UK travel agent made $4m+ in a year housing refugees

Travel agency using phone in office working desk

A former travel agent from the United Kingdom managed to make £2.19 million (AU$4.035m) last year by winning a government contract to house refugees.

Debbie Hoban, the boss of the Leeds-based Calder Conferences, managed to make millions from the taxpayer by housing small-boat arrivals and asylum seekers in nearly 400 hotels across Britain, according to the Daily Mail.

Across the UK, 51,000 asylum seekers stay in hotels, costing the taxpayer more than £6.8m (AU$12.5m) a day. At least 42 of the 48 counties across England now have hotels accommodating migrants and the number of migrants has risen by more than 10,000 in three months.

“The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain,” a British Home Office spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

“The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer.”

Official documents showed Hoban’s company received £20.6m (AU$37.98m) from the Home Office in 2021, which nearly quintupled to £97m (AU$178.74m) in 2022. Turnover for the year ending February 2022 rose from £5.98m (AU$11.02m) to £23.66m (AU$43.6m) and pre-tax profits trebled to £6.3m (AU$11.61m).

Hoban is now retired and lives in a £3m (AU$5.53m) country farmhouse and frequently traverses the planet, often heading to events like the Abu Dhabi grand prix or visiting the Taj Mahal with her family. She lives with her husband, Peter, in a converted grain mill in West Yorkshire with four bedrooms, a swimming pool, jacuzzi and a basement wine cellar.

Debbie Hoban with her husband Peter (Twitter/@hobber123456)

This is not the first time that Calder and her business has been involved with the government.

It was reported that, in 2020, Calder Conferences had secret talks with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to help house up to 2000 prisoners in Butlin’s holiday camp in Skegness amidst the jails crisis during the height of the pandemic. Representatives from Calders, who were acting on behalf of the MoJ, met with Butlin’s bosses to discuss a £10m scheme to accommodate low-risk prisoners.

The plan was scrapped before it got much further.

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Calder Conferences Debbie Hoban travel agent