By JOE MULHALL and NICK LOWLES
HOPE not hate is reporting Stephen Lennon and his Urban Scoop operation to the authorities over whether his latest company should be registered in the UK and so liable for Corporation Tax. Circulo Independente LDA was established in Portugal in 2024 by his long-time accomplice Adam Geary to run his political operation.
The latest set of accounts, obtained by HOPE not hate, shows that Circulo Independente received an astonishing €871,740 in income in 2025 alone and paid €40,447 tax on profits of €210.501.
This raises the question of whether Lennon and Geary set up the business overseas to avoid scrutiny and evade UK corporation tax.
Círculo Independente was incorporated in December 2024, with Adam Geary as its sole shareholder and director. Better known as “Nem”, Geary has been associated with Lennon since the early EDL days. Today, he runs Lennon’s political operation and has masterminded his increasing engagement with a US audience.
According to its founding documents, the company’s stated purpose is “Independent journalism and photojournalism activities; publishing.” In reality, it is the latest of a string of companies formally run by Geary through which Urban Scoop, Lennon’s media operation and now the trading name of Círculo Independente, has operated since it was founded in December 2021.
In a first for a Lennon-linked business, Círculo Independente has submitted accounts for the financial year 2025, revealing a substantial amount of money passing through the company.
The accounts, signed by accountant Carlos Guerreiro dos Santos Gonçalves, a freelance consultant and tax expert who also works for the Portuguese government, cover 2025 and show sales worth €871,739.74, most of which are presumably donations via Urban Scoop emails and its website.
While the source of these sales and donations are not disclosed, the accounts state that almost all of the money came from outside the European Union, so we must presume the vast majority is from the UK and then some from the US through online appeals through the Urban Scoop emails and various online appeals.
Payments for “suppliers and external services” amounted to €657,333.15. This is the figure that would include payments to contractors. The vast majority of these expenses, €593,995.91, was spent on services provided by entities outside the EU. A further €41,833.17 was spent on services provided by entities within the EU but outside Portugal, while just €21,504.07 went to entities in Portugal.
Lennon is paid as a contractor, as are the camera team, editors and other reporters used by Urban Scoop.
The accounts throw into question Lennon’s own tax and legal status. In recent years he has sidestepped any potential legal liability and UK tax by claiming that he no longer lives in the UK as he now resides in Spain. The fact that his contractoral arrangement with Circulo Independente is as a non-EU citizen is proof, if it was needed, that he resides in the UK and so should be liable to UK tax and British law.
Circulo Independente declared €2,015.43 in staff payments and €1,890.14 in other expenses. This left a net result of €210,501.02 before taxes and €170,053.90 after taxes. All this would suggest that Adam Geary, the company’s sole director, also pays himself as a contractor.
The accounts raise a number of questions. The company declared no fixed assets, meaning it reported no computers, vehicles, property, cameras or mobile phones. Yet it reported €213,083.31 in non-fixed assets. Of this, €195,691.21 was simply labelled “other non-fixed assets”.
Non-fixed assets generally refer to items expected to be converted into cash within 12 months, such as stock or inventory. In this case, however, almost all of the company’s non-fixed assets are described in unusually vague terms, making it unclear what they actually consist of.
More than 75% of the company’s revenue, €657,333.15, was spent on external contractors, while just €2,015.43 was paid to its own staff. The document lists just one employee, who worked 2,008 hours during the year. Based on the figures reported, this amounts to remuneration of approximately €1 per hour.
The accounts show very high revenue and profit for a one-person company with minimal assets and no disclosed clients, making several figures look unusual on the face of it.
The accounts raise serious questions about the status of the company and if it has been established overseas to avoid British company rules and – ultimately – Corporation Tax.
According to UK law, an EU-registered company can operate in the UK but is liable for tax here if its central management and control operates in the UK.
There is clear continuity between Círculo Independente and the preceding UK-incorporated Urban Scoop businesses – Freestyle Freelance Ltd and Thinking Independent Media Ltd – both formally run by Geary.
Freestyle Freelance Ltd entered liquidation following the appointment of a liquidator on 14 December 2023, although it was not formally dissolved at that date. Thinking Independent Media Ltd was not dissolved until 19 May 2026, meaning that it remained in existence for approximately seventeen months after Círculo Independente was incorporated.
The Portuguese-based company conducts the same business as Urban Scoop previously conducted through UK-entities Freestyle Freelance Ltd and Thinking Independent Media Ltd, suggesting the business is in reality UK-based. The output of Círculo Independente – the website, customer mailing list, UK-based events and fundraising (including solely for UK-based causes), merchandise activity and personnel involved in video production – is exactly as it was for Freestyle Freelance Ltd and Thinking Independent Media Ltd.
The company’s transactions for fundraising and merchandise purposes are in GBP, Geary lives in Tamworth, in Staffordshire, provided a UK correspondence address in the Portuguese company’s corporate documentation and pays himself from the UK.
Geary’s UK residence is relevant because the company has no identified independent board or group of directors whose activities could readily be distinguished from his. Where a company has a single controlling director, the location from which that person exercises the company’s substantive powers can be highly relevant.
The Urban Scoop website – the public face of Círculo Independente is in English, as are its Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. In fact, in its T&C’s, specifically refer to “the laws of England and Wales” and being under the “exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales”.
Given Geary’s presence in the UK, coupled with Lennon and others likely contracted by Urban Scoop being based here, it is quite clear that the strategic and management decisions for the company are made in the UK. All these factors together suggest that Círculo Independente should be liable to pay Corporation Tax.
Lennon also operates a business out of Portugal, in fact his company Hunger4Truth is registered at the same lawyer’s office in the Quinta Shopping in Almancil as Círculo Independente. Lennon set this company up in August 2025, whilst holidaying in the area, however, he has failed to publish accounts as he is legally obliged to do.
The evidence that Círculo Independente has been set up in Portugal to avoid scrutiny and potentially UK tax will form part of the dossier HOPE not hate will be presenting to the Attorney General in the coming days.
Additional Research: Diogo Augusto
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