more than 50 hotels to house asylum seekers under government arrangements.

The Bell Hotel in Epping was booked to house 138 migrants under CTM arrangements and became the first high-profile site of public opposition after a man who had arrived on a small boat was arrested nine days after his arrival and later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Demonstrations over the hotel spread to other migrant hotels across the country amid a wider rise in small-boat arrivals. Epping Forest District Council obtained a judgment seeking to close the hotel on planning grounds after concluding its owners had not secured permission to switch the property from normal hotel use; a Home Office appeal against that decision kept the hotel open while legal processes continue.

CTM's initial high-profile UK migrant contract, housing people on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, ended in August 2023 after the vessel was evacuated when tests found legionella bacteria. The planned floating accommodation was later cancelled by the national government. Despite that outcome, CTM has continued to receive government business.

Pherous, 56, founded CTM in Brisbane in 1994 and expanded the business from corporate travel services into a global company with around 3,200 staff. The company has reported high profit margins on some contracts in the past, and media reporting has said Pherous expected margins in excess of industry norms on some asylum work; CTM has denied having margin targets on the Home Office contract.

The firm's shares have been temporarily suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange after the company disclosed an error in its accounts. CTM has previously faced scrutiny over its international office listings, when researchers reported some claimed European and American offices could not be located; the company said that was due to a failure to update addresses on its website.

Reporting on Pherous's personal finances and lifestyle notes he lives in a riverside property in Brisbane valued at around £10 million and has described a pattern of international leisure travel. Documents filed by the company's UK arm say its directors seek to behave responsibly towards the community.

Charities and campaign groups have criticised firms that hold government contracts for asylum accommodation, saying the business model can profit from refugees' displacement. CTM said it has a dedicated accommodation team that works closely with government on the Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services contract, which the company said was awarded following competition processes to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. A CTM spokesman said: "We do not have any profit margin targets on this contract. The terms require us to source accommodation solutions and manage those chosen by the Home Office."

The Home Office has defended using private providers to deliver rapid accommodation and transport when arrivals surge, saying contracts are intended to ensure capacity and standards. Local authorities and campaigners have called for greater transparency over contract terms, the accommodation used and the processes by which hotels and other sites are selected.

Legal and political processes around the Bell Hotel remain active. Epping Forest District Council said its legal action was aimed at addressing planning breaches, while the Home Office has maintained that appeals and operational decisions are being handled through appropriate channels. The wider debate over private-sector involvement in asylum accommodation continues as the government manages a sustained increase in small-boat crossings and associated costs.

CTM's role in the UK migrant accommodation market reflects a broader trend of large private firms being contracted to provide rapid accommodation and logistics for asylum seekers. That model has drawn scrutiny from local communities, elected officials and charities following instances of public unrest and operational setbacks, including the Bibby Stockholm removal and local campaigns against hotels used to house people while their claims are processed.