Correspondence from ACOBA to Martin Callanan, breach of the Rules (Installio)
Updated 2 October 2025
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Dear Lord Callanan,
I am writing to you in my capacity as Interim Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA). It has come to our attention that you have taken up a role with Installio, as Non-Executive Director.
Under the Ministerial Code and the government’s Business Appointment Rules (the Rules) all former Ministers are obligated to seek advice for two years after leaving office. The Code states that ‘Former ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the Committee has been able to provide its advice’.
The government’s Rules exist to protect the integrity of government. Applicants have a personal responsibility to understand and comply with the Rules and to manage the propriety of appointments taken up after leaving government service. You did not submit an application for ACOBA’s advice on the role as Non-Executive Director. This appointment was made public on various posts on several platforms, including on Installio’s LinkedIn profile. The role has also been announced in an article by renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk and on your Register of Interests page.
ACOBA wrote to you requesting an explanation and you failed to respond.
Please see the correspondence enclosed, reporting this matter to the government, as owner of the Rules. In line with ACOBA’s commitment to transparency, correspondence on the matter will be published on our website. This letter will be copied to the Cabinet Office, as the owner of the Rules. ACOBA’s letter to the Cabinet Office is enclosed.
Isabel Doverty Interim Chair ACOBA
Copied to:
The Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations;
The Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office;
Simon Madden, Director of Propriety & Ethics, Cabinet Office.
Enclosure:
- ACOBA’s letter to the Cabinet Office