Anti-poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford buys 11 houses

Back in 2020 we asked why footballer Marcus Rashford was placing some of his considerable wealth into a group of limited companies (which the accounts now show are also transferring money inter se in what are called “related party transactions”). The usual reason for this is to minimise tax payments and, at the time, we wrote to Labour-icon Rashford asking if this was the motivation behind his actions. No response was forthcoming.

This method of tax avoidance - if that is what it is - is lawful, but is surely not practised by the former starlet since he is a proselytiser for the greater Government use of, er, taxation in the relief of child poverty. Rashford believes that taxpayers' money should be taken from workers to pay for free school meals etc. Indeed, young Marcus supports the charity, FareShare, and so is presumably anxious to pay his own FairShare.

Last season Rashford's footballing career took a Klinsmanesque dive with his twinkling skills often replaced by truculent pouting. He was not picked for England in Euro 2024. Off the pitch, he was banned from driving for six months after doing 104 mph on the motorway in his £560k Rolls Royce. But the anti-poverty campaigner is doing very nicely with his Cheshire and Manchester property portfolio, and other commercial activities.

Despite his eye-watering pay for kicking a leather ball (or not when he has been warming the bench) and his associated commercial income Rashford is buying up properties via borrowing from the bluest of blue-blooded bankers, Coutts & Co. Once again, this may have the effect of reducing his tax-bill - surely something Rashford does not intend given his anti-poverty campaigning - but he only has to file basic accounting information for his companies so that it is difficult to assess the true position. I am sure he will wish to put the record straight in due course.

Marcus’s main property empire is being built through a Company called MUCS Properties Limited, registered for the purpose of "other letting and operating of own or leased real estate". He is the sole shareholder of the Company (i.e. he owns it outright) and the “person with significant control”. He may well own other properties too, but the Companies House records now list ownership of no less than 11 properties which are valued in the accounts at a handy £7,096,098.

A separate Company which appears to be the main conduit for Rashford’s football/image rights etc. also seems to be doing very nicely thank you with net assets of just under £17m. But in the “now you see it, now you don’t” Rashford company accounts the most recent ones show that this Company has distributed money to Marcus not via pay or dividends but via an interest-free loan of a mere £11,487,181. Still, as we have seen above, Rollers don’t come cheap.

Marcus has moved all the Companies addresses from Manchester to business premises in Essex where many others are registered too - including a “management consultancy” owned by Marcus’s mum, and one owned by former Red, Paul Scholes.

Marcus follows in the studmarks of many other footballers who have amassed property empires - and why shouldn't they - given their relatively short careers? And, as above, we are sure Rashford's weird corporate structure has not been established to minimise his tax bill since this would be morally wrong wouldn't it?

Liverpool fans joked about Robbie Fowler's enormous rental empire with the song, "We all live in a Robbie Fowler house!" How long before Cheshire residents are singing a similar ditty for the Man U (former?) star?

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Linsay Tobin: "A Beautiful Soul"

Linsay Tobin has been the best bar-person in Brum for the last two decades. Fact. If you think this statement is hyperbolic - witness the enormous throng at her funeral yesterday. Writing as a pub-user, I can say without fear of contradiction that EVERYONE loved Lins. And gosh, who can forget THAT smile?

Back in the day I was a regular at The Old Moseley Arms with my wife, Linda. The Balsall Heath area was a hotbed (no pun intended) of prostitution. Illegal drugs were readily available. Through these choppy waters sailed the indomitable figure of Miriam King, licensee of The Old Mo. Miriam was great, and kept a tidy house. The iron hand in the iron glove.

She was followed as mein host by a rather shy, diffident young man - Sukhi. Yes, the very same strapping and popular proprietor of today, over a quarter of a century later. Sukhi was inexperienced and The Old Mo could have easily gone the same way as many other backstreet boozers, but he had the vision to realise that change was necessary if the pub was to survive. His brilliant plan saw the major development of the outside seating area and, of course, the introduction of the famous curries. But the master stroke was retaining the basic core of Miriam's pub so that the regulars still kept on coming.

His other stroke of genius 22 years ago was to employ one Linsay Helen Tobin, firstly as a barmaid and then as bar manager. Not only was Lins a grafter but she bought into the whole project and her infectious enthusiasm and drive was instrumental in making The Old Mo what it is today. And gosh, who can forget THAT smile?

Due to job changes Linda and I became intermittent users of the pub (although we have, fortunately, been a bit more regular in recent times). It was apparent from the very beginning that Lins was special. Purely on an operational level she did what the "textbook" says a barperson should do, but which is seldom actually practised in this country:

One: Greet the customer. "Hello Jules! How are ya?" This always said with her wide, trademark smile (even when she was undergoing punishing medical treatment);

Two: Listen to the customer's reply! Her greeting was not just some formulaic ritual. She genuinely wanted to know how punters were getting on. She liked (most) of the customers and they loved her. We were all friends.

Three: Remember what regulars drink but don't automatically serve the pint. Lins would hold the glass beneath the pull but always double-check: "Bathams, Jules?" "Please Lins - and take for two".

Four: When the pub is busy acknowledge the customer but serve everyone in turn. This is de rigeur in, say, Dublin, but here it is a system seldom seen. Lins was a true professional.

But Lins was also the beating heart of the pub. Always enjoying a laugh and joke or lending a sympathetic ear when folk were down. Even when she was very seriously ill she still came in when she was well enough - to the delight of us all. She threw herself unstintingly into all things - the beer festivals being a classic example when she was determined that everyone would have a great time, and she did so much to make them a success.

Covid hit the pub trade hard. Unsurprisingly, Sukhi was deeply worried, but Lins pushed him on to deliver improvements whilst the pub was shut. When customers were finally allowed into the outside areas Lins revelled in the table service. She realised the isolation many were facing, and she brought great cheer to everyone. That's just the way she was. One day, when most of the downstairs work was completed she insisted on showing me around. She was bursting with pride and her positivity was just so invigorating in those troubled times.

At the funeral yesterday Lins' popularity was manifested by the huge crowd of well-wishers. Her large, but close, family were devastated, of course, but I am sure they will all come to draw solace from the turnout. People I haven't seen for years attended.  A crew from Highgate Fire Station appeared complete with fire engine! There simply was not enough room for everyone. It was standing room only down the side aisles and a large knot of folk spilling outside through the chapel doors. Lins was correctly described as "a beautiful soul" who had left "an indelible mark" on the lives of so many.

Afterwards The Old Mo was packed-out. The big screens showed a large selection of photos and no prizes for guessing a common feature on them all - yes, THAT smile again!

I know Sukhi was also bombarded with calls and messages from Old Mo customers and bunches of flowers have appeared in the bars. The suppliers all knew Lins, of course, and expressed their condoloences. Wye Valley Brewery deserves special mention as it badged a beer up especially for the wake - here's the pump clip for "Linsay's Farewell":

Lins - your family loved you. Your friends loved you. Everyone at The Old Mo loved you. You are sorely missed but we cherish your time on this earth.

Linsay Helen Tobin 21st January, 1981 - 13th July 2024

The golden bowl is broken indeed but it was golden.

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Journo bemused by Meta/Facebook censorship

What did our associated news service, "In The Public Domain" - better known as "The Sandwell Skidder" - do to upset tech giant Meta/Facebook in posting an article about arcane COMF funding scheme - a pandemic-era UK Government revenue stream - being used by an English local authority, Sandwell Council, for a capital project?

The Skidder spent nearly a whole year battling through the UK's feeble Freedom of Information (FOI) scheme to obtain the facts, and duly wrote up a piece under a revised title, "Sandwell divert £0.5m+ from public health to buy diesel buses". The FOI is publicly available via the national What Do They Know website:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/purchase_of_two_youth_buses#outgoing-1697417

The Skidder published the article in the usual way via Google and disseminated it further by social media channels - something done in the same way for many YEARS. As far as this particular article is concerned it was posted to the dedicated Skidder Facebrook Group, "The Sandwell Skidder - Speaking Truth to Power" which has 1.8k members. The principal author of The Skidder, Julian Saunders, also posted - as usual - the article on his personal F\acebook page.

Within seconds both posts were removed for an alleged but unspecified "violation" of the site's rules. Julian immediately asked for a review but has heard nothing since.

It seems that there is some sort of algorithm at work here, but Julian reports that there is no obvious trigger for Meta's draconian action. The only possible trigger might be the C-word - being the name of the global pandemic that so recently engulfed us. The only other possible word is "g****washing" but this is also a word in everyday usage.

The President of Global Affairs at Meta is Nick Clegg, former politician of this parish. Here are some of his quotes from a speech he gave in 2015:

"Freedom of speech and a free press are at the very heart of our liberal, democratic society."

"Whether you are a reporter holding the powerful to account, ... [or] a commentator contributing to our national debate - thank you. You make us freer."

"We must always defend the right of a free press to do its work without fear or favour."

Julian adds: Nick, I read your book, Politics: Between the Extremes. Please read my article and tell me why it is offensive to the Metaverse?

All Skidder articles since 2013, including the one mentioned above, are available via:

thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com

Email: iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com