Connect with us

Published

on

The chairman of the Post Office is being forced out of the role amid frustration in Whitehall over the state-owned company’s governance as it reels from the Horizon IT scandal.

Sky News has learnt that Henry Staunton, who only became chairman of the Post Office in December 2022 after a long career in FTSE boardrooms, was this weekend told by Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, that he was to be replaced amid mounting tension with the government.

Sources said this weekend that Ms Badenoch had notified him of the decision in a telephone call on Saturday afternoon.

The hunt for a new chairman will come as the government tries to force through legislation that will more quickly compensate hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted over the faulty software which triggered Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice.

One insider said there had been several sources of tension between the Post Office chairman and the government in recent months.

Among them, they said, was a row over the prospective appointment of a new senior independent director to replace Ben Tidswell, who is due to step down in the coming months.

Mr Staunton and a number of colleagues are said to have been keen for Andrew Darfoor, a former financial services executive who is one of the company’s existing non-executive directors, to take the position.

However, the government is understood to want to appoint a Whitehall insider to the role as it looks to strengthen the Post Office’s corporate governance.

Tensions also arose last year over the mistaken payment of bonuses to Nick Read, the chief executive, which were linked to its cooperation with the Horizon inquiry.

Insiders said, however, that Mr Staunton’s exit was not directly related to the Horizon scandal itself.

A government spokesperson said: “In a phone call earlier today, the secretary of state for business and trade and Henry Staunton, chair of Post Office Limited (POL), agreed to part ways by mutual consent.

“An interim will be appointed shortly and a recruitment process for a new chair will be launched in due course, in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.”

Mr Staunton could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The government’s shareholding in Post Office Limited is managed by UK Government Investments (UKGI), which is also responsible for the public’s stakes in Channel 4, the Met Office and other state-owned companies.

The Post Office relies on government funding to operate, and has been struggling in recent years amid tougher competition across the sectors in which it operates.

Read more:
Fujitsu boss admitted staff knew of Horizon bugs
Former sub-postmaster ‘overwhelmed’ after conviction overturned

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Former sub-postmaster exonerated

Mr Staunton previously chaired Phoenix Group, the insurance company, and WH Smith, the high street retailer.

His executive career included a stint at ITV, while he held other boardroom seats at companies such as BSkyB – which was the listed company that owns Sky News – and Ladbrokes.

The decision to replace him comes as the government tries to exert a firmer grip on the fallout from the Horizon crisis, with Rishi Sunak pledging new laws to “swiftly exonerate and compensate” those affected.

“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own,” the prime minister told MPs earlier this month.

“The victims must get justice and compensation. Sir Wyn Williams’ inquiry is undertaking crucial work to undo, to expose what went wrong, and we’ve paid almost £150m in compensation to over 2,500 victims.”

The eventual bill is expected to total in the region of £1.5bn, although more victims of the Horizon scandal have continued to come forward since the broadcasting of an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

Sky News revealed earlier this month that Ms Badenoch was seeking urgent talks with Fujitsu to thrash out a compensation package for sub-postmasters affected by the scandal.

Ms Badenoch wrote to Takahito Tokita, the Japanese company’s chief executive, in the wake of an acknowledgement from Fujitsu bosses that it had a “moral obligation” to contribute to the compensation bill.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Boss of Fujitsu in Europe ‘sorry for our part’ in scandal

“As you may know, my department is at the forefront of our government’s efforts to right the wrongs of the past,” Ms Badenoch wrote earlier this month.

“I am committed to ensuring that postmasters affected get the justice they deserve.

“This is why the UK government announced new legislation… to overturn wrongful convictions and a plan to ensure swifter access to compensation.”

The latest shake-up of the Post Office’s leadership comes in the same month that Paula Vennells, its former chief executive, surrendered her CBE after growing public and political pressure.

Kevin Hollinrake, the postal affairs minister, has said he would support prosecutions of those involved in the scandal and its cover-up.

Continue Reading

Business

Concierge firm founded by Queen’s nephew hunts buyer

Published

on

By

Concierge firm founded by Queen's nephew hunts buyer

Quintessentially, the luxury concierge service founded by the Queen’s nephew, is in talks to find a buyer months after it warned of “material uncertainty” over its future.

Sky News has learned that the company, which was set up by Sir Ben Elliot and his business partners in 1999, is working with advisers on a process aimed at finding a new owner or investors.

City sources said this weekend that Quintessentially was already in discussions with prospective buyers and was anticipating receipt of a number of firm offers.

Sir Ben, the former Conservative Party co-chairman under Boris Johnson, owns a significant minority stake in the company.

The Quintessentially group operates a number of businesses, although its core activity remains the provision of lifestyle support to high net worth individuals including celebrities, royalty, and leading businesspeople.

It also counts major companies among its clients and offers services such as organising private jet flights and performances by top musicians.

The sale process is being overseen by a firm called Beyond, although further details, including the price that the business might fetch, were unclear on Saturday.

More from Money

One insider said parties who had been contacted by Beyond were being offered the option to buy a controlling interest in Quintessentially.

This could be implemented through a combination of the repayment of outstanding loans, an injection of new funding into the business, and the purchase of existing shareholders’ interests, they added.

Quintessentially’s founders, including Sir Ben, are thought to be keen to retain an equity interest in the company after any deal.

In January 2022, newspaper reports suggested that Quintessentially had been put up for sale with a valuation of £140m.

Deloitte, the accountancy firm, was charged with finding a buyer at the time but a transaction failed to materialise.

Sir Ben, who was knighted in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list, turned to one of Quintessentially’s shareholders for financial support during the pandemic.

World Fuel Services, an energy and aviation services company, is owed £15.5m as well as £3.5m in accrued interest, according to one person close to the process.

The loan is said to include a warrant to convert it into equity upon repayment.

Read more from Sky News:
This year’s Sunday Times Rich List revealed
Gold spike means you should update your insurance
Cheapest pint in the UK revealed

Quintessentially does not disclose the number or identities of many of its clients, although it said in annual accounts filed at Companies House in January that it had increased turnover to £29.6m in the year to 30 April 2024.

The accounts suggested the company was seeing growth in demand from clients internationally.

“During the last year, we have not only renewed important corporate contracts like Mastercard, but have also expanded by adding new corporate clients like Swiss4 in the UK, R360 in India, and Visa in the Middle East and South America,” they said.

In its experiences and events division, it won a contract to work with the Red Sea Film Festival and to provide corporate concierge services to the Saudi Premier League.

It added that Allianz, the German insurer, BMW, and South African lender Standard Bank were among other clients with which it had signed contracts.

The accounts included the warning of a “risk that the pace and level at which business returns could be materially less than forecast, requiring the group and company to obtain external funding which may not be forthcoming and therefore this creates material uncertainty that may cast ultimately cast doubt about the … ability to continue as a going concern”.

This weekend, a Quintessentially spokesman declined to comment on the sale process.

Continue Reading

Business

Superstar Adele joins backers of music royalties platform Audoo

Published

on

By

Superstar Adele joins backers of music royalties platform Audoo

Adele, the Grammy award-winning artist, has joined the list of music superstars investing in Audoo, a music technology company which helps artists to receive fairer royalty payments.

Sky News has learnt that the British musician and Adam Clayton, the U2 bassist, have injected money into Audoo as part of a £7m funding round.

The pair join Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus as shareholders in the company.

Changes to Audoo’s share register were filed at Companies House in recent days.

Audoo, which was established by former musician Ryan Edwards, is trying to address the perennial issue of public performance royalties, in order to ensure musicians are rewarded when their work is played in public venues.

Mr Edwards is reported to have been motivated to set up the company after hearing his own music played at football stadia and in bars, without any payment for it.

Estimates suggest that artists lose out on billions of dollars of unaccounted royalties each year.

More on Adele

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

London-based Audoo uses a monitoring device – which it calls an Audio Meter – to recognise songs played in public venues, and which is said to have a 99% success rate.

It has struck what it describes as industry-first partnerships with organisations including the music licensing company PPL/PRS to track and report songs played in public performance locations such as cafes, hair salons, shops and gyms.

“At Audoo, we’re incredibly proud of the continued support we’re receiving as we work to make music royalties fairer and more transparent for artists and rights-holders around the world through our pioneering technology,” Mr Edwards told Sky News in a statement on Friday.

“We have successfully reached £7m in our latest funding round.

“This funding marks a pivotal moment for Audoo as we focus on our growth in North America and across Europe, bringing us closer to our mission of revolutionising the global royalty landscape.”

Sources said the new capital would be used partly to finance Audoo’s growth in the US.

The latest funding round takes the total amount of money raised by the company since its launch to more than $30m.

Mr Edwards has spoken of his desire to establish a major presence in Europe and the US because of their status as the world’s biggest recorded music markets.

Adele’s management company did not respond to an enquiry from Sky News.

Continue Reading

Business

The Sunday Times Rich List: Billionaires fall as King rises to match Rishi Sunak

Published

on

By

The Sunday Times Rich List: Billionaires fall as King rises to match Rishi Sunak

The King’s personal fortune has shot up by £30m to put him on par with Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, while the overall number of billionaires in the UK has plummeted, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

The 2025 list, published on Friday, shows the King’s personal wealth grew from £610m to £640m, taking him up 20 places to 258 – level with former prime minister Mr Sunak and his wife.

The number of overall UK billionaires has fallen to 156 from 165 in 2024, marking the biggest drop since the rich list began 37 years ago.

Gopi Hinduja and his family, behind the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, topped the list for the fourth year running with £35.3bn.

Meanwhile, founder and chairman of global chemicals company Ineos Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who became part owner of Manchester United last year, dropped from fourth place to seventh after his reported wealth went from £23.5bn to £17.05bn.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Pic: PA.
Image:
Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Pic: PA.

Sir Jim’s £6.47bn losses marked the biggest on the list, while Russian-born brothers Igor and Dmitry Bukhman, who built a fortune on mobile games such as Gardenscapes and Fishdom, made the biggest gains with nearly £6.2bn.

New entries included makeup mogul Charlotte Tilbury with £350m and Ellen DeGeneres, who left the US for the Cotswolds last year.

Ellen DeGeneres with wife Portia de Rossi at Wimbledon. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Ellen DeGeneres with wife Portia de Rossi at Wimbledon. Pic: Reuters

The Sunday Times said the list was one of its toughest to compile due to Donald Trump’s tariffs and the subsequent stock market turbulence, adding many from previous years had dropped off the list and others were no longer eligible having fled Britain after Labour’s non-dom crackdown.

Read more:
Steep rise in equity release – here are pros and cons
How British ‘geeks’ launched one of most lucrative gaming franchises of all time

Overall, the combined wealth of those on the list stood at £772.8bn – down 3% from the last list.

Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast, Rich List compiler Rob Watts highlighted the story of Tom and Phil Beahon, who own sportswear clothing brand Castore which is now worth £1bn, as one of his favourites.

The brothers from Wirral have debuted at joint 345 on the list with an estimated wealth of £350m.

Calling their story “inspiring”, Mr Watts said: “They dreamed of being sportsmen as lads – one of them got onto the books of Tranmere Rovers and the other played cricket for Lancashire, but their sporting careers were over in their early 20s.

“And they say that failure was critical to driving them to create this £1bn sports kit business that you’ll now see being worn by the England cricket team and the England rugby team.”

File photo dated 21-09-2024 of England's Olly Stone who has been ruled out for the majority of the summer after undergoing knee surgery. Issue date: Friday April 4, 2025. PA
Image:
England cricketer Olly Stone wearing a kit manufactured by Castore. Pic: PA

The top 20:

1. Gopi Hinduja and family – £35.3bn

2. David and Simon Reuben and family – £26.87bn

3. Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £25.73bn

4. Sir James Dyson and family – £20.8bn

5. Idan Ofer – £20.12bn

6. Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family – £17.75bn

7. Sir Jim Ratcliffe – £17.05bn

8. Lakshmi Mittal and family – £15.44bn

9. John Fredriksen and family – £13.68bn

10. Igor and Dmitry Bukhman – £12.54bn

11. Kirsten and Jorn Rausing – £12.51bn

12. Michael Platt – £12.5bn

13. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho – £10.09bn

14. Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family – £9.88bn

15. Lord Bamford and family – £9.45bn

16. Denise, John and Peter Coates – £9.44bn

17. Carrie and Francois Perrodo and family – £9.3bn

18. Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family – £9.25bn

19. Marit, Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Rausing – £9.09bn

20. Alex Gerko – £8.75bn

Continue Reading

Trending