Exclusive:Historic Environment Scotland director investigated for procurement concerns over £100,000 worth of contracts

A director at a scandal-hit quango is being investigated over procurement concerns relating to the award of lucrative contracts worth close to £100,000.

Whistleblowers are understood to have flagged issues after marketing director Stephen Duncan signed off a string of payments using public money.

The Scotsman has seen documents detailing how a chain of events sparked fears of alleged breaches of procurement, resourcing and code of conduct policies.

It comes after Mr Duncan – who has been suspended – faced repeated questions over his use of facilities at Edinburgh Castle, a property managed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

The probe focuses on the relationship between Mr Duncan and Susan Ireland, a senior figure in two companies – Hickory and Business Pointer – that received significant sums of public money from HES.

Mr Duncan approved payments of almost £100,000, with whistleblowers raising ethical and legal concerns.

Mr Duncan and his department attended a Team Strategy Day at Hickory venue Maud in October 2024 at a cost of £5,110.

A Freedom of Information response details nine interactions between Mr Duncan and Hickory between September 2023 and October 2024, including lunches and hospitality.

Ms Ireland was an all-expenses-paid guest of Mr Duncan at the RSNO’s Harry Potter concert at Edinburgh Castle in July last year.

A HES insider said: "Time after time matters of serious concern are raised internally but go nowhere. Why is that? We are talking about tens of thousands of pounds from the public purse.

“All of Duncan’s relationships both internally at HES and externally must now be looked into.”

Issues around procurement were also raised at parliamentary level in whistleblowing emails dubbed “the Corruption Files”.

HES Board member Andrew Davis confirmed at Holyrood’s culture committee in October an investigation into the “Corruption Files” began around June or July this year.

However, The Scotsman understands concerns around procurement were lodged as early as February with an investigation launched when the alarm was raised.

Concerns focus on a situation that began in early 2024, relating to Business Pointer, owned by Susan Ireland.

Around the same time, Mr Duncan hosted a meeting for Marketing and Engagement staff at Edinburgh venue Maud. Hickory went into administration with an impact on venues and jobs. Ms Ireland is named as director of Hickory on Companies House.

In early 2025, HES extended Business Pointer’s consultancy services on a rolling basis and an external member of Ms Ireland’s staff was brought into the hospitality team of HES with a further payment of £47,500 signed off.

According to HES procedures, procurement of contracts over £50,000 require a formal tender process that is advertised. Larger spends must also have oversight from the procurement team.

“Single sourcing”, according to internal documents, is permitted but only in limited circumstances.

It is understood that during procurement for the first contract of £9,700, tender submissions were due by February 5.

Internal records show Mr Duncan met Ms Ireland for lunch on February 1, during the live procurement process, which falls foul of Scottish Government procurement guidance for public bodies.

These records also claim Mr Duncan used single sourcing to sign off a contract for £47,850. It is understood Mr Duncan claims the £9,700 work and £47,850 work were two separate jobs.

However, that could be viewed as contract splitting, which goes against procurement guidance and could be seen as attempting to circumvent approval thresholds according to a ‘Procurement Red Flags’ document produced by Police Scotland and Audit Scotland.

In January this year, HES also gave a third contract for “consultancy services” to Business Pointer. The work was listed as a cost of £6,440 per month for three months but just days later a purchase order was raised for more than £38,000 - or six months of work.

Subscribe to our re-designed Steamie newsletter

Maud - now closed but described on its Instagram page as an “exclusive use party house” - was chosen to host Mr Duncan’s staff away day.

A freedom of information response shows that, of 10 venues, Maud was the fourth most expensive.

The FOI document shows HES paid Hickory Scotland, the parent company of the restaurant, £5,110 inc VAT.

Mr Duncan is understood to have defended choosing the upmarket venue by saying it suited his event theme of “Premium Experiences”.

Labour MSP Neil Bibby said: "Both HES and the Scottish Government have serious questions to answer and I hope they are ready to explain how the extra costs of this lavish event can possibly be justified."

The FOI response also confirms HES paid Business Pointer £86,490 in three parts: £9,970 for the five-year events plan; £47,850 to “refine a new sales system process and platform improvement for hospitality and events; and the “supply of a dedicated staff resource” from February to July at £30,912.

The team away day costs bring the total to around £97,000.

When approached by The Scotsman, Ms Ireland said: "I can confirm that Business Pointer was appointed by Historic Environment Scotland through their official procurement channels.

"The budgets were held and controlled by the senior department manager."

In a separate incident involving Mr Duncan, he took a group of staff to a boozy work lunch at Edinburgh Castle, which is understood to have never been paid for.

Close to £900 was also spent on a dinner for Board members including three bottles of wine at £69 per head at the Scott Hotel in Edinburgh - owned by the University of Edinburgh Accommodation Ltd, which was previously chaired by HES board member Gary Jebb.

A spokeswoman for Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said: “We cannot provide further comment on any matters that may or may not be subject to ongoing internal processes.”