Considering the DE&S spend is around £15,000,000,000 EVERY YEAR, I don't know why posters are getting excited over a one off expenditure of 0.1% of that figure that was spent in a genuine attempt to overhaul the entire system.
Yes, not much ££ in the grand scheme of things, but I'm surprised that there is not more irritation at all the time/money effectively wasted since he arrived 2011 - despite all the good words today, everything Gray stands for and has pushed for appears to be in tatters.
Wikipedia: "Gray worked for five years in investment banking and capital markets for Bankers Trust and Chase Manhattan in London and New York."
If this qualifies him as so commercially astute, why has he just spent 2 years building up to run a competition that has catastrophically collapsed? Results speak louder than words - and in this case they are shouting fail are they not? It suggests critical misjudgement of the market, risk, the business case for industry and even basics like mishandling of pre-qualification & requirement setting etc.