Bright Tribe Trust was one of five “top performing academy sponsors”, to receive an undisclosed share of £5m to take on struggling non-academy schools in 2015. It was founded by venture capitalist Mike Dwan, who has ambitions to expand it to run over 200 schools. Concerns have been raised about Dwan's interests in or control of other companies, some of which Bright Tribes has contracted out to provide services such as cleaning and building maintenance, IT support and website design for the school. An EFA report published in November 2016 found that the Government had received “allegations concerning non-compliance” with the rules on the trust’s contracts with companies and on its interactions with firms connected to trustees as far back as July 2015, before a decision was made to award the trust a share of the £5 million. 

Dwan maintains that neither he nor his companies make any profit from the services they provide to his academies, and the Bright Tribe website makes a point of showing that Dwan is not technically an employee of Bright Tribe Academy Trust.