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More financial nightmares for Sadiq Khan - London Mayor's fund faces £3m loss after firm he backed collapses

By Tom Gibson | June 20, 2023

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This collapse of EV firm Breathe is just the latest financial disaster the Mayor of London has overseen

More financial nightmares for Sadiq Khan - London Mayor's fund faces £3m loss after firm he backed collapses

Seemingly not happy enough to see TfL debts snowball to over £13bn, Sadiq Khan has now left taxpayers with millions of pounds in losses after an electric vehicle company he backed – Breathe – collapsed.

Just over 15 months since The Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund, set up by Sadiq Khan, injected £3.2m into the company, it has now called in the administrators.

Breathe provided EVs including Teslas to private-hire drivers via a subscription service that allowed customers to take full ownership of their car at the end of the period, as well as offering insurance.

The collapse of Breathe is the latest bit of poor financial management by the Mayor who has seen TfL debts rise from around £7bn to over £13bn in his time in office.

A spokesperson for the mayor said: "The Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund is the largest of its kind in the UK and has already invested in 17 projects across London mobilising over £380m of investment, which is expected to save over 38,000 tonnes of CO2 and nearly 40m kwh of energy.

"MEEF's original investment of £3.2m in Breathe represents less than 1% of the total funding mobilised by the fund to date.

"The mayor is aware that Breathe has recently entered administration.

"The appointed administrators are working with all parties to complete a sale of the business and if needed realise assets to enable the debt to be repaid."

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