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Sally Army millionaire: Rag trader making a fortune from the clothes you donate to charity - Magda Hassan - 01-02-2011
I know I certainly make any donations on the basis that the clothes are given to the poor and needy directly or are sold and the entire money raised to be spent on the services provided by the welfare agency. I sure don't have any intention of supporting a parasite like this with my donations. Another thing about the second hand clothing industry is that a good deal of the unwanted stuff ends up in Africa where it out competes the local textile industry destroying jobs and communities and cultures.
Quote:Sally Army millionaire: Rag trader making a fortune from the clothes you donate to charity
By Emily Andrews
Last updated at 9:39 AM on 1st February 2011
Self-made: Nigel Hanger has the Salvation Army to thank for his designer suits, country mansion and Ascot-winning racehorse
When William Booth founded the Salvation Army in 1865, he had the poor and needy in mind.
The Methodist minister probably wouldn't have included Nigel Hanger and his £5million fortune in that category.
But Mr Hanger has the Sally Army to thank for his designer suits, country mansion and Ascot-winning racehorse.
The 56-year-old has made millions from selling on the clothes and shoes which thousands of us donate to the Christian charity each week.
A self-made textiles trader, he won an exclusive deal to run the charity's nationwide network of 4,500 recycling banks.
His company, Kettering Textiles Limited, sells on the donated garments to Eastern Europe, where the price has risen from less than £100 a ton to £350 over the last three years, thanks to the rise of second-hand shops.
And although the charity has received just more than 60 per cent of the sale of the clothes over that period, Mr Hanger's company has made £10million.
The businessman, who is married with three children, admits that profits are good'. And the Salvation Army defended the arrangement as administrative costs'. But critics are unimpressed.
They have accused the charity of misleading them over how gifts intended for good causes are used
Samaritan: William Booth founded the Salvation Army in 1865 for the poor and needy
The Government has demanded an explanation and the regulator, the Charity Commission, has launched a review of the case. Ian Ross, 75, who was donating his old wax jacket, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, expressed his disapproval. Signs on the charity's recycling banks explain that profits are used to help the Salvation Army's work with people in need both at home and abroad'.
He said: Anyone would believe the donations are going to the benefit of those that need them, not to somebody who is making a massive amount of money.
I will think twice before doing it again.'
At his office on an industrial estate nearby, Mr Hanger, whose home is located in a village near Wellingborough, defended his position.
Profits are good,' he said. We have been very successful increasing the tonnage and in the last two or three years the market has never been as buoyant.
You would pin a medal on the top business people [for achieving these profits] but because this is a charity you think there's something strange going on.
At no point have I ever not said what I am in this for. I am in business to make profit as best I can in the proper manner and to make as much money as I can for myself and my family.'
Since Mr Hangar negotiated the contract in 2008, he has earned more than £5milllion. According to Companies' House he and his three directors have netted £10million while the Salvation Army received £16.3million.
Lieutenant Colonel David Hinton, from the charity, said: In the past three years alone, this has resulted in the donation of more than £16million, money which we would not otherwise have received from a national recycling and shop operation.' The charity annually spends £150million on the relief of poverty and the advancement of education'.
Plush: Nigel Hanger's country mansion in Finedon, Northamptonshire
He added: The operation of SATCoL [the charity's trading arm] and its recycling partner is a huge commercial undertaking providing substantial funds to the Salvation Army which are directly used for our work.
It would be naive to believe or expect that such an operation would not incur administrative costs.'
It is not appropriate for the charity to comment on the remuneration paid to personnel in an independent company that is not a subsidiary of the Salvation Army and over which we do not exercise any legal control,' he added.
A spokesman for Charities Minister, Nick Hurd, called on the charity to explain what is going on'.
And Tessa Jowell, the shadow charities minister, said she was extremely concerned at the suggestion that a charitable organisation has been misrepresented in this manner'.
The Salvation Army is a member of the standards board, the charity sector's self-regulatory body which sets out to safeguard public trust and confidence in fundraising tactics used by good causes.
It could be brought before the independent board to answer questions and, if the board is not satisfied by the answers, could be removed from the register.