The managing director of Harrods has accused his former boss Mohamed al Fayed of presiding over “a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”.
Five women who used to work at the luxury department store have alleged they were raped by Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, with several other former employees alleging sexual misconduct.
In a written statement, Michael Ward, who worked for the Egyptian billionaire at Harrods for four years, has denied having been previously aware of the businessman’s “criminality and abuse”.
He said Fayed’s ownership between 1985 and 2010 represents a “shameful period in the business’s history”.
Mr Ward apologised and said Harrods had “failed our colleagues”.
His statement reads: “As managing director of Harrods, I wanted to convey my personal horror at the revelations that have emerged over the past week.
“We have all seen the survivors bravely speak about the terrible abuse they suffered at the hands of Harrods former owner Mohamed Fayed.
“As we have already stated, we failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry.
“As someone who has worked at Harrods since 2006, and therefore worked for Fayed until the change of ownership in 2010, I feel it is important to make it clear that I was not aware of his criminality and abuse.
“While it is true that rumours of his behaviour circulated in the public domain, no charges or allegations were ever put to me by the Police, the CPS, internal channels or others. Had they been, I would of course have acted immediately.”
Image: Harrods managing director Michael Ward. Pic: PA
Mr Ward also said an independent review was under way into issues arising from the allegations and that he had “provided all the information I have to ensure my own conduct can be reviewed alongside that of my colleagues”.
“I am not part of the committee conducting this review and will in no way influence its operation or recommendations… I have also stepped back from my charity trustee positions while this review is taking place,” he said.
Mr Ward added that Fayed had ran his business as his “own personal fiefdom”.
He continued: “It is now clear that he presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct.
“The picture that is now emerging suggests that he did this wherever he operated.”
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4:40
Fayed survivor speaks out: ‘It smashes his legacy’
Mr Ward insisted that the Harrods of today is “unrecognisable” compared to how it was under Fayed’s leadership.
He added that the business has established a settlement process which has been “designed in consultation with independent, external experts in personal injury litigation”.
“We encourage former colleagues to contact us using this process so that we can provide the support, and recourse, they need”, Mr Ward said.
Sources within Harrods have said the business has accepted vicarious liability, a rule of law that imposes strict liability on employers for the wrongdoings of their employees, for the conduct of Fayed for the purpose of settling claims of alleged victims brought to its attention since 2023.
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0:33
‘Mohamed al Fayed brainwashed me’
Some women have claimed they were subjected to “intrusive and wholly unnecessary” gynaecological tests to work for Fayed and have alleged the purpose of the tests was for checking for sexually transmitted infections.
Alleged victims are set to lodge a complaint against Dr Ann Coxon, claiming she has “questions to answer” over the examinations.
Dr Coxon declined to comment on the matter.
A General Medical Council spokeswoman said: “If we identify any potential fitness to practise concerns about individual doctors, we will thoroughly examine all relevant information and take action as appropriate.”
What has Fayed been accused of?
Dean Armstrong KC, a lawyer representing some of Fayed’s 37 alleged victims, has said the case against the businessman “combines some of the most horrific elements” of those including Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
The allegations have surfaced after an investigation by the BBC.
A former employee of Harrods has told Sky News “demonic” Fayed would “cherry pick” women from the shop floor and once they were called to his office they “couldn’t say no”.
After taking over Harrods in 1985, Fayed expanded his business interests to include the Paris Ritz and Fulham Football Club.
Lawyers say they are aware of allegations made by employees at other businesses owned by Fayed and are representing women who worked at the Paris Ritz.
There have not been any allegations against Fayed in relation to his ownership of Fulham FC between 1997 and 2013.
A music video-streaming service whose shareholders include the U2 bassist Adam Clayton will this week announce that it has sealed a management buyout after months of talks.
Sky News understands that the assets of MagicWorks, which trades as ROXi, have been sold to a new company called FastStream Interactive (FSI), with backing from two major US-based broadcasters.
Sources said that Nasdaq-listed Sinclair and New York Stock Exchange-listed Gray Media were among the new shareholders in FSI, with the launch of new interactive TV Channels in the US expected to take place shortly.
The deal, which has involved raising millions of pounds of new equity from new and existing investors, has resulted in previous creditors of the business being repaid in full, according to the sources.
Its search for funding from the US was seen as vital because of the programme to roll out its FastScreen technology.
Founded in 2014, ROXi described itself as the world’s first ‘made-for-television’ service, allowing viewers to stream millions of songs and download hundreds of thousands of karaoke tracks.
Its broadcast channels allow viewers to skip through content in which they have no interest.
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Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams were among the prominent music industry figures who had previously been named as ROXi investors.
Financiers including Guy Hands and Jim Mellon are said to be part of the new ownership structure.
In response to an enquiry from Sky News, Rob Lewis, FSI chief executive, said: “The new technology, FastStream, will revolutionise broadcast TV.
“For the first time in history, consumers tuning into a normal TV channel will find they automatically start at the beginning of the programme, and that they are able to skip, pause or search, even though they are watching normal broadcast TV”.
Begbies Traynor Group, the professional services firm, and Rockefeller Capital Management advised on the process.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.