from the nationalised industries, partly due to his having offered gifts to many civil servants when they were relatively junior and calling upon them for a return of gratitude years later. As an example, Poulson had met Graham Tunbridge, a railway employee, during the war. After the nationalisation of British Rail, Tunbridge became estates surveyor for its Eastern Region and sent Poulson several contracts for modernisation of stationmasters' homes. When Tunbridge became Estates and Rating Surveyor for BR Southern Region, Poulson moved on to contracts at Waterloo railway station, Cannon Street station and East Croydon station. In return, Poulson had given Tunbridge £8,547 in cash and in kind. Another beneficial contact was Scottish Office civil servant George Pottinger, who in the late 1950s was put in charge of a £3 million redevelopment of Aviemore as a winter sports complex. Poulson was appointed by Pottinger as architect in charge of the Aviemore project. In return, Poulson gave Pottinger gifts worth over £30,000 over six years. Poulson's connections with the National Liberals began to give him political advancement in the early 1960s. He was Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Liberal Council from 1961 and frequently hosted National Liberal events in London at which he met senior government ministers. He also made contact with the Labour MP Albert Roberts. Roberts was later accused of having "acted inconsistently with the standards of the House of Commons". Overseas work Poulson was increasingly interested in obtaining commissions outside Britain in the mid-1960s. This required making more contacts. The Conservative MP John Cordle had extensive contacts in West Africa and after helping on several small contracts, in 1965 became a consultant to Poulson. Cordle admitted that he had received £5,628 from Poulson's business. Maudling Another contact was the then Shadow Commonwealth Secretary Reginald Maudling, whom Poulson knew from his National Liberal activities. Maudling was anxious to build up a business career to keep up his income and Poulson needed a big name as chairman of one of his companies, Construction Promotion. In 1966 Maudling accepted an offer to be chairman. In return, Maudling helped to bring pressure on the government of Malta to award a £1.5 million contract for the new Victoria Hospital on Gozo to Poulson. Financial trouble Poulson's business model was initially highly successful and, at its apogee, had an annual turnover of £1 million; he himself admitted to being a millionaire.