An NHS trust has sold off its consultancy arm as part of efforts to meet a demanding cost improvement target, HSJ reports.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust confirmed it had seen a £12.4m “net benefit” from the sale of its Lexica business to the UK health arm of WSP, a Canadian building consultancy group.
The sale had “contribute[d] £14.5m favourably to the [trust’s financial] position”, it said, adding that its 2025-26 cost improvement plan would be “£13.3m adverse excluding this”. GSTT must deliver a cost improvement programme of £102m to hit its 2024-25 financial plan.
Lexica provides consulting services to the health and life sciences sectors. The company’s most recent annual accounts, published in December, showed a turnover of £13.4m and profits of £1.6m. It employed 101 people and paid a dividend of £1m to the trust in January.
A report from Lexica’s directors said trading conditions had been difficult for the consultancy.
It said 2024-25 had been “a very challenging market for all organisations with a dominant public sector client base. NHS clients increasingly tendered work rather than made direct awards following pressure from NHS England and their own procurement teams, who had to demonstrate value for money.”
Date: 28 October