ONE of the biggest-spending No campaign groups in the independence referendum has been fined almost £400 after filing late accounts.
The Vote No Borders campaign, which spent more than £460,000, finally lodged its overdue accounts at Companies House last week. They should have been filed in mid-December.
The Sunday Herald revealed last month how the group had failed to file on time.
Now that the accounts are in, there is an automatic penalty of £375.
The accounts show No Borders had an income of £462,862 between its creation in March 2014 and the end of March 2015, and that it spend £462,870.
More than two-thirds of the expenditure was before the official 16-week campaign, when there was no need to declare donations and no spending limit.
No Borders’ spending in the final “regulated period” was just £147,510, though this still made it the top spending non-party No group after Better Together.
Founded by millionaire Scots Tory donor Malcolm Offord, No Borders billed itself as a grassroots campaign airing the views of ordinary people .
However much of its cash came from established Tory and Labour donors and it paid £3,000 to Professor Adam Tomkins of Glasgow University, now a Tory Holyrood candidate, to write for it.
Offord’s co-director in No Borders was Fiona Gilmore, head of London PR firm Acanchi.
The accounts say Acanchi incurred “media buying and production expenditure of £128,771” on behalf of No Borders and that Gilmore donated £7,499 to the group, £1 below the threshold for a public declaration.
Offord resigned as a director in January 2015, leaving Gilmore as the sole director.
She blamed an “admin oversight” over Christmas for the late filing.
“It will be a matter for me as remaining director to take up with the accountants,” she said.
She said No Borders spent most of its money before the regulated period began as it had few rivals and could make an impact. Its output included press and cinema adverts, testimonials from the public, billboard posters, a website and a social media presence.
“The monies raised were spent mainly in May to air the pre-official campaign because there were no limitations on spend at this time. Up until May many No voters were silent. Vote No Borders encouraged No voters to speak out and speak up.”
No Borders is now being wound up.
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