A place in the sun: How do a bankrupt charity boss and his councillor partner afford a “luxury” flat abroad?

Dear readers — What a fortnight it’s been. Nearly two weeks ago, we published our three-month investigation into Knowsley Foodbank, a charity that in recent years received at least £1.1 million in public funds from Knowsley council. We revealed that the food bank paid more than £195,000 to organisations that are part of the disgraced charitable enterprise, Big Help, run by ex-Labour councillor Peter Mitchell and his Labour councillor partner, Colette Goulding.

Following our reporting Colette Goulding has had the whip removed, pending an investigation by the party. She has not said anything publicly about Labour’s decision.  

Today, we’re bringing you another shocking update. Post readers may remember Part Five of our Big Help investigation from May this year, which revealed how Mitchell had taken to Gibraltar to set up a new organisation: Big Help Overseas. This company claimed to have been founded to support refugees from war-torn Ukraine. 

Mitchell and Goulding were made personally bankrupt in May 2025. The Post can now reveal that in the same week their insolvency was officially announced, the pair signed a rental agreement for a £2,700 per month flat in what an estate agent calls one of Gibraltar’s “finest buildings”. Documents leaked to The Post also show Mitchell’s allies were paying for an office space in the Spanish peninsula at the same time.

Additionally, we have learned that at least two members of Mitchell’s inner circle are currently living or working in properties purchased by Big Help Green. That company was set up by Mitchell in 2019. In 2020 Big Help Green received £500,000 from the now defunct charity, Big Help Project, on terms later questioned by a High Court judge. Big Help Green went on to buy a property portfolio that includes the redbrick house Mitchell and Goulding live in. 

We approached Mitchell and Goulding for comment for this story, but they did not respond to our questions. 

Your Post briefing

An update on our investigation into Writing On The Wall: Last month, we revealed that Liverpool literature festival Writing On The Wall (WOW) was threatening nearly all of its staff with dismissal after the discovery of a private WhatsApp chat on a work computer. After the publication of our story, The Community Advice Service Association (CASA) began representing the staffers involved. Now, The Post has been leaked an email that shows WOW declined CASA’s offer to take up mediation. In an email sent to Stuart Borthwick — WOW’s chairman of trustees — a representative from CASA describes how Borthwick and a HR representative “did not come prepared” to a prearranged mediation meeting in November, adding that WOW does not have a policy on computer usage, or a policy about managers monitoring staff communications. “We offered our services to you in order to help resolve a horrendous situation which management have created at WOW,” the CASA representative writes. “We are very saddened and concerned to read that you do not intend to take up the offer.” A spokesperson from WOW told The Post that "to be fair to all parties involved, WOW cannot comment publicly on ongoing proceedings" – however, they disputed they were unprepared for the November meeting, adding that "contemporaneous handwritten notes from that meeting indicate that the summary you have received is not accurate".

Former Liverpool councillor Gerard Woodhouse has been given an 18-month community order after sending poison pen letters to Labour colleague Christine Banks. In a sentencing hearing yesterday, Judge James Clarke said “people should have expected better” from Woodhouse, who attributed the letters to his declining mental health. He agreed he had become fixated on councillor Banks after he felt she had played a part in side-lining him from the Labour Party. The court also heard about Woodhouse's previous convictions; one in 2006 for damage and assault, and another in 2004 for making false statements in relation to benefits. In addition to his sentence, he is also subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting Banks.

On a busy commercial street in Gibraltar, just a ten-minute walk away from its golden sandy beaches, a glass apartment building looms large. Inside? More than 100 “luxury” apartments and penthouses, ranging from studios to one and two bedrooms — fully furnished with sea views of Spain and Morocco.

It’s here that Peter Mitchell and his partner, Liverpool councillor Colette Goulding, choose to relax and recharge. In May this year, the couple signed a 12-month rental agreement for a two bedroom apartment in the complex, described as one of Gibraltar’s “finest buildings” by a local lettings agency.

The Post has seen a copy of this rental agreement, which is dated 8 May 2025. The document lists both Mitchell and Goulding as tenants, and states that a deposit of £5,300 has been paid. It continues: “The Term shall commence on 1 July 2025…at a rent of £2,700 payable per month from and including the commencement date.”

There is evidence in an email exchange that Mitchell and Goulding began renting a flat in the same building a year earlier – in June 2024 – although The Post has not seen a signed rental agreement. The email chain begins on 11 June 2024 at 10.37am, with Mitchell writing to a lettings agent for the apartment. The agent confirms a deposit has been paid and asks for an updated photo of Mitchell’s passport, as well as some information about his income. The next day, at 9.34am, Mitchell responds: “It is myself and Colette personally who are taking the tenancy,” he writes, “I will be being paid a six figure wage by the Gib based company.”

What is the “six figure wage” Mitchell is referring to? Post readers may recall that Mitchell — along with two of his associates — launched a business in Gibraltar in 2023, called Big Help Overseas. However, the company’s most recent accounts (for the year ending June 2024) show it received zero income and made a £68,000 loss.

Emails from May 2025 also show employees of Big Help group organising the rental of an office space in Gibraltar. In an email sent to both Mitchell and Lydia Aindow, Big Help’s director of strategic operations, a property manager asks when they will be able to pay the rent for the office.

Aindow forwards this email to Joe Birley, Big Help’s director of legal services, with the question: “Who do you think should pay for this one?”. Birley replies with a smiling emoticon, explaining that he had already paid the May rent.

We asked Birley about these emails, and where the money to pay for the office came from. In an interview with The Post, he told us that it “came out of money from the wider [Big Help] group” but he could not recall the specifics of that transaction. He said the office was originally for Big Help Overseas employees, however after just “one rental payment” the company ceased to operate and the office space was cancelled.

Regardless of Big Help Overseas’ financial difficulties, by 8 May this year Mitchell and Goulding put down a £5,300 deposit for a 12-month tenancy in a residential apartment. Just five days later, the pair were declared bankrupt in the UK. So how are Mitchell and Goulding still able to rent a second home in a British Overseas Territory?

The Post contacted a bankruptcy specialist to try to understand more about Mitchell and Goulding’s situation. While he asked not to be named — as he was speaking in a personal capacity, rather than for his legal firm — he explained that when someone is declared bankrupt, they are “entitled to basic living costs, not to an extravagant lifestyle”. This includes keeping reasonable household items and a low-value car necessary for travel, but relinquishing other assets so they can be sold to settle the debts owed.

Additionally, those under threat of bankruptcy are typically given at least six weeks notice of a hearing in court. According to the UK’s official public record, The Gazette, the petition to make both Mitchell and Goulding bankrupt was originally issued on 1 November 2024 — over six months before their court date in May and the signing of the 12-month contract for the flat in Gibraltar.

While routine bankruptcies are discharged after twelve months (meaning individuals can resume normal life), there are signs the authorities do not view Mitchell and Goulding’s cases as routine. The trustee in charge of their bankruptcy, Grant Thorton lawyer Robert Starkins, specialises in “complex investigations to identify challengeable transactions or trace undisclosed assets”, and is “often appointed where there are allegations of fraud or misappropriation” — according to the Grant Thorton website. We contacted Starkins, but he did not answer our calls.

We asked the bankruptcy expert if it was possible that Starkins is unaware of the rental agreement in Gibraltar. “Absolutely,” he says, “while you’ve got a duty to disclose your assets to [your bankruptcy trustee], guess what? Sometimes people lie about it”. He points to the high profile case of Boris Becker, the former Wimbledon champion who later spent eight months in prison after hiding assets and loans that he was legally obliged to disclose.

We asked Mitchell and Goulding about the property in Gibraltar, and their bankruptcies, but they did not respond to our questions.

The missing councillor 

Last Wednesday, the Liverpool Labour Party confirmed that councillor Colette Goulding had been suspended pending “an investigation”. That same evening, Liverpool council’s bi-monthly meeting took place — Goulding was nowhere to be seen.

Her absence marks the ninth time she has missed a council or committee meeting in the past seven months. Since May, she has missed three meetings for the culture and economy scrutiny committee, three for the education, skills and employment committee, one full council meeting and failed to attend the local authority’s annual meeting in May.

Kayleigh Halpin is the Lib Dem’s chosen candidate for the West Derby Muirhead ward that Goulding represents. She says residents have complained to her about Goulding’s lack of presence in the area. Last month, she says, 60 people from West Derby attended one of her community surgeries, and around 10 of them inquired as to how to trigger a by-election for the ward. “[Residents] are so frustrated and angry,” Halpin says, alleging that Goulding has not been responding to residents’ emails about key problems in the district.

On 10 November, a West Derby resident — who has asked not to be named — made a formal complaint to Liverpool council about Colette Goulding’s absence. Three weeks later, a council officer responded. “Councillor Goulding is not available at the moment, but one of her fellow councillors is available to deal with your queries,” they wrote in the email. They told the resident to contact West Derby Leyfield councillor Finley Nolan — also Liverpool Labour’s whip.

While Nolan made time to speak to the resident on the phone, “it was not his ward, and he didn’t know anything about our issues,” the resident says. “He’s busy with his own constituents”.

Halpin says she is glad Labour has since removed the whip from Goulding, but adds this is “a bit too little, too late”. “The Labour Party has been aware of much of this for two years and they've only just decided to suspend her now,” she says. “We’ve been left with an ineffective councillor for far too long, it's completely unfair on us and she needs to resign”.

The next Liverpool elections are not until 2027. In light of this, we asked Goulding if she intends to resign from her post. She did not respond. The Liverpool Labour group also did not respond to our inquiries.

Where the grass is Green 

One of the most notable revelations in our Big Help series came last year, when we reported that a company owned by Mitchell and Goulding — called Big Help Green — received funds from other parts of the Big Help empire, including charities, while it was in the midst of purchasing several houses. At the time, a press officer working for Mitchell confirmed he and Goulding live in one of the houses purchased by Big Help Green.

A quick recap: Peter Mitchell set up Big Help Green in October 2019. Land Registry records show that Big Help Green spent more than £1mn on its property portfolio. Companies House filings show that Mitchell and Goulding owned Big Help Green 50-50 until mid-2024; and as recently as 1 May 2025, Mitchell owned at least three-quarters of the shares.

After reviewing additional Companies House and Land Registry documents, the Post can now confirm that Mitchell’s daughter Caitlin lives in another house owned by Big Help Green. A former senior Big Help manager also has registered a business to a third house owned by the company.

A payslip leaked to The Post by an ex-employee of the Big Help empire shows that in April 2025, Big Help Green had just three employees: Colette Goulding, her daughter Mollie Goulding, and Caitlin Mitchell. Goulding was paid £50,000 per annum, and Mollie and Caitlin £22,000 and £23,000, respectively. It is unclear what services the trio were providing Big Help Green in return for these salaries. It is also unclear if Mitchell, Goulding and other tenants are paying rent for the Big Help Green houses they occupy. We asked Colette and Mollie Goulding, and Caitlin and Peter Mitchell, for clarity, but we received no responses.

While Mitchell and Goulding were made bankrupt on 13 May — meaning they can no longer hold company directorships without court permission — the Mitchell family retains an association with Big Help Green and its property portfolio. On 27 October, Big Help Green’s sole remaining director, Joe Birley, appointed a second director at Big Help Green: Caitlin Mitchell.

We asked Caitlin Mitchell about this appointment, but she did not respond to our questions. Joe Birley said GDPR rules make it impossible for him to comment on matters related to Big Help Green.

On 31 October this year, West Derby MP Ian Byrne attended a packed meeting with former employees of the Big Help empire. “The stories of how staff were treated by the directors were utterly appalling,” he wrote in a Facebook post later that day. In an interview with The Post, Byrne described how many of the staff he spoke to were now unable to pay their rent and facing eviction. “They can’t put food on the table, because they’ve been absolutely left at the ledge by [Big Help],” he says.

In his view, there needs to be a police investigation into Mitchell’s web of companies and charities, which have had “a real human cost and left people in poverty”. We asked Merseyside Police if they are actively investigating Mitchell, Goulding or any organisations in the Big Help empire. They told us “the matter is currently being assessed to see which agency will carry out further enquiries.”

Know any more about this story? Email abi@livpost.co.uk.

Revisit our investigation:

• Part One: Special investigation: The collapsing world of Liverpool’s charity kingpin
• Part Two: ‘I don’t give a shite about your auditors’: A secret recording and the growing questions about Big Help
• Part Three: Exclusive: The mystery £5m loans to companies owned by a Liverpool councillor and disgraced charity boss
• Part Four: Exclusive: Peter Mitchell’s company claimed to be a government partner. Unsurprisingly, that was a lie
• Part Five: Exclusive: The Big Help empire has collapsed. Now, Peter Mitchell looks to Ukraine
• Part Six: Exclusive: How a food bank siphoned £195,000 into private hands