A company that has received millions of pounds in public funding to care for vulnerable children was found to be housing a child in an unregistered, dilapidated property where they slept on a mattress on the floor.
This was reported by TheBureauinvestigates.
Great Minds Together (GMT) was suspended by Ofsted after inspectors uncovered serious safeguarding failures at a bungalow in Oldham last year. Despite this, the organisation has since resurfaced under a new name and continues to profit from placing children in illegal accommodation.
Over the past three years, GMT and its successor entity have received more than £12m from local authorities, almost entirely for housing children in care in settings that are not legally registered.
Children’s homes are required by law to be registered with Ofsted to ensure they meet basic standards of safety and quality. Unregistered homes operate outside this system, avoiding routine inspections and oversight.
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Alongside at least four illegal, unregistered properties, GMT also operated one children’s home that was formally registered with Ofsted. A child with social and emotional difficulties was placed there by Tameside council.
When Ofsted inspected that site in July 2025, it found the property in poor condition. There was no bed for the child, minimal furniture and at least one staff member who had not been vetted to work with children. GMT later claimed the findings were misleading, saying the child had chosen not to sleep in a bed because of their individual needs.
Following the inspection, Ofsted suspended GMT’s registration. The company then withdrew entirely from the regulatory system. Less than two weeks later, GMT entered administration with debts of more than £820,000 to HMRC. Almost immediately, the business was sold to a newly formed company owned by the same individual, Emma Mander.
Despite this, at least one local authority – Manchester city council – continues to place children in unregistered homes operated by the new entity, Thriving Futures (GMT) Ltd.
Operating a children’s home without Ofsted registration is a criminal offence. However, due to a severe shortage of regulated placements, councils across England send hundreds of children each year to live in unregistered settings. Manchester council said it had no viable alternatives and carried out extensive checks before working with GMT.
Mander, the chief executive, disputes that her companies operate illegally. She argues that all placements are authorised by local authorities or, in some cases, by the courts. However, a 2021 supreme court ruling made clear that running an unregistered children’s home remains a criminal offence, even where a judge has approved the placement.
Thriving Futures is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide mental health support in people’s homes, but this registration does not permit the company to provide residential care or accommodation for children.
Apart from the Oldham bungalow, every children’s home linked to GMT since its establishment in 2021 has been unregistered. Most of the councils using its services are based in the north-west of England. Analysis of council spending data shows that between 2023 and 2025, local authorities paid £12.1m to GMT and Thriving Futures.
Tameside council alone paid £4.3m to GMT and a further £1.6m to Thriving Futures. The authority had previously denied using illegal placements, only acknowledging the practice after being presented with its own financial records.
Manchester council confirmed it had placed two children with GMT, including one at the Oldham property. Following Ofsted’s inspection, both children were moved elsewhere. The council said it would not make further placements with GMT unless the provider could meet safety and care standards.
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Mander said Thriving Futures exists to fill “profound gaps” in the care system, insisting her organisation steps in only when no suitable alternatives are available. She said she remained proud of the outcomes achieved for children and families.
A pattern of failures
In May last year, a high court judge described the care provided by GMT to a 10-year-old boy in an illegal home on the Isle of Wight as “wholly inadequate”. The placement cost £29,000 per week, prompting the judge to remark that it would be cheaper to send the child to Disneyland Paris for a month.
Mander defended the cost, arguing it covered expenses that councils would normally fund separately. She later stated she would never work with Ofsted, criticising its regulatory framework as inflexible and disconnected from reality.
An Ofsted report into the previously registered home paints a deeply concerning picture. Inspectors found staff were poorly trained, physical restraint had been used unnecessarily and the child’s behaviour had deteriorated. A serious incident occurred twice due to inadequate supervision.
The report also revealed that a director who had not been vetted was directly involved in the child’s day-to-day care. Inspectors said this involvement had not been declared during registration, meaning no checks had been carried out to assess suitability. GMT maintains that Mander herself was fully vetted.
Additional issues included incomplete medication records, missing information in incident logs and weak oversight of visitors.
Ofsted concluded that failures were “serious and widespread”, leaving children inadequately protected and failing to promote their welfare.
GMT said it delivered positive care but acknowledged it did not meet Ofsted’s framework. The company said it deregistered once the child was no longer living at the property.
Following the money
Manchester council currently has two children placed in illegal homes run by Thriving Futures. Financial data shows payments of £3.3m to GMT-related companies between 2023 and 2025.
Opposition councillors have pledged to raise concerns. Green party councillor Zoe Marlow said council monitoring could never replace independent inspections. She argued that public funds should support safe, regulated providers rather than companies that had failed vulnerable children.
Knowsley council in Merseyside also paid £2.8m to GMT. The authority said placements were made only in exceptional circumstances but declined to provide further detail.
Despite receiving millions in public funding, GMT collapsed in July 2025. Administrators cited costly litigation linked to a shareholder dispute and weak financial controls. The company was also owed more than £550,000 by a local authority.
Shortly after entering administration, GMT and a related property company were sold to Thriving Futures, another business controlled by Mander. A month earlier, a connected non-profit organisation had been wound up by HMRC.
A system under strain
The use of illegal children’s homes is becoming a national crisis. A recent Public Accounts Committee report found nearly 800 children were placed in illegal accommodation in 2024, often for months at a time.
The committee’s chair said cases like GMT demonstrated the urgent need to eliminate unregistered homes. The children’s commissioner has warned that illegal placements now cost councils hundreds of millions of pounds each year.
While the government has pledged reforms, officials expect it will take at least two years to reduce reliance on illegal provision.
Parents whose children were placed in unregistered homes described deep unease. “You don’t know who’s been checked, who’s trained, or what’s really going on,” one mother said. “There are no safeguards. That’s what’s frightening.”
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