Friday High Five – the news of the week
We weren’t the only media this week to report the story that TalkTalk are edging towards an uncertain future.
As I said on one of my regular missives just nine months ago, these are going to be crunch times for the Salford Quays based telecoms challenger.
You would back one of Britain’s best networked, wealthiest and canniest entrepreneurs, Sir Charles Dunstone, to turn this situation around and seek a settlement with lenders and shareholders, but his isn’t the only highly leveraged business in a pickle.
There have been a couple more stories led by government announcements, effectively saying ‘look at the mess we inherited’.
One is on HS2, which was dumped without much forethought. The other was the skills system, which Richard Pennycook, the man who saved the Co-op, has been tasked with rebooting by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The apprenticeship levy has focused minds on the need to invest in training staff for a changing future, but has had so many negative and unintended consequences.
But we were the only media to delve into the judgement in the case of Richard Hughes taking on HMRC and the Crown Prosecution for malicious prosecution.
What emerged was the case that was brought against the Zeus Capital founder was a total mess, as the judge said, “pitiful” was another word he used.
However, Hughes had his £400m claim for malicious prosecution and misfeasance against HMRC and the CPS thrown out, we exclusively revealed on our Rainmakers platform in a fascinating story.
It is the latest milestone in a legal battle that has been ongoing for 14 years. This is not yet the end, with Hughes already having applied for permission to appeal the High Court judgement.
Fourteen years though? That too speaks to our underinvested and broken public services. A justice system stretched to breaking point, leading to delays and mistakes that wasted so much time and talent.
It’s unfair on the people who are meant to deliver justice, and it’s unfair on people who get their lives ripped apart by accusations and charges that don’t stack up.
Other exciting news this week is that our successful Rainmakers conference will return in 2025. It’ll be on the 26th of March 2025, so save the date.
Have a great weekend.
