Decision

Advice letter: Guy Opperman, Senior Adviser, Aptia Group Limited

Published 14 January 2026

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Guy Opperman, former Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Department for Transport, and previously, Minister for Employment, Department for Work and Pensions – Paid appointment as Senior Adviser, Aptia Group Limited.

Thank you for your application, under the Government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers (the Rules), for my advice on joining Aptia Group Limited as Senior Adviser.

The purpose of the Rules, as you will be aware, is to protect the integrity of government and to avoid any suspicion that those who have served in government might profit improperly from that experience or that an employer might gain unfair advantage through privileged access to government. To achieve these aims, I designate conditions that former ministers must follow.

The material information and my consideration are set out in the annex. In light of this, I consider the following conditions to be appropriate, recognising that it is your responsibility to ensure that these are demonstrably applied in practice:

• Privileged information condition – You should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of Aptia Group Limited, its related parties and clients) any privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office. This is an ongoing duty irrespective of the time elapsed since you left office.

• Lobbying condition – For two years from your last day in office, you should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of Aptia Group Limited (including its related parties and clients); nor should you make use, directly or indirectly, of your contacts in the government and/or ministerial office to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage of Aptia Group Limited (including its related parties and clients).

• Contracts and bids condition – For two years from your last day in office, you should not undertake any work with Aptia Group Limited (including its related parties and clients) that involves providing advice on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of, the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies.

• Role restriction – For two years from your last day in office, you should not advise Aptia Group Limited (including its related parties and clients) on matters in which you were materially involved, or where you had a relationship with the client(s) during your time in office.

• Business development restriction - For two years from your last day in office, you should not become personally involved in lobbying contacts you acquired during your time in office in other governments and organisations for the purpose of securing business for Aptia Group Limited (including its related parties and clients).

I would be grateful if you would note the following points:

• My advice is not an endorsement of the appointment. -The advice relates solely to your previous role in government; it is separate from rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Registrar of Lords’ Interests. It is your personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations you may be subject to in parallel with my advice.
• By ‘privileged information’, I mean official information to which you had access as a consequence of holding office and which is not publicly available. You are also reminded that you may be subject to other duties of confidentiality, whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Ministerial Code or otherwise.
• As set out in the Rules, the lobbying restriction means that former ministers ‘should not engage in communication with government (ministers, civil servants, including special advisers, and other relevant officials/public office holders) –wherever it takes place – with a view to influencing a government decision, policy or contract award/grant in relation to their own interests or the interests of the organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted or with which they hold office’.

As soon as you take up the appointment, or if it is announced that you will do so, you are obliged under the Rules to inform my secretariat who will then publish this letter. You must also inform us if you propose to extend or otherwise change the nature of your role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for you to make a fresh application.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Laurie Magnus CBE Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards

2. Annex – Material information and consideration of the risks

2.1 The role

You wish to take up a paid, part-time role as Senior Adviser with Aptia Group Limited (Aptia), a management consultancy which offers pensions administrative solutions and manages pension and employee benefits on behalf of companies and their employees. The role involves aiding Aptia’s overseas expansion and advising UK clients. You confirmed that you will have no contact with UK government in this role.

2.2 Dealings in office

You said you did not meet with, nor make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to, Aptia. You stated that you had no access to information that could unfairly advantage the company.

2.3 Departmental assessment

DfT and DWP both confirmed the details you provided in your application, including that you have no access to information that could offer an unfair advantage and that you made no decisions specific to the company. Both departments had no concerns and recommended the standard conditions.

2.4 My consideration of the risks

You made no policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to Aptia, and DfT and DWP have no concerns over your access to privileged information – this limits the risks.

Nevertheless, as the clients of Aptia are unknown, there is an inherent risk that your work could overlap with the responsibilities you had as a minister. I have therefore applied a limitation to the role, preventing you from advising clients on matters in which you were materially involved during your time in office. You are not prevented from using publicly available information, or from applying general knowledge, skills, and experience gained from your professional background.

As a management consultancy operating in the pensions sector, Aptia will have an interest in government policy. You have confirmed that you will not have contact with government and I note that your role, as described, does not include lobbying. However, Aptia’s known participation in government consultations and its analysis of government proposals could reasonably create a perception that you could offer the company unfair access. It is significant that your proposed employer has provided written confirmation of its agreement to comply with the advice and the separation of your role from lobbying.

You will likely have a wide network from before you entered government. However, in respect of contacts in other governments and organisations acquired only as a result of your role as a minister, there remains a risk you could be seen to advantage Aptia unfairly by drawing on such contacts to secure business on its behalf. I have therefore applied a restriction to prevent you from lobbying these contacts you acquired during your time in office for the purpose of securing business for Aptia.