"No proof of funds," says mayor in row over £100m private investor for airport

Earlier this week, Doncaster businessman Grant Freeman, who is representing a private consortium of global investors, said City of Doncaster Council had “delayed, suppressed and frustrated” an offer of private investment into the re-opening of the airport.

Now, in a lengthy response, Mayor Ros Jones has hit back at the consortium behind the proposal, saying any deals need to be “robust.”

She said: “There has been media coverage this week of the airport following contact made by a group of investors interested in Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

"Given the nature of the comments made in the story, Doncaster Council has subsequently responded.

A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: “There has been recent media coverage regarding a consortium making it public that they wish to invest in Doncaster Sheffield Airport and commenting that City of Doncaster Council has not engaged with its representatives.

"The council refutes allegations attributed to Mr Freeman and his associates. We do not conduct negotiations in the public domain.

“First and foremost, we have been engaged with Mr Freeman continually since winter 2022.

"He has brought several proposals to the council, none of which have had substantial proof of funds attached to them including the current proposal.

"Therefore they have not progressed. We are always interested in genuine and substantiated offers and will, as expected, apply proper due diligence to them to ensure they are robust.

"There are other interested parties who have similarly made contact with us and due to confidentiality, we cannot comment further.

“Irrespective of speculative approaches, the council must follow proper due process in engaging with the market.

"It is for that reason, we went out initially for a market test. The procurement process was open, fair and transparent, unfortunately there was no private sector funding forthcoming during this process.

"At this point, it should be noted that Mr Freeman and his associates were free to submit a bid. They did not.

“We have repeatedly said that we and our funding partners want to seek financial investment as soon as possible however we recognise that the procurement exercise demonstrated that the public sector needs to be, as is often the case, the investor of first resort.

“We will, therefore, be going out to the market again when the time is right, and that time is not now because our focus is on securing a certificated and licenced operating airport. Without these essentials, then there is no airport.

“We are engaged with our technical and financial advisors, and they confirm that now is not the time to go out to the market. Not only does this take time but would be an unhelpful distraction in achieving the key elements needed to fully reopen the airport as soon as possible.

“The decision of when to go out to the market will be one for the council and FlyDoncaster to make in consultation with senior politicians to ensure we get the best return for our taxpayers.”

“I trust this addresses the current position and informs of the approach that is being taken.”

In a two-page letter sent to both Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, by the consortium, the council were said to be “hindering re-opening timelines, job creation and economic growth the region and nation so desperately need”.

The consortium of global investors are led by the Spanish-based Labyrinth International Investments – whose CEO Chris Jordan penned the letter sent to the Prime Minister on November 11, 2025 – in partnership with Monaco-based Castlepines Global Equity

Mr Jordan wrote: “The level of proposed public borrowing, financial burden, risk and lack of transparency of available private investment now creates an untenable and inappropriate decision-making process due to take place at the meeting proposed to approve the Gainshare Funding on 27th November.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Mr Freeman, a Doncaster-born businessman and UK strategic advisor to Labyrinth, said the offer presented to Doncaster Council by the consortium included around £500million worth of investment.

He said it included £100m “upfront” to purchase Fly Doncaster Ltd, the arms-length company established by the council to run Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA). The consortium would then “re-gift” 10 per cent equity of the business back to the council.

Mr Freeman said the consortium also offered to cover the costs of two significant pressures on the reopening of the airport: a “critical lack” of power and grid capacity for the site; and a lack of rail infrastructure to and from the airport.

He told the LDRS both those pressures would require £200m of capital investment each to address, which the investment consortium said it would pay in its offer.

Mr Freeman said addressing the power and rail issues were critical to the success of the airport and allowing them to be secondary to reopening DSA would lead it to fail.

However, Mr Freeman, who still resides in Doncaster, said the offer has been on the table since June 2025 and the council failed to disclose its existence.

Previously, sources have instead suggested £57m of additional borrowing was the only option to reopen the airport – with no mention of the private investment offer – and if councillors rejected that borrowing at a council meeting on November 27, 2025, it would “kill” the reopening project.

The £160m in gainshare funding provided by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is not a single lump sum, rather around £6m-per-year for 25-years.

Doncaster Council says it needs the borrowing as part of the public funding option as it needs more than £6m in the early years.

The letter by Mr Jordan to Sir Keir Starmer said: “We are concerned that the authorities have not given full sightedness of the formal private investor offer to both the public and to all counsellors being asked to make the biggest and longest lasting impact decision Doncaster has ever taken.

“The public desperately wants DSA to reopen, but not at any cost to future generations when private investment is ready to be agreed and is being suppressed.”

Councillors will meet on November 27 to potentially authorise the £57m in borrowing needed to reopen the airport.

Mr Freeman told the LDRS that the consortium’s offer would remove significant risk to the public purse if it was accepted, including a potential legal challenge by other airports over the public subsidy.

The letter to the PM said: “The use of public subsidy will have significant and real legal challenges. This will cause further delays and unbudgeted legal costs that will further damage public and inward investor confidence.”

The consortium also believes it could make profit from DSA within three years, rather than the nine-plus years projected by Doncaster Council.