The major Scientology donors taking over the planet, one gutter at a time
Alex Barnes-Ross let us know he spotted a familiar face in Scientology’s New Year’s event slide show, and then sent us over this fascinating description of who was being celebrated at the party by church leader David Miscavige.
If there’s one thing Scientology passes on to its members, it’s the art of deception… and there’s one great case study that particularly stood out for me in the church’s roundup of this year’s New Year’s event.
Ben’s Gutters, a UK gutter cleaning company headed up by Scottish millionaire Scientologist Ruaraidh MacLeod, was celebrated as a shining example of how applying Hubbard’s Admin Tech can result in untold fortunes and business success.
I used to work with Rury, as we called him, when I was on staff at London Org. He was on Foundation and I was on Day — meaning he worked evenings and weekends, while I worked Monday to Friday 9-6.
According to Scientology’s most recent press statement, Rury “assumed control of a failing gutter cleaning business,” and applied Admin Tech to “rebuild the operation,” leading to 140x expansion and the company becoming “the number one gutter and roof care service in the UK.” There’s only one problem: that’s not quite true.
Rury didn’t assume control of a failing business.. He founded it along with fellow Scientology whale Stuart Guy back in 2010. Scientology megadonor Tom Cummins invested in 2023, snapping up between 25 and 50 percent of the company’s shares.
There is no doubt that Rury, Stuart and Tom are successful entrepreneurs. And it’s no secret they give large portions of their wealth to Scientology. The 2025 Patrons Ball donor list features Guy as “Platinum Meritorious,” meaning he’s donated $2.5 million to the International Association of Scientologists (IAS). Rury was listed as “Platinum Meritorious with Honors” ($3.75 million) and we know that Cummins is one of the biggest individual IAS donors worldwide, earning the title “Platinum Invictus with Honors” for his $65 million in lifetime contributions.
MacLeod and Guy have also contributed towards David Miscavige’s ‘Ideal Org’ real estate program and were featured in a donor list I published on Scientology Business back in April. Rury, for instance, has donated at least $2.5 million towards the creation of an Ideal Org in Manchester and Stuart’s contribution to the same project comes in at $3 million.
They’re both OTVII, the second highest level on the ‘Bridge to Total Freedom’ and the furthest you can go in Scientology before you have to head off to their cruise ship The Freewinds. They are, for all intents and purposes, model Scientologists: successful, wealthy, and in Rury’s case — at one point even on staff at his local Org.
And you would think, with all of that Scientology involvement and millions in donations, the owners of Ben’s Gutters would be crowing about their efforts to take over the planet at the company’s website.
But isn’t that funny, there isn’t a word about Scientology there.
Meanwhile, the company has gotten into trouble with the authorities for their misleading business practices.
In 2021, a complaint was filed with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) here in the UK after somebody received a flyer through their door promoting Ben’s Gutters as a local business. According to the ASA, the flyer “presented as a compliment slip” with text that “appeared to be handwritten”, stating “Hello, we are cleaning your close neighbours [sic] gutters over the next few days. Maybe you would like yours cleaned too. Please call me on [mobile number] for an estimate. Best Regards, Ben’s Gutters [smiley face]”
The complainant, the regulator said, “who believed that the overall impression of the ad was that it was from a local tradesperson working in the area, but who understood that the ad was from a national company, challenged whether it was misleading.”
After an investigation, the ASA ruled “Because we considered the ad gave the overall impression that it was for a local small business or tradesperson, when that was not the case, we concluded it was likely to mislead.”
Ben’s Gutters subsequently updated their flyer to include a note that said it was “A National company with a local presence Established 2010”... but that wasn’t enough. Two years later, in 2023 the ASA received 32 complaints from members of the public with the same concerns.
The new disclaimer “appeared in the bottom right-hand corner, in typed text that was smaller than the main content of the ad” and as a result, the ASA ruled once again that the flyers were misleading.
But the deception doesn’t stop there. Ben’s Gutter’s website mentions their problems with the advertising regulator, stating on their about page: “Now and then, the ASA has challenged our claim of being local. But we’ve stood our ground—and won every time.”
But that’s simply not true.
As for how applying Scientology’s Admin Tech has helped the business, here are a selection of my favourite recent reviews posted on Trust Pilot.
January 2026:
“Won’t stop sending me harassing text messages asking if I want their services. Told them multiples times to stop contacting me, yet the texts continue. If this continues I’ll have you for harassment.
You won’t get custom if this is your tactic. All because I turned down his services 2 years ago due to being too expensive.”
December 2025:
“Payment taken but work still not carried out. Cancelled or no show 4 times…. Starting to question is this a reliable and reputable company or just a scam… check the reviews carefully before paying this company up front.”
and in the same month:
“Keen to take your money but don’t show!
Took £140 payment over the phone weeks in advance but never turned up to complete the work and were then completely uncontactable!”
There’s also a review from an ex-employee which claims “a lot of the customers I met were elderly and most of the time they did not even need the service. All bens gutters are concerned with is getting as many jobs done as they can to maximise profit.” It continues, “Bens gutters are a multi million pound company and at every angle try to get as much as they can by way of charging you and holding back money as much as they can.” After taking some time off due to a wrist injury, the employee was issued what he calls “a blown sheet” and was sacked when he was diagnosed with skin cancer.
So misleading flyers, marketing that borders on harassment and high-pressure sales tactics that target the elderly and vulnerable. Sound familiar?
During my time on staff I remember Rury as being fun, outgoing and a ball of energy. But he was also a top ‘Reg’ and somebody who didn’t think twice about gaslighting and guilt tripping people into spending money on Scientology services.
Despite the ASA rulings and concerning reviews, David Miscavige was proud to shine the spotlight on the company as a case study of what Scientology can do for your business. But when you take into account the recent SEC probe into US-based Dream Exchange and the conviction of David Gentile for his “Ponzi-like” fraud scam, there appears to be a pattern emerging that makes me question: are these really the “most ethical” people on Earth?
— Alexander Barnes-Ross
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The specialised version of the age-old conundrum: What came first, the $cientology or the scam?
Not as blatant as the classic Playstation-for-Christmas scam run by a victim of the mind-fuck perpetrated by the criminal organisation known a the "church" of $cientology, but still pretty scammy sounding...
Thanks Alex. Good article. It spotlights one of the underlying toxic issues with Scientology. It is brainwashing its members in believing the “ends justify the means”. Hubbard wrote in ethics policy; sanity is about “the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics(people, groups and Scientology activities)”.
So anything goes when it is making money to donate to the cherch. Add to that the failure of Scientology to actually help members to deal with their mental instability and corrupted moral compasses and what you a get is high incidence of criminality in the group.
Much higher than the general public. Fraud is common place with members. Scientologists reflect the persona of L. Ron Hubbard and in the last 40 years David Miscavige. Sociopathic criminals.