Aktis Strategy

UK security and stabilisation contractor (2012–2023) whose biggest client was the FCO via the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Aktis Strategy Limited
Trade name
Logo
Type	Private limited company
Founded	12 December 2012 (incorporated)
Founder(s)
Defunct	Dissolved 22 June 2023
Headquarters	London
Industry	Security, justice, stabilisation and strategic communications programmes
Services
Parent
Subsidiaries
Revenue
Number of employees
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Aktis Strategy (Aktis Strategy Limited, Companies House number 08327972) was a London-based contractor delivering security, justice, stabilisation and strategic communications programmes in conflict-affected countries. According to Devex, it "scaled rapidly to become one of FCO's regular contractors for a range of security and development programs in countries including Iraq, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, Somalia, and Lebanon", and the "FCO was its biggest client, mostly through the controversial cross-government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund." The company entered administration on 14 March 2019 and was dissolved on 22 June 2023.

Overview

The administrators appointed in 2019 wrote that the company "grew rapidly as a trusted provider of high-quality technical expertise for its clients, focusing on security and stability programming in fragile and conflict-affected states". They listed its clients as "the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK Home Office, UK Department for International Development, Dutch MFA, Danish MFA, United Nations Development Programme, European Union and US State Department". They said that in 2018 there were "approximately 79 employees of the Company and 70 staff employed by associated entities/branches". Aktis was the majority shareholder in companies registered in Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia, Lebanon and Kenya.

In a 2018 bid document, its consortium partners described Aktis as:

"a global consultancy specialised in behavioural communications work across fragile and conflict-affected states, with a specific focus on media development, business strategy support, target audience analysis and multiplatform content creation."

The Mail on Sunday reported in 2019 that before its collapse Aktis "had landed major contracts for Foreign Office projects in 25 countries including Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Afghanistan", and that "Last year, the FCO paid Aktis £24 million". The administrators' figures, taken from management accounts, give 2018 turnover of £23,789,798. Audited turnover was £16,702,047 in 2017 and £10,122,736 in 2016.

History

Aktis was incorporated on 12 December 2012. Devex dates its founding to 2013. The Mail on Sunday reported in 2015 that it was founded by Andrew Rathmell, "a former deputy director of the Strategy Unit at the Foreign Office", with fellow directors Alex Martin, "a former diplomat who spent three years as First Secretary at the Foreign Office", and Matthew Waterfield, "who worked for DFID in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, and currently advises the Government on stabilisation planning". The paper said the company "had set up publicly-funded projects in five countries and has offices in London, Gaziantep (Turkey), Beirut, Tunis and Karachi".

Waterfield resigned as a director on 1 March 2017. The company's 2017 accounts record "an exceptional, one-off payment to departing director M Waterfield as part of a termination agreement of £597,000 which has significantly reduced the profit for the year". Devex reported that "Waterfield filed for breach of contract and unfair dismissal but it was settled out of court".

In autumn 2017, according to the Mail on Sunday, the firm "splashed out more than £100,000 on a 'boozy' three-day retreat for staff" at the De Vere Wokefield estate. Rathmell and Martin responded that no taxpayers' money had been spent on the event:

"This was an important event to allow staff from our regional offices to work together on business planning and training… None of the funds were taxpayer funds; these were all paid for from company profits reinvested in the company rather than taken out by shareholders."

CSSF and FCO work

Devex reported that besides the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Aktis worked for the Department for International Development, the Home Office, the Dutch and Danish governments, the European Union, the United Nations and the US Department of State.

Aktis awards published on Contracts Finder

Award date	Buyer (as published)	Contract	Value (£)	Term	Source
2015-06-17	Department for International Development	DFID 7224 Monitoring and Evaluation for the DFID/UNDP/MoSA Lebanon Municipal Services Programme	156,853	17 Jun 2015 – 31 Mar 2016
2016-11-03	Home Office	THE CONFLICT STABILITY AND SECURITY FUND (CSSF) Overseas Communications ("CSSF Call-Off Contract FCO FWA for overseas communications")	6,900,000	3 Nov 2016 – 15 Mar 2019
2017-04-01	Foreign & Commonwealth Office	itt_1477 – CPG/1404B/2016 Target Audience Analysis (TAA) in Baltic States	503,249	1 Apr 2017 – 31 Mar 2018

Syria and Turkey

A CV submitted in a bid for the FCO's Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) programme in Syria describes the holder as "Project Director, Aktis Strategy Ltd, FCO Community Security Programme (Syria)" in 2014. It says the holder directed "a large-scale project to deliver community engagement with the Free Syrian Police, and other S&J actors, councils, and communities in opposition-held Syria", and refers to an Aktis "Integrated Community Security" programme (ICSP) run from Turkey into Syria. In 2015 the Mail on Sunday reported that Aktis described its Middle East work as including "a Foreign Office-funded community security programme in Syria". Aktis's final administration report records correspondence with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs "in relation to further monies that the Company may be entitled to receive as part of the work carried out on The Regional Stabilisation programme for Syria and Iraq". The administrators concluded that no further debts were owed.

Tunisia

In November 2015 the British Embassy in Tunis announced continued support for Strategic Planning Units in the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, stating:

"This project is being delivered by Aktis Strategy Ltd, a UK company funded by the Embassy to provide the Ministry with specialist assistance in security strategic planning."

After the Sousse attack of June 2015, the Mail on Sunday reported that "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid £1,422,684 to Aktis in the 12 months before May for its anti-terrorism project in Tunisia". It said DFID "gave the firm a further £158,881 for 'project delivery costs and supplier services' over the same period", and that "Rathmell was in charge of Aktis's Tunis office earlier this year". An FCO spokeswoman responded:

"Tunisia has been at a high risk of terrorism for some time which is why the UK is providing support to the Tunisian interior ministry to improve its management of the security sector. The project being delivered by Aktis is to help the ministry with its long-term strategic planning capability, not physical protection measures. It cannot on its own make Tunisia terror-free overnight."

The paper reported that Rathmell declined to comment.

Iraq

A 2020 Information Commissioner's decision notice concerned a request for "all of the audits and evaluations that were conducted for projects implemented by Aktis … in Iraq since 01/01/2014". The request covered the "Iraq Governance and Resilience Programme" (CSSF-06-000014) and "The Sub-national governance implemented by Aktis since June 2017". The FCO held "an audit by Deloitte of work undertaken by Aktis" and an annual summary sheet for "CSSF Iraq – Governance and Resilience", and released the Deloitte report with redactions. The complainant argued that "the FCO audited a project (or projects) of Aktis in Iraq in 2018 and soon after, the FCO suspended all of Aktis' contracts and the company went bankrupt in March 2019", and that the partial disclosure "painted a rather negative picture of Aktis' financial management with substantial amounts of public money being questioned by auditors". The FCO argued that harming relations with Iraq "would undermine the UK's ability to support long-term stability and peace-building in Iraq". The Commissioner upheld most of the FCO's exemptions but found it was not entitled to rely on the commercial-interests exemption. Rathmell told Devex that after the 2018 Iraq audit Aktis was given "a clean bill of health by the FCO and its external auditors".

After the collapse, the Mail on Sunday quoted a project co-ordinator in Erbil who said she was being chased for more than £350,000 owed to suppliers. It also reported this reply from a UK embassy official to an Aktis employee:

"The FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) has paid Aktis for work delivered in line with our contractual obligations. The requirement to pay sub-contractors and staff rests with Aktis and we would therefore encourage you to speak to Aktis directly."

Foreign Policy reported former contractors' claims that "In Iraq, Aktis stopped paying for onsite security, endangering the lives of people on the project". Rathmell and Martin had earlier denied failing to pay for personal security and health insurance, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Lebanon

DFID awarded Aktis £156,853 for monitoring and evaluation of the DFID/UNDP/Ministry of Social Affairs Lebanon Municipal Services Programme in 2015–16. The Mail on Sunday reported in 2015 that Aktis described itself as "providing security at the Lebanon border funded by the European Union". The administrators' solicitors reviewed "pre-appointment transactions and audit of the EU Lebanon project" and "found that there is no balance to pursue".

Somalia and Somaliland

The FCDO's DevTracker describes the CSSF Somaliland (Somalia) Programme (GB-GOV-3-CSSF-03-000012) as aiming to provide "Security and Justice Sector Reform by increasing civilian oversight and professionalisation of the Somaliland Army and Coastguard", and to strengthen the judiciary and police. The programme's 2016/17 annual review reports that "Improved case management systems were in pilot" in the judiciary and that "The capability of the Public Order Unit created within the police, in using appropriate non-lethal tactics was improved (seen when it was deployed to quell football riots)". It does not name its implementers.

The Somaliland Chronicle reported in April 2019 that Aktis had "been working in Somaliland for years, mainly in the security and the justice sectors with another British firm – Axiom International":

"The largest project that Aktis Strategy and to some extent, Axiom International has been working on is £6,885,000 CSSF Somaliland justice and security sector reform project. IATI Identifier: GB-GOV-3-CSSF-03-000012. According to sources in Somaliland Judiciary, the now defunct Aktis Strategy and Axiom International Limited has been working on developing the case management for Somaliland courts."

The paper reproduced posts in which the two firms described a Somaliland Army code of conduct "developed by Somaliland officers together with @AktisStrategy & @AxiomIntLtd consultants". It warned:

"What happens to projects awarded and actively being worked on by Aktis Strategy is unknown. Another area of concern is the confidential information with potential national security implication for Somaliland that Aktis Strategy has stored in its soon to be liquidated systems."

(Axiom International was chaired by John Stevens; see that page.)

In 2025 The Cradle (Kit Klarenberg) revisited the collapse in an article on UK influence over Somaliland's security institutions:

"In April 2019, British government contractor Aktis Strategy abruptly declared bankruptcy, leaving staff unpaid and suppliers out of pocket, despite having secured tens of millions of pounds from the UK's Foreign Office for 'development' programs across Africa and West Asia. The Somaliland Chronicle published a detailed exposé on the company's collapse, which came while it was overseeing a 'justice and security sector reform project' in the statelet. Official records reveal that between 2017 and 2022, London allocated over £18 million (around $23.5 million) to that project alone."

The Cradle argued that the programme was "one of many UK-financed schemes in the breakaway region that placed Somaliland's state architecture – government, military, judiciary, prisons, police, intelligence – under effective British management". It cited internal files on work by other contractors (Adam Smith International, Albany Associates and Coffey International), but those files do not concern Aktis. Companies House records that administration began on 14 March 2019, not in April. Foreign Policy reported, citing the manager of an Aktis subcontractor, that "In Somaliland, workers on a project to develop the judiciary received death threats from Aktis creditors".

Russia's periphery: Baltic states, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Belarus

In 2017 the FCO awarded Aktis £503,249 for "Target Audience Analysis (TAA) in Baltic States" (CPG/1404B/2016). The contract notice describes research into the "attitudes towards the UK and the West" of target audiences, to:

"identify opportunities to help HMG appropriately communicate with predominantly Russian speaking audiences; and provide a benchmark against which the impact of future activity by HMG can be measured."

The BBC Media Action consortium bid

In February 2021 The Grayzone (Max Blumenthal) published an account of FCO documents released by the hacking collective calling itself Anonymous, concerning the FCO's Counter Disinformation & Media Development (CDMD) programme. It wrote:

"The BBC also proposed to participate in a separate UK FCO media propaganda program in Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. It named Reuters and a now-defunct intelligence contractor called Aktis Strategy, which participated in previous FCO CDMD programs, as key allies in its consortium."

"BBC Media Action proposed working through Aktis to cultivate and grow pro-NATO media in conflict areas like the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where a proxy war has raged since 2014 between the Western-backed Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists. It was textbook information warfare, weaponizing broadcast media to turn the tide of battle in a protracted, grinding conflict."

The Grayzone said the CDMD's director had set out a goal to "weaken the Russian State's influence on its near neighbours", and that "the UK FCO propaganda campaign warned that 'Kremlin-affiliated structures' could undermine the project if it was exposed". It repeated the claim in March 2022:

"UK FCDO documents revealed that BBC Media Action proposed working through a private British contractor called Aktis to cultivate and grow pro-NATO media in conflict areas like the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, now the focal point of fighting between pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian military."

That 2022 article was mainly about Orysia Khimiak, whom The Grayzone described as a BBC "fixer and reporter" in Ukraine who had previously been director of PR for the app developer Reface. It reported that she "has even shared a byline with the network's Lviv-based correspondent, Hugo Bachega". The Grayzone used the leaked BBC Media Action/Aktis bid as context for its criticism of BBC coverage. It did not allege that Khimiak had any connection with Aktis, BBC Media Action or the FCO-funded CDMD work. The Grayzone reported that she and Bachega "have yet to respond to a request for comment from The Grayzone"; no later response from her or the BBC has been found.

In March 2021 Kit Klarenberg, writing for RT, reported that the files showed BBC Media Action "offered to lead a dedicated FCDO program, named 'Independent Media in Eastern Partnership Countries' and targeted at Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine", which a tender put at £9 million over 2018–2021:

"In response, BBCMA submitted extensive proposals, in conjunction with Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), the global newswire's 'non-profit' wing, and since-collapsed veteran FCDO contractor Aktis Strategy. The project was to be managed and coordinated directly by BBCMA from BBC Broadcasting House headquarters in London, with local support provided by Reuters newswire offices in Kiev and Tbilisi, and Ukraine's Independent Association of Broadcasters."

RT also reported that a dedicated board of the contractors, the CDMD and British embassies would "meet privately every quarter", and that "Publicly, Whitehall's funding and direction of the vast project was intended to be completely hidden". It quoted the files on working with "independent outlets in proximity of non-government-controlled areas of Donbas in Ukraine, Transnistria in Moldova and Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia".

The bid documents themselves, published online with the other leaked files, confirm Aktis's place in the consortium. The organogram lists Thomson Reuters Foundation, BBC Media Action and Aktis Strategy as the three partners. The concept paper describes "BBC Media Action (BBCMA) working in partnership with Aktis Strategy and the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF)" within "the FCO's Counter Disinformation and Media Development (CDMD) Programme". It credits Aktis with prior CSSF work:

"Aktis Strategy delivered a strategic support analysis to independent and public media in EaP countries, including UA:PBC, Moldova's TV8 and Canal Regional, and Belsat TV in Belarus. … Aktis has a proven track record and capabilities of delivering region-wide work in Eastern Europe, such as CSSF Target Audience Analysis in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus and Support to Independent Media in the Baltic States."

"Based on a local scale-up programme 'the Local Media Development Programme' (LMDP), Aktis Strategy will lead on building the capacities of 6-9 independent small media partners and hyperlocal outlets that offer potential for growth. … The methodology proved successful in the Baltic States where Aktis' scale-up programme led to a fourfold increase of supported media's audience in Latvia and generated 68% increase of local audience base in Lithuania."

The concept paper adds that "Aktis will utilise DCN's regional presence in Eastern Europe" for training on "reaching out to breakaway regions susceptible to Kremlin narratives". The risk register lists "Disclosure/leak of HMG documentation that could be used by Kremlin-affiliated structures to undermine the project and the HMG reputation in the region", with the mitigation that "Aktis will appoint an Information Management Focal Point". It also names "Aktis' Security Focal Point" for work in eastern Ukraine. No source found shows whether the bid succeeded. RT wrote: "It's not yet clear if BBCMA was successful in its pitch".

Responses. BBC Media Action told The Canary:

"The allegations contained in The Greyzone [sic] report are false and a complete misrepresentation of our work. BBC Media Action is the BBC's international charity. We provide technical training and mentoring to public service media in many countries, following the editorial standards and principles of the BBC. Our areas of work and our funding are clearly outlined on our website and in our Annual Reports."

A Thomson Reuters Foundation spokesperson told The Grayzone that "The inference that the Thomson Reuters Foundation was engaged in 'secret activities' is inaccurate and misrepresents our work in the public interest". No response from Aktis, which had ceased trading, or from the FCDO about the bid has been found.

Open Information Partnership / EXPOSE

The Canary reported that, according to leaked files it had published in July 2020, the "implementing consortium partners" of the FCO's EXPOSE network, a CDMD project facilitated by a consortium led by Zinc Network, were "the Institute of Statecraft and Aktis Strategy (no longer operating)". See Open Information Partnership.

Leaked FCO documents

Much of the detail on Aktis's media work comes from FCO-related documents that a group calling itself Anonymous published between 2018 and 2021. The Grayzone stated that after an earlier batch on Syria "the Foreign Office claimed its computer systems had been penetrated by hackers, thus confirming their authenticity". It also said a Thomson Reuters Foundation spokesperson "implicitly confirmed the authenticity" of the Russia-related files. Aktis material in the published files includes:

• the BBC Media Action / TRF / Aktis bid for CSSF "Support for Independent Media in Eastern Partnership Countries" (concept and methodology, risk management, organogram);
• staff CVs and Aktis financial documents included in the WYG bid for the Syria AJACS programme.

Insolvency

Co-founder Andrew Rathmell told Devex that the firm went into an insolvency process at the start of March 2019. He attributed its collapse to poor financial management that left it unable to manage rapid scale-up and a growing number of low-margin projects. A document sent to staff said the company had lost a number of major contracts, including from the FCO. There had been an audit of its Iraq work in 2018, after which, Rathmell said, Aktis was given "a clean bill of health by the FCO and its external auditors." A government spokesperson told Devex: "The government has a small number of contracts with Aktis Strategy Limited." Rathmell wrote to Devex:

"When it became evident that clients and investors could not see eye to eye on a way forward, the board had no choice but to seek support from administrators. Hence, Aktis went into an insolvency process at the start of March."

Devex reported that "Dozens of staff, and a number of Aktis' subcontractors, are understood to be owed several months of back pay, expenses, and pension contributions", and that bailiffs had attended the London office in January 2019. It quoted a note from managers saying that "after insolvency, the shareholders will have received no net pay since 2016".

Administrators' account

Lee Manning and Ben Woodthorpe of ReSolve were appointed joint administrators on 14 March 2019. Their proposals state that when the December 2017 accounts were completed in December 2018, the auditors identified "a number of misstatements in the accounts prepared by the Company", the most significant being "a failure to account for all project costs". A new finance director then found "material accounting misstatements during 2018", showing "the Company had made a substantial loss in 2018". The management figures show a loss of £644,461. On the clients' position, they wrote:

"Regrettably a marketing campaign could not commence as key clients of the business expressed that they would not support the Company moving forward with a restructuring plan and made it clear that their contracts would be transitioned to other providers."

The proposals record that £644,665 was owed by the FCO at the time of appointment, of which "£436,508 was received from the FCO on 16 April 2019". Barclays was owed £402,616 on an overdraft secured by a charge of August 2017. Unsecured claims were estimated at £5,860,012. Staff headcount had been cut "from approximately 150 down to 85". The administrators also noted a share sale for £75 on 22 February 2019 of Aktis's shares in "Aktek", "an associated entity of the Company as the directors Andrew Rathmell and Alexander Martin were also directors of Aktek at the time of the sale". They said it "included a waiver of any amounts due from Aktek to the Company" and would be investigated.

The final report (March 2023) records £858,160 realised from book debts. Barclays received £339,248, and preferential creditors (mainly employees) were paid 100p in the pound on £140,989. Unsecured creditors with claims of £5,585,253 received "a first and final dividend of 1.57 pence in the £". The directors' statement of affairs had put unsecured liabilities at £7,046,553. On the investigation, the administrators wrote that they had "reviewed the potential claims against the directors concerning several pre-appointment transactions, and have determined that no further action will be taken". The company moved from administration to dissolution and was dissolved on 22 June 2023.

Press reporting and responses

The Mail on Sunday reported that "FCO records show Aktis Strategy received almost £2 million in the last three months of trading. As recently as February, the department paid it almost £800,000." It also reported that "the Foreign Office confirmed that it 'had a small number of contracts with Aktis Strategy Ltd which have now ended'". It quoted a former senior staffer:

"The directors of Aktis have left their own staff high and dry and the debts to suppliers are eye-watering in places like Iraq. If it is not sorted out soon I fear that people will be killed over this. This is all hugely damaging for Britain's reputation."

In a statement, Rathmell and Martin "blamed the company's demise on 'weaknesses in its financial management and in the financial management team'". They said they "had injected £600,000 of their own money into the firm in an effort to rescue it and denied failing to pay for personal security and health insurance". The paper also quoted Patricia Haslach, a former US ambassador who was Aktis's head of conflict management from July to November 2018: "I could see the writing on the wall. I was having to tell people they were not going to get paid on time".

Foreign Policy reported in December 2020 that Rathmell was working as head of the Office of the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Kabul, "according to two sources". It said that "Rathmell did not respond to multiple requests for comment or an interview" and that a NATO official said: "We don't comment on personnel issues." It quoted an unnamed British contractor:

"The directors paid themselves very well. Rathmell was the director; it was his financial mismanagement" that led to the company's demise.

People

Officers recorded at Companies House

Name	Role	Appointed	Resigned
Alexander Benedict Lowry Martin	Director	18 July 2013	13 January 2020
Alexander Benedict Lowry Martin	Director	12 December 2012	2 January 2013
Andrew James Rathmell	Director	12 December 2012	13 January 2020
Matthew John Waterfield	Director	18 July 2013	1 March 2017

• Andrew Rathmell (born October 1966) was, according to RAND, a RAND Europe researcher on "temporary assignment as director of policy planning and analysis at the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad" in 2004. There he became "the first non-American to receive the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Medal of Valor" for helping wounded men during a mortar and rocket attack in Baquba. The Mail on Sunday describes him as "a former deputy director of the Strategy Unit at the Foreign Office". A 2016 author profile describes him as Managing Director of Aktis and "Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter's Strategy and Security Institute", who "has led strategic analysis and planning for the UK Foreign Office, US Department of Defense, coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq".
• Alex Martin (born September 1970) "served in posts in London, Jakarta and Prague during 11 years at the Foreign Office", according to the Mail on Sunday.
• Matthew Waterfield (born July 1972) "worked for DFID in Sierra Leone and Nigeria" according to the Mail on Sunday in 2015. He left with the £597,000 termination payment described above.

See also

• Conflict, Stability and Security Fund
• Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme
• BBC Media Action
• Open Information Partnership
• Axiom International
• Adam Smith International
• Free Syrian Police