The Steeple Times

Category: BRAINSTORM

The comings and goings of the entrepreneurial classes.

The brightest and the stupidest in business

  • Hero of the Hour – Yasmita Mulji

    Hero of the Hour – Yasmita Mulji

    The Steeple Times salutes community hero and Chelsea newsagent Yasmita Mulji

     

    Hardworking Yasmita Mulji has served her community since 1978. This Chelsea newsagent and her small store have survived in the face of adversity and whilst many other longstanding businesses have failed, she has recently diversified into also selling computer games, consoles and peripheral equipment.

     

    In spite of greedy landlords seeing off other local institutions – such as the renowned restaurant La Brasserie in and more recently wine merchants Nicholas – Mrs Mulji and her staff continues to open from 5am to 7pm daily.

     

    All at The Steeple Times urge our readers to support this fine business. “Use it or lose it” comments editor-in-chief Matthew Steeples.

     

    P. Josiah Newsagents, 101 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6RH. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7584 2379.

     

    Pictured above: Yasmita Mulji and ex-Eastenders actor Tony Discipline.

     

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    Hero of the Hour – Yasmita Mulji – The Steeple Times salutes community hero and Chelsea newsagent Yasmita Mulji of P. Josiah Newsagents, 101 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6RH. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7584 2379.
    P. Josiah Newsagents forms part of what was a parade of shops and restaurants; sadly the majority are now gone and have been replaced by a vast yet little visited Stella McCartney store
    Hero of the Hour – Yasmita Mulji – The Steeple Times salutes community hero and Chelsea newsagent Yasmita Mulji of P. Josiah Newsagents, 101 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6RH. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7584 2379.
    Yasmita Mulji welcomes all customers including Chelsea’s most famous parrots
    Hero of the Hour – Yasmita Mulji – The Steeple Times salutes community hero and Chelsea newsagent Yasmita Mulji of P. Josiah Newsagents, 101 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6RH. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7584 2379.
    Yasmita Mulji with footballer Frank Lampard
  • McMoneya

    McMoneya

    London has simply become a money park for dodgy money and though ‘McMafia’ reflected elements of that, the truth is far more depressing

     

    Since the 1st January, the nation was engrossed (though many were also totally bored) by the BBC’s eight-part drama series McMafia.

     

    Based on a fictional – though plainly inspired by the likes of the late Boris Berezovsky – Russian mafia family relocated to London, the TV adaptation of this thriller was filmed primarily in Knightsbridge, Mayfair and South Kensington. It showcased what many might consider the extreme wealth of Central London, but, in fact, was presented a little bit amateurishly.

     

    Of the show, Carol Midgley in The Times summed it up well. She remarked: “If this is how miserably the super-rich live, I’d take a semi in Swindon any day” and equally now, if you wander the streets of SW1, SW3, SW7 and W1, you’d not disagree with her.

     

    Recent news that the Fine Art Society is closing in Bond Street after 140 years due to “soaring rents” and “an influx of wealthy international fashion houses” illustrates the effect of the arrival of uncultivated new wealth in that sector, but equally sad is the demise of local restaurants and shops that actually provide things that genuine, full-time residents actually need.

     

    Boarded up in Belgravia this month, after 44 years in operation, the Ebury Wine Bar closed supposedly due to the retirement of its owner, Nigel Windridge. Also gone – aside from the key loss of the much loved La Brasserie in Brompton Cross – are restaurants like Itsu in Walton Street and Racine in Brompton Road. Replaced by shisha bars and other businesses aimed at wealthy Gulfies and oligarchs, the streets of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea are increasingly becoming utterly devoid of character.

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

  • The Daily Branson

    The Daily Branson

    Richard Branson’s decision to re-allow the ‘Daily Mail’ on his trains proves him to be nothing but a lying self-publicist

     

    Sir Richard Branson yet again has proven himself to be nothing but a self-obsessed, self-publicising cretin. That this self-proclaimed “entrepreneur” has reneged on his company’s decision to ban the Daily Mail on his trains is indicative of not only his desire to keep himself in the news at any cost but also of the fact that this national disgrace has utterly no moral compass.

     

    Devious Branson – a man known for owning trains and spacecraft that crash and trying to destroy our NHS – now not only claims he cannot “censor” his customers from reading the nastiest paper in Britain, but also was happy to wait a few days before saying such. He is someone with an ego the size of China and the decency of Pol Pot; Sir Richard Branson should take a one way flight on his spacecraft and he should take Viscount Rothermere and Paul Dacre with him.

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

  • Branson Falls Off The Roof

    Branson Falls Off The Roof

    Sir Richard Branson closes The Roof Gardens in Kensington; customers take to social media to complain about lack of assistance over cancelled bookings

     

    Sir Richard Branson can now add “job killer” and “wedding wrecker” to his resume. In closing the once popular venue The Roof Gardens, this tawdry fantasist not only put 80 people out of work but also destroyed the plans of those who’d made bookings for events there.

     

    In the wake of the closure individuals who’d booked the venue took to Twitter to complain. One, Nick Levine, tweeted:

     

    “Closing Kensington Roof Gardens has cancelled my summer 2018 wedding. Trying to contact you to but getting a wall of silence. Please assist and do not ignore if you care. Flights and hotels booked. Why did you take wedding bookings if u could not honour?”

     

    Another, Tracey Andrews, added:

     

    “Richard Branson is selling the Kensington Roof Gardens because it’s failing to make profit putting 80 staff out if work. He wants our NHS because clearly there is profit to be made. He’s the greedy farmer wanting more. Well guess what @richardbranson He died.”

     

    Going further, Michelle Johnstone, concluded:

     

    “The party’s over! Kensington Roof Gardens CLOSES after 37 years. I’ve even visited myself – it’s no big loss, an average bar miles from anywhere shit views & a couple of shrubs passed off as amazing – he can now put more effort into destroying the NHS.”

     

    Branson – whose legacy will also include a disastrous train crash and the death of one of the pilots of his ludicrous spacecraft – is a man of straw. He is anything but the success many perceive him to be and is, in fact, nothing but a national disgrace.

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

    Branson Falls Off The Roof – Sir Richard Branson closes The Roof Gardens in Kensington; customers take to social media to complain about lack of assistance over cancelled bookingsBranson Falls Off The Roof – Sir Richard Branson closes The Roof Gardens in Kensington; customers take to social media to complain about lack of assistance over cancelled bookings Branson Falls Off The Roof – Sir Richard Branson closes The Roof Gardens in Kensington; customers take to social media to complain about lack of assistance over cancelled bookingsBranson Falls Off The Roof – Sir Richard Branson closes The Roof Gardens in Kensington; customers take to social media to complain about lack of assistance over cancelled bookings

  • Taking out the Toxic

    Taking out the Toxic

    Matthew Steeples suggests the era of PR’s who’ll represent anyone and promote anything ought to end

     

    In Britain, the PR firm Bell Pottinger collapsed ultimately because of its willingness to “represent almost anyone but Robert Mugabe” but in a perfectly put analysis for The Cut on Friday, Kaitlin Menza highlighted a duo with morals even lower.

     

    Referencing the relationship between the crisis management firm Sitrick and Company and Harvey Weinstein, Menza quoted the firm’s founder, Michael Sitrick, as having told the Financial Times in 2010: “I love journalism but I’d rather eat.” His clients, tellingly, thus, have numbered “the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles [over] accusations of sexual assault” and the likes of Chris Brown and Hulk Hogan in similar regards.

     

    Sitrick and Company’s executive handling Weinstein’s account, Sallie Hofmeister, Menza pointed out also, took on the alleged sex offender because: “It’s not about a new public image, but rather to make sure that the facts are as accurately reported as possible… Mr Weinstein has a different recollection of the events [to the women he supposedly abused].”

     

    Here in Mr Sitrick and Ms Hofmeister is a duo with utterly no grasp of right and wrong and a pair with only money on the mind. It is time that the press and public realised enough is enough and bit off the toxic hands that for so long have just fed us all lies, lies and more damned lies.

     

    Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    Pictured above: Sallie Hofmeister of Sitrick and Company and James Henderson, former CEO of Bell Pottinger.

     

  • Bloomberg on Brexit

    Bloomberg on Brexit

    Billionaire and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg condemns Brexit as “the single stupidest thing any country has ever done” apart from America electing Donald Trump

     

    As Michael Bloomberg opened a vast new European headquarters in London on Tuesday, The Guardian revealed a series of comments he’d made two weeks ago about Brexit.

     

    In a speech to the HUBweek conference in Boston, Bloomberg condemned the election of Donald Trump but also suggested: “It is really hard to understand why a country [Britain] that was doing so well wanted to ruin it” by voting for Brexit.

     

    Separately, on a previous occasion, this wise man also pointed out: “[Britain] didn’t have an immigration problem and they didn’t need control of their borders. They have the English Channel – that gave them control of their borders.” We join those saluting him.

     

    Mr Bloomberg’s comments in Boston follow:

     

    We are opening a brand new European headquarters in London – two big, expensive buildings. Would I have done it if I knew they were going to drop out? I’ve had some thoughts that maybe I wouldn’t have, but we are there, we are going to be very happy.

     

    My former wife was a Brit, my daughters have British passports, so we love England – it’s the father of our country, I suppose. But what they are doing is not good and there is no easy way to get out of it because if they don’t pay a penalty, everyone else would drop out. So they can’t get as good of a deal as they had before.

     

    I did say that I thought [Brexit] was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it.

     

    One of the things that is hurting us both in the United States and in the UK is that we have employees, not a lot but some, who are starting to say: ‘I don’t want to work here – can we transfer to some place else? This country doesn’t like immigrants.’

     

    All this talk in Washington – words have consequences. Whether we change the immigration laws or not, there is general feeling around the world that America is no longer an open, welcoming place and a lot of people don’t want to go there, and the same thing is happening in the UK because of Brexit.

     

    It is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it. It was not a smart thing to do and getting out of it is going to be very difficult and is going to be very painful. It will hurt industries. People are already taking space in other cities over there [Europe], us included.

     

  • A Second Kennedy in the White House?

    A Second Kennedy in the White House?

    Could “Hillary Clinton without the baggage” Caroline Kennedy take on Donald Trump?

     

    It is being suggested that JFK’s daughter Caroline Kennedy could run against Donald Trump to become President of the United States of America in 2020 or 2024.

     

    Website Proud Democrats quoted a source close to the former Ambassador to Japan under Obama last week as saying:

     

    “Caroline had a successful ambassadorial run in Japan and feels really very confident about putting her hat in the ring for a New York congressional or Senate seat, with even possibly bigger political objectives down the road… The presidency is on her mind now, believe me.”

     

    Such a move would signal a return to sanity and it should most certainly be encouraged.

     

  • Madness and Martin

    Madness and Martin

    Martin Shkreli takes to Facebook to share an article supporting him and suggests he’d make an ideal communications director for President Trump

     

    Permanently banned from Twitter, awaiting a verdict in a fraud trial and widely considered one of the most loathed men on the planet, Martin Shkreli could be expected to retreat to Siberia. Instead, on Tuesday, the ‘pharma bad boy’ took to Facebook and shared a Crain’s article that suggested he was “getting a raw deal” and that the prosecution against him “should never have commenced.”

     

    In the feature by an “opinion writer” named Sean Roman Strockyj, it was argued that “not one investor lost a single dollar” and “the nation’s whipping boy” should not “carry the mark of a felon.” Furthermore, Roman Strockyj argued that this “self-made product of the outer boroughs of New York City” is a victim of “government overreach” and that is a trial that is just about “pleasing the general public.”

     

    Elsewhere, on 31st July on Facebook also, Shkreli stated: “In for comms director” and received 498 likes. Donald Trump could perhaps do a lot worse.

     

  • Meltdown Madoff

    Meltdown Madoff

    Madoff family finally relieved of their ill-gotten gains; victims now get back approximately 66% of their losses whilst Ruth Madoff goes shopping

     

    Last week, what will hopefully be the final chapter of the sorry saga of the crimes of Bernard Madoff occurred with the retrieval of £17.8 million from the Ponzi schemer’s family’s late sons’ estates. The money, which will be redistributed to victims of the fraud, forms part of £9 billion or 66% of assets invested returned to victims of the £13.6 billion fraud.

     

    A lawyer for the estates and families of Andrew and Mark Madoff, both of whom died in the wake of the scandal, told The New York Daily News:

     

    “On behalf of the estates and families of Mark and Andrew Madoff, we are pleased to resolve all of the remaining civil claim. As we have stated from the outset, and as the facts have demonstrated, neither Mark nor Andrew was aware of Bernie Madoff’s heinous fraudulent scheme…. This settlement finally brings closure to Mark and Andrew’s families.”

     

    Meanwhile, Ruth Madoff – whose luck plainly came in when she walked away with £1.9 million of her and her husband’s £62 million personal fortune in a deal with investigators immediately after the scheme was uncovered in 2008 – has been seen shopping in Old Greenwich, Connecticut in recent days. A resident, of spotting her, told The Steeple Times: “She now looks as if the weight of the world has been lifted from her shoulders” before adding: “It’s a shame it didn’t quite work out like that for so many others involved.”

     

    Madoff – The Numbers

     

    December 2008 – Bernie Madoff’s fraud is uncovered. Money lost by investors totals £13.6 billion ($17.5 billion, €15.4 billion or درهم64.3 billion).

     

    Early 2009 – Madoff’s personal fortune of £62 million ($80 million, €70.5 million or درهم293.8 million) is seized. Ruth Madoff is allowed to retain £1.9 million ($2.5 million, €2.2 million or درهم9.2 million) of that sum.

     

    June 2017 – Money returned to investors thus far totals £9 billion ($11.6 billion, €10.2 billion or درهم42.6 billion).

     

    June 2017 – Money recovered from the estates of late sons of the Ponzi schemer revealed to total £17.8 million ($23 million, €15.7 million or درهم84.5 million) whilst money to be kept by the estates of late Mark and Andrew Madoff comes to £2.91 million ($3.75 million, €3.31 million or درهم13.77 million).

     

    Pictured: Ruth Madoff shopping (left and top right); Mark, Andrew and Bernard Madoff pictured together in 2001 (bottom right).

     

  • Breaking a Jacket

    Breaking a Jacket

    Barings jacket signed by rogue trader Nick Leeson to be auctioned; the original supposedly sold for £21,000 in 2007

     

    An auction of a bright yellow and black trading jacket signed by Nick Leeson – the trader who famously broke Barings Bank in 1995 – is to go live this Friday.

     

    Offered with an estimate of £200 to £300 ($257 to $385, €226 to €340 or درهم943 to درهم1,400), the replica jacket is captioned ‘Baring Futures’ and signed: “The Original Rogue Trader: Nick Leeson.”

     

    Leeson’s activities cost Barings, which had been established in 1762, £827 million ($1.3 billion, €937 million or درهم3.9 billion) and left N. M. Rothschild & Sons as “the only name remaining from the glory days of 19th century British merchant banking.”

     

    The auction will go live on Friday 30th June on the John Pye Luxury Assets auction website and will end at 12 noon on Thursday 6th July. Leeson’s original jacket reportedly sold for £21,000 in 2007 (the equivalent of £26,700, $34,300, €30,200 or درهم125,800 today).

    Breaking a Jacket – Baring jacket signed by Nick Leeson to be sold – Barings jacket signed by rogue trader Nick Leeson to be auctioned; the original sold for £21,000 in 2007 by John Pye Luxury Assets in July 2017. Estimate: £200 to £300 ($257 to $385, €226 to €340 or درهم943 to درهم1,400). Breaking a Jacket – Baring jacket signed by Nick Leeson to be sold – Barings jacket signed by rogue trader Nick Leeson to be auctioned; the original sold for £21,000 in 2007 by John Pye Luxury Assets in July 2017. Estimate: £200 to £300 ($257 to $385, €226 to €340 or درهم943 to درهم1,400). Breaking a Jacket – Baring jacket signed by Nick Leeson to be sold – Barings jacket signed by rogue trader Nick Leeson to be auctioned; the original sold for £21,000 in 2007 by John Pye Luxury Assets in July 2017. Estimate: £200 to £300 ($257 to $385, €226 to €340 or درهم943 to درهم1,400).