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Sir Keir Starmer’s chief business aide will continue to receive dividend payments from his multimillion-pound stake in corporate advisory firm Hakluyt while in government, raising fresh concerns about potential conflicts of interest interest.

Varun Chandra, former managing partner of the group, still has the right to “reduced dividends”, said Hakluyt, and only divested a quarter of his previous stake even though he joined Starmer’s team last July.

In the year to June 2023, Chandra received more than £300,000 in dividends from the company, on top of a salary of £2.1 million, according to Financial Times calculations based on the latest set of accounts.

Hakluyt – founded by former MI6 officers – boasts a “blue-chip client base around the world”, including 40 percent of the world’s most valuable companies and more than 15 of the top 20 private equity firms. .

Chandra, a former investment banker, was hired in July as Starmer’s special adviser on businessacts as a key interlocutor between the prime minister and the corporate world.

He owned 454,000 ordinary shares in Hakluyt at the time of his appointment, or just under 5 percent of the business.

Chandra sold 4,617 shares in August and a further 108,968 shares in October, leaving him with 340,753 shares or about three-quarters of his original stake, according to an unreported filing with Companies House.

Hakluyt said that when Chandra left the company in July it agreed to a “standard” sale and purchase agreement to buy back his shares over time “fixed at the current share price”.

It added: “He is entitled to receive a reduction in dividends until the purchase of his shares is completed – but he no longer has voting rights or a decision-making role in the company.” It declined to elaborate on what the reduction in dividend payments meant.

Downing Street declined to say whether Chandra received dividends from Hakluyt while he was in government. Chandra did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hakluyt declined to comment on whether a dividend had been paid in the past six months.

Special advisers are allowed to have financial interests but must declare them, according to the government code of conduct.

Earlier this week, another Hakluyt partner, Sir Olly Robbinsappointed as the new permanent secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Robbins, who is also the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, has a smaller stake than Chandra’s 5,814 ordinary shares, and is in the process of selling all his shares back to Hakluyt, the company said.

“It’ll be over soon,” Hakluyt said. “He receives no dividends – and no longer has any voting rights or decision-making role in the company.” Robbins declined to comment.

An ally of Chandra said the decision to phase out the sale of his shares was meant to avoid liquidity issues for the company. The person said Chandra had signed a share purchase agreement and argued that it amounted to a disposal of shares.

Hakluyt made £18.2mn in net profit in the year to June 2023, on turnover of £113mn, according to the last set of published accounts. It pays a £6m dividend for the year.

Chandra also continues to have an interest in the company’s investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, according to people familiar with the matter.

Richard Holden, Conservative shadow paymaster-general, said there were “serious issues” about Chandra’s interests.

“The general lack of transparency into Mr Chandra’s business interests, and whether this influences his role in Downing Street, is deeply disturbing and requires an urgent and complete explanation,” he said.

“Sir Keir Starmer must force Mr Chandra to fully articulate his interests and deliver the clarity and transparency he promised but his government has so far lacked.”

Government officials said Chandra went through a thorough declarations of interest process to ensure any conflicts of interest were “well managed and mitigated”, including disclaimers where appropriate.

Chandra began his career as a junior investment banker at Lehman Brothers before it collapsed in 2008.

He went on to help former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair launch his own advisory business before joining Hakluyt in 2014, where he enjoyed a dizzying rise, becoming managing partner and de facto head in the company in 2019, aged just 34.

During his time leading the advisory firm, he led the creation of Hakluyt Capital, which raised nearly $50 million in June for investments in technology start-up companies with an office in San Francisco.