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Barely a third of the sum made from selling the Tower of London poppies has gone to military charities.

Just £9.15 from the sale of each poppy went to good causes with the remaining £15.95 absorbed by production and sales. A total of 888,246 poppies were sold.

Company accounts show nearly £15million out of £23million raised was spent on “costs”, with the company owned by artist Paul Cummins receiving £7.2million for producing the ceramic poppies.

A former hedge fund boss who backed the scheme is understood to have made more than £1million profit from the project, which commemorated the dead of the First World War while raising funds for today’s military veterans.

Former British officer Colonel Richard Kemp said: “Thousands of people who paid for poppies would have expected the lion’s share of what they paid to go to charity.

(Image: Roland Leon / Daily Mirror)

“Something has gone wrong somewhere. It was not made clear that financiers would be making a profit from this.

“People should not be making money out of our war heroes who have died in action. The only money made from it should be going to charity - no question.”

“We are talking about people who have given us much more than those who are making a fast buck.” Historic Royal Palaces said: “An artistic project of this size inevitably­ involved a large number of suppliers and significant costs.

“Historic Royal Palaces, Paul Cummins and Paul Cummins Ceramics Ltd did not profit from the sale of the poppies.”

Paul Cummins told the Mirror: “To make this project a reality I had to seek private funding , without which it would not have been possible to create the artwork.

“Funding and completing a unique project like this, the size and scale of which has never been attempted before, carried a high risk for all those involved.”

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As crowds began flocking from August 2014 to the unforgettable Tower of London installation, a website was set up offering the chance to “own your piece of history”.

Day after day, volunteers helped place 888,246 poppies – one for every British serviceman who died in The First World War – in the moat of the Tower of London to create a growing field of red.

It was visited by more than five million people over more than two months before the poppies were removed and put for sale.

Buyers were told: “Hand made in Paul Cummins’ studio, poppies are available for £25.00 +p&p. All net proceeds plus 10% from every poppy sold will be shared equally amongst six service charities­.”

(Image: PA)

A company was set up by Mr Cummins and Historic Royal Palaces to arrange the sale and its accounts show revenue raised topped £23m.

The accounts also reveal £8.4m went to six military charities, including the Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and Combat Stress. Of the rest, the largest portion, £9.4m, went on “cost of sales” with £5m on “distribution costs” and £170,000 on “administrative expenses”.

The biggest beneficiary revealed in the accounts was Mr Cummins’ firm Paul Cummins Ceramics, which received £7.2m by the end of September 2015, a year after the display ended.

Its documents reveal the firm was partially funded from France by investor and ex-hedge fund boss Ben Whitfield, who gives his address as a chalet in the Alps.

Mr Whitfield loaned Paul Cummins Ceramics money in February 2014.

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A source said: “There was a cashflow crisis before the installation and the creator was forced to borrow money from venture capitalists. These people don’t come cheap so it ramped up the costs of the project.”

Mr Cummins went to Beer and Young, a London-based investment specialist which raises money for firms “seeking to grow or experiencing financial pressures”.

Boss Nick Young says on its website he is “most proud of B&Y’s record for delivering finance quickly”.

He adds: “A worthy example was the Seas of Red Poppy exhibition at the Tower of London, a project B&Y raised all the capital for in three weeks.”

It is not known how much investors made but the accounts of Paul Cummins Ceramics Ltd show its debts rose from £21,341 in March 2013 to £879,862 by September 2015.

Mr Whitfield, who has previously­ refused to speak about his role, was unavailable­ for comment.