BREAKING NEWS - Kings Heath Community Centre Guru's bust company

One of the leading lights of the bid to run Kings Heath Community Centre is currently a Director of a company in liquidation.

Readers of this blog will know that the three individuals who set up the organisation to seek a community asset transfer from Labour Birmingham City Council were Labour Councillor, Lisa Trickett, ex-Labour Councillor Bryan Nott (Trickett’s partner), and Matt Powell the Manager of Kings Heath BID (Business Improvement District [sic]). They also set up a Crowdfunder scheme to extract funds from members of the public.

Matt Powell has confirmed to Crow Multimedia that he is one and the same person as Matthew James Powell, a Director of bust Revive and Thrive [sic] Limited. The latest Liquidator’s Reports shows unsecured book debts of £338,175.11 and creditors have put in claims for £291,320.22. Powell says that the liquidation, which started in 2021, was brought about by Covid (although it is also fair to say that many retail companies thrived during the pandemic as people splurged from their settees).

Curiously the liquidation is ongoing but there appear to be no company assets to realise and so the creditors face substantial financial losses.

Meanwhile Trickett and Nott are sitting pretty. This blog exclusively showed how they, and a person believed to be their daughter, have plundered the profits from a "co-op" they run - Places in Common - so that it has been making annual losses of late. Read all about it here:

https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-thurd-sector-4-places-in-common.html

NOTE 26/02/26 - a weirdo is ranting that the picture is not Powell's business. As I clearly state that Powell's company went bust in 2021 and Dump didn't even open until 2023 I thought most locals would not make such a "connection". I was wrong!

LEGAL NOTICE (CM Version 1 - 7th February, 2026)

We cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where we refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts or Crows passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory or otherwise unlawful material must read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

We may also add hyperlinks or references to content in our associated blogs, “In The Public Domain aka The Sandwell Skidder” (at thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com) and Rotten Council Governance - Legal Review (at rottencouncils.blogspot.com). Reference to content in those blogs also forms part of the context, meaning of, and justification for, contents in this blog.

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com and we shall use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

We are pleased to receive comments via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com, or on X via our publishers @CrowMultimedia. We are happy to publish any sensible commentary and offer a right of reply where applicable. We can also publish “guest” posts on mutually agreed terms.

If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

Save Station Street campaigners back smaller cock!

More soon on the National Trust's appalling and cowardly conduct in the various Station Street, Birmingham, campaigns soon. The story so far can be seen here:

https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-national-trust-brum-conspiracy.html

In the meantime the "campaigners" seem remarkably shy about who is who in the campaign/campaigns. In the above post we speculated on the identity of the manic obsessive who puts out hundreds and hundreds of posts on X (formerly Twitter) apparently on hehalf of the "campaign". This person bizarrely seeks to maintain anonymity whilst advertising that s/he is running a "non governmental and non-profit organisation". But is his/her increasingly unhinged output really the work of a group, or solely that of a fanatical individual?

This blog initially thought that the author might be a notorious local Labour anti-car obsessive - particularly noting a compulsive campaign to ban cars from Station Street - an important city thoroughfare immediately adjacent to a major regional transport hub (New Street Station). It would appear that the X account is actually run by one Darren John. 

Crow Multimedia has attempted to contact others involved in the National Trust scandal, particularly as the anonymous X person continually uses "we" in posts. If others are involved in the "organisation" they might want to consider their legal position for the reasons set out below.

The Website "campaign" claims to be run by "Ken Preston" and "Zoe Bond-Pinner" from an address in Stourbridge (rather than, er, Birmingham). Crow wrote to them (by a real letter!):

"I am an investigative journalist interested in the secret involvement of the National Trust in respect of the ongoing campaigns relating to Station Street.

I would like to send some questions to you but cannot find an email for your campaign and I don’t want to use the open forum of the Facebook group.

Can you please forward appropriate contact details to the email address above please?

Can you please confirm whether you are also responsible for the “Save Station Street, Birmingham @OldStation St” X (formerly Twitter) account and, if not, who is?"

They did not reply.

We also wrote in a similar vein to another of the National Trust's gang of conspirators, Ian Francis at Flatpack but, again, received no reply.

The Facebook group, "Save the Electric Cinema Birmingham" has two administrators, Zoe Bond-Pinner and Darren John.

Most of the campaign supporters are "socialists" and so they have no money. They keep insisting that taxpayers' money should be used to "save" the Electric and, more bizarrely, to re-open the Crown as a pub. They seem blissfully unaware that deadbeat Labour Brum has only just come out of bankruptcy or that 25% - yes, a quarter - of the city's working age population are on out of work benefits. The pub trade is in dire straits and The Crown shut down over a decade ago because it was a nasty sh*thole. Further there is now competition from a large Wetherspoons directly opposite. The X person is bombarding the Mayor of the West Midlands [who he? Ed] and the ridiculous Lisa Nandy in the hope they will waste taxpayers' money on his/her absurd schemes.

Incidentally, some of us remember how awful The Crown was before it happily shut. When a non-local campaign supporter queried this someone local posted this response:

There is a plan to turn this area into an "arts and cultural quarter" [sic] even though the dismal Labour Council is promoting Digbeth as an, er, arts and culture quarter! And despite the local legacy media pumping out endless Ozzy nonsense that hype will soon fade.

Not long ago, there was a fire at "The Flatiron" building in Hockley. In a flurry of posts the Old Station Street campaign accused the owners of neglecting the building and hinted that the fire had not been accidental. This was echoed by someone on X called "jordanbhx"".  The X person named the Company (based in the Virgin Islands) and also named the two beneficial owners, both Hong Kong residents. S/he described them as "vampires". At Crow Multimedia this all seemed rather odd since the fire was said to have started in an office on the 4th floor - not the usual place for budding arsonists to choose. And, indeed, it was quickly confirmed by an enquiry to the WM Fire Service that the fire was indeed, purely accidental.

It is to be hoped that the campaigners do not face the legal wrath of the Hong Kong owners and maybe the campaigners need to think before they start making false allegations on social media. Perhaps this is why these proselytisers want to try and maintain anonymity? And quite why the National Trust wants to team up with such buffoons is beyond comprehension.

Interestingly, the X person took it upon him/herself to also become the self-appointed guardian of all of Brum's historic building and claims to now be speaking also on behalf of the Methodist Central Hall and other properties. S/he also uses the campaign to peddle a whole array of leftie claptrap - attacking Reform, Farage, the flag-flyers, motorists, Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters etc. etc. Again why the allegedly apolitical (though increasingly woke) National Trust wants to engage with all this is curious to say the least.

The obsessive X person rants over and over and over again about the proposed tower developers want to build in Station Street. S/he usually calls it "crappy" which surely means it will fit in well with the rest of Brum's contemporary architecture. The latest abuse is that the "50 floor" tower will be "phallic". But what's this? The Arora Group has planning permission for a 22 storey tower across the road from The Crown. The campaigners have suggested raising the £2m asking price and somehow finding the money to build a tower containing a "Brum Sounds hotel" full of memorabilia relating to Ozzy and others.

50 storeys bad and phallic - - 22 storeys good! How can anyone take these clowns seriously?

Addendum 27/02/26: Since writing this, the "campaign" has gone into overdrive. But, significantly, Darren John has used the Facebook Group - presumably with the agreement of Bond-Pinner - to put up the email address for an employee of Glenbrook Property (the developers seeking to build the tower in Station Street) and encouraged followers to contact him direct. There is and always should be a place for activism but there is a fine line before organising this sort of social media pile-on becomes unlawful harassment. No doubt if John & Co. keep this up Glenbrook will consult the police/m'learned friends.

LEGAL NOTICE (CM Version 1 - 7th February, 2026)

We cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where we refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts or Crows passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory or otherwise unlawful material must read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

We may also add hyperlinks or references to content in our associated blogs, “In The Public Domain aka The Sandwell Skidder” (at thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com) and Rotten Council Governance - Legal Review (at rottencouncils.blogspot.com). Reference to content in those blogs also forms part of the context, meaning of, and justification for, contents in this blog.

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com and we shall 

use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

We are pleased to receive comments via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com, or on X via our publishers @CrowMultimedia. We are happy to publish any sensible commentary and offer a right of reply where applicable. We can also publish “guest” posts on mutually agreed terms.

If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

Randy Andy and Opera North

Arts organisations in the UK are overwhelmingly stuffed with lefties and yet arty companies and individuals are constantly grovelling to our grotesque "Royal" family. Why? One main reason, of course, is the expectation of baubles. Some of our greatest actors, for example, cannot open their mouths off stage without spouting socialist claptrap, but are quick to accept Damehoods and other "honours" down The Palace. Hypocrisy? Naked self-interest? Who knows?

When the writer buys tickets for arts events there is often a request for donations. "No" is the short response to any organisation with "Royal" in its name, or with "Royal" patrons. Perhaps others ought to follow suit ...

Of course, their insinuation into British institutions is seen by the monstrous monarchy as necessary to perpetuate itself. The "Royals" pull every lever to maintain their grasp on wealth and power.

Long before recent revelations, the man formerly known as "Prince" Andrew was the personification of arrogance and entitlement. His ill-fated "Marriage of Fiasco" to the toe-sucker, Ferguson, became the stuff of tabloid legend. Long before the Epstein saga, he was known as "Randy Andy". Not quite, due to primogeniture, "King Priam" but certainly "Prince Priapus". And fawning politicians facilitated his pursuit of wealth and la dolce vita by appointing him as a trade envoy and the like. Pass the sick bag, Alice.

In the course of "The Rake's Progress" the wonderful Opera North inexplicably made the ghastly pair "patrons". Look away now if you don't want to be sick over yourself:

Crow Multimedia wrote to Opera North about this ludicrous state of affairs:

"Press Enquiry - Royal Patronage

It is inexplicable to the general public why a brilliant arts organisation like ON feels the need to have "royal" patrons. What do you say is the benefit of having the Duke of Kent as a  current patron?

Further, the person previously known as "Prince" Andrew, and Sarah Ferguson, were patrons of ON. Even without the current revelations it is unimaginable that such a ghastly pair should be associated with ON? Once again, what was the thinking in tying yourselves to that dreadful couple?

Can you please also name the trustees who made the decision to appoint "Randy Andy" and "Fergie" as patrons. It will be interesting to see if they, in turn, received baubles for what most would see as egregious grovelling."

Alas, answer came there none.

We should mention here that on the Opera North website, two of the current trustees boast OBE's. No doubt thoroughly merited.

There is no truth in the rumour that Opera North is renaming "The Magic Flute", "The Pink Oboe". But perhaps ON could find a, er, part for "Randy" in, say, "Dildo and Aneas [spellcheck please]" or "The Turn of the Screw". Maybe the productions are already in rehearsal ...

We wonder if Opera North will ever apologise for this shaming degringolade? Perhaps the better option would be to eschew further "Royal" patronage altogether, eh readers?

LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!

A Crow Multimedia Blog

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

LEGAL NOTICE (CM Version 1 - 7th February, 2026)

We cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where we refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts or Crows passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory or otherwise unlawful material must read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

We may also add hyperlinks or references to content in our associated blogs, “In The Public Domain aka The Sandwell Skidder” (at thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com) and Rotten Council Governance - Legal Review (at rottencouncils.blogspot.com). Reference to content in those blogs also forms part of the context, meaning of, and justification for, contents in this blog.

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com and we shall use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

We are pleased to receive comments via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com, or on X via our publishers @CrowMultimedia. We are happy to publish any sensible commentary and offer a right of reply where applicable. We can also publish “guest” posts on mutually agreed terms.

If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

Kings Heath pubs buck national decline

Birmingham may be the UK's multi-ethnic "third city" (formerly the "second city") but it's the white folks who control the Socialist nirvana that is the southern suburb of Kings Heath (KH), as this image of those running a local forum meeting a couple of years ago amply demonstrates:

Formerly a working class area with a strong Irish community the area is undergoing gentrification. The growth of the state as an employer, and of the Brum universities, has led to an influx of bourgeois "socialists". You can tell this by the number of white middle-aged women wandering about wearing keffiyehs. And you can also buy something called "artisan" bread ...

The newbies are wealthy by Birmingham standards - which may not be saying much when a shaming 25% of the Labour city's working age population is in receipt of out-of-work benefits. But the property is - relatively - cheap and most of these folks are only moderately well-off. These are people who have never made any real money in the public sector, but are used to sucking from the state's nipple. Thus they can't live anywhere that is actually "nice", and chose to eke out their sinecures and pensions in an area which is only a couple of steps up from a public convenience. 

Despite never having run a whelk stall "socialists" have the crazed and fallacious belief that they can organise communities. The primary example of this in KH is an incessant war on motorists which has happily resulted in "the Left" managing to exclude traffic from the more agreeable areas where they, er, live. They have forced ever greater traffic to clog the roads where the poorer folk huddle in their hovels.

As avowed anti-capitalists (although not when it comes to their own material well-being) the rather faded Reds have waged war on KH's once famous High Street. This straddles a major arterial route but economic considerations do not apply with these people, and the plan is to force everyone onto public transport and prevent vehicles using the road at all. This is only a part of the nonsense, believe me.

As someone who shops and drinks in KH on a regular basis there is no doubt that it is becoming a sh*thole.  Yet it remains busy and shops and pubs are making so much money they actually pay extra tax to trade there. How much longer this will last as the socialists deliberately drive businesses away remains to be seen.

Yes, the local pubs and businesses pay extra tax - in the form of a levy - to a Labour Party-front organisation called, laughably, Kings Heath Business Improvement District (the BID), calculated as a percentage of a property's rateable value.

Now here is the curious thing. The media is awash with cries for help from publicans and the hospitality industry as the current Labour Government is throttling it with extra taxes and regulations. Business rates are a major bone of contention and the pub industry is crying-out for a VAT cut. The minimum wage and national insurance increases have been hollowing out pub businesses. New duty rules mean ever weaker beers are being served. Pubs are closing around the country (or operating much reduced opening hours if they are limping along). Staff are put out of work. Yes there are exceptions, of course, but these are few and far between. Yet the higher taxes, rates and costs are NOT a problem for KH pubs which are delighted to pay the BID levy on top! Why?

Crow Multimedia wrote the following press enquiry to a random sample of three KH boozers asking what the secret of their success is:

"The pub and music venue trades have suffered grievously in recent years and the current Labour Government appears to pile on the pain. Two well-known Brum pubs closed in January to my knowledge.

Social media is awash with complaints from publicans about tax generally, minimum wage increases, NI increases, and business rates. Yet Kings Heath is bucking the trend and you guys opt to actually pay more tax (in the form of a BID levy) on top of the current burden. Why are KH pubs doing so well that they can afford extra tax when many others appear to be struggling?"

Alas, the Loco Lounge, The Juke, and the Hare & Hounds declined to respond.

Usually higher taxes on businesses are passed on to consumers. Does that mean that KH pubs are charging higher prices to reflect this? As no-one is yet speaking-up, we can only guess! Just check the price of your pint next time you go out on KH's Tarnished (formerly Golden) Mile.

Another failed High Street business.

LEGAL NOTICE (CM Version 1 - 7th February, 2026)

We cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where we refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts or Crows passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory or otherwise unlawful material must read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

We may also add hyperlinks or references to content in our associated blogs, “In The Public Domain aka The Sandwell Skidder” (at thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com) and Rotten Council Governance - Legal Review (at rottencouncils.blogspot.com). Reference to content in those blogs also forms part of the context, meaning of, and justification for, contents in this blog.

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com and we shall 

use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

We are pleased to receive comments via email to iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com, or on X via our publishers @CrowMultimedia. We are happy to publish any sensible commentary and offer a right of reply where applicable. We can also publish “guest” posts on mutually agreed terms.

If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please email iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.