Party Pieces - The Mystery?

Thought I would share this.  A friend of mine has always been very intrigued as to how party pieces could actually have an estimated value of £30 million.  Intrigued enough to do a bit of research on the internet.  This is what she found, and I must say it is quite an interesting read.

***************************************

Where did the story that Party Pieces is worth an estimated £30million come from, when in actual fact no-one has ever seen their accounts as it is run as a private business and appears to be operating offshore?

In April 2011 the Mail ran an article on the Middleton's supposed fortune and this is how the £30 million came about. It was simply a guesstimate made by some City analysts and even the quarter value appears to be off the mark, which we'll come to later.

QUOTE
"That is the notional figure City analysts put on the potential value of their Party Pieces empire — but only because it is now inextricably linked to the glittering world of the Royal Family through their daughter Catherine, a future Queen. Without that connection and its lucrative resonance, especially in the U.S., the company might be worth a quarter of that."

The same article also revealed:

QUOTE: "By the year 2000, a year before Kate went up to St Andrews and first met Prince William, the mail-order firm was on the internet, employed ten people and was handling more than 1,000 orders a week."

Trading on the internet? By 2000? Mr Middleton only registered the website around 2004 with a company called Pindar and hardly anyone was trading this way until later in the decade when Amazon took off. So these claims seem far fetched as does the comment by a Middleton relative in the same story that PP started when Carole was pregnant with Kate. However, their family cleaner among others has comfirmed it was when she was pregnant with James.

Anyway by April 2011 the date of the wedding the DM made the following claim that:

QUOTE:
"Today, thanks largely to an astonishing bounce brought about first by the royal romance and then the engagement announcement, business appears to be booming and Party Pieces employs 30 staff working out of two large converted farmhouses near the family’s home in rural Berkshire.
When the Daily Mail visited their premises last week a dozen trucks and vans as well as an articulated lorry were being loaded with orders."


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1378288/Kate-Middletons-family-Just-rich-Middletons.html#ixzz3MFGhnJpd

Astonishing bounce indeed because when investigative journalist Andrew Gilligan started to unravel the mystery of their fortune just six months earlier in November 2010 at the time of the engagement PP appeared to be a much more modest operation.

Their house was bought in 1995 and either had a small mortgage {DM} or no mortgage according to DT.

In 2002 they paid £780,000 in cash on a Chelsea flat for the siblings which has no mortgage.

In 2005 they paid £295,000 again in cash for several acres of land near their home.

They holiday in Mustique where villas cost at least £20k for a week.
Ditto Scotland where luxury houses cost £5k a wee
k.
All three children were educated at private primary schools and Marlborough School one of the most expensive in the UK Marlborough alone is estimated to have cost half a million and that's with extras such as gap year activities etc.

They own a share in a racehorse called Sohraab

Mr Middleton has a private pilot's licence and owns a light aircraft.

However, Andrew Gilligan started digging and according to an advert, at the time of the engagement, they were taking a modest 1,000 orders a week. A trade journal editor said:

QUOTE
"They don’t stand out as a big player and I wouldn’t have thought they’d make masses of money. You’re looking at things costing 50p, 75p. You have to sell a lot of that to make money and there’s a lot of competition.”

AND
"Accounts for one of Party Pieces’ major competitors show profits of only around £130,000 a year – and this in a business which is said to be larger than the Middletons’."

Further at this time there was 8 people taking orders and yet by the time of the wedding the operation had become several times bigger. Even with the royal connection, it's hard to see how they became so big, so soon particularly when  you compare with others in the business.

As for the accounts, Gilligan discovered that:"But fascinatingly, while Party Pieces has two shell companies with no money passing through, the main business is held not as a company, but as a partnership – and doesn’t have to file any information. This doesn’t seem to have been done to stop journalists poking around; it was the case long before Kate became famous."

AND:

"Why take this sort of risk? It could simply be because that is how the Middletons, like a lot of two-person bands, started, and they never bothered changing it as the company grew. But the presence of the two shell companies makes this look unlikely. Several accountants suggest that it could be a form of (entirely legal) tax avoidance.

“Before the top rate of income tax went up, it used to be better to be a partnership than a company, particularly if your profits were low,” says Mike Warburton, of Grant Thornton. Although partners’ profits are subject to income tax, which is charged at a higher rate than corporation tax, partnerships make substantial savings on employees’ National Insurance contributions. They also avoid the tax that is payable when they take money out of a company.
Most interesting of all, you can structure the partnership so it minimises your tax, and you don’t have to say who the partners are.

“If you got your adult children in as partners, and spread the profits out, that would be a smart move,” says Mr Warburton. “Or you could make one of the partners an offshore limited company that doesn’t have to file accounts. That’s another possible way of avoiding tax.” The partners have some scope about allocating the profits – so if some were allocated to any offshore company, there might be relatively little British tax payable."

Read the whole story here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8147929/Royal-Wedding-Middletons-money-how-was-it-made.html

Michael Middleton did inherit £100,000 from his mother who died in 2006 and a further  £97,300 when his father died in November 2010. There is also some sort of family trust via the Luptons which contributes towards the education of descendants but as it's all confidential no-one will confirm if this was enough to pay all the school fees at Marlborough and university. Further Pippa won a sports bursary to Marlborough which would indicate they needed some assistance with fees on top of the trust.

More details here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/8391216/The-family-fortune-of-the-minted-Middletons.html

The only other person with substantial money in the family is Carole's brother Gary but he only made his fortune in 2006 when he received a share of the company he worked for when it was sold. There are various figures bandied about but it seems this was around £24 million he made.

He did buy a flashy yacht and luxurious villa in Ibiza where the Midds entertained Prince William until Uncle G was exposed by the NoW for drug dealing.

So the mystery continues.

The way they live is not supported by whatever money, if any, from party pieces
So who funds their life ? Uncle Gaz or William of Wales/Cambridge/DoLittle

They could not afford to buy the Chelsea house without a mortgage unless someone is funding them.
I would wonder if UGaz is in drugs and Pa Midd was in airline,flying his own aircraft that they were employed
by uncle Gaz. In turn he funded their life to catch Wimpo ?

The company is set up a clever way to avoid tax, all legal but morally not right.
However if there is no money or not enough, that would ask the question how do they pay for their lifestyle
If the company showed a turnover of £100,000 and profit of £60,000 less tax less costs..................does not
even pay for their fleet of range rover leases.

Clearly school fees mostly covered by the trust but not enough, as Pipsqueak had funding
and Midd 1 and 2 were of no use at anything to get a bursary.

A portion of £197,000 does not cover house, flat,plane and their new house
living, cars,clothes and general keeping up with the blue bloods with double barrel names

Find the source of the money and there are the answers. I think that it is a fake store front for import/export
drugs or worse

There are suggestions on many Internet sites that PP is used for laundering Uncle Gary's drug and pimping money. There have been reportedly umpteen requests for HMRC to investigate this dubious and questionable family but to date they have all been ignored! ! There were also reports that pa mid enabled drug importing in his role of an airline dispatcher. There is a question as to if he really holds a license or even if the small Lupon Trust didn't expire some while back and it was Uncle G's ill gotten gains which funded the lifestyle. He didn't own the yacht - but allegedly rented it but reports vary. Around the time willy inherited his £17-20 million from Diana it was reported that the Mids 'tapped' willy for money to buy their latest home.

Willy boy has been so taken in by this totally unsuitable family that he should never be allowed to be King as his judgement is seriously flawed.

Dumbo has a complete lack of judgement. He would be a nightmare as the monarch.

How did they allow it ? if it is a cover for drug money, why would the RF allow it ?
Cammy missing at church is interesting

I am sure Willy bought their latest home with the idea their kids would spend lots of time with the grandparents
or
it was bough so Wasty would live there and that was the deal/business arrangement

If there is no money going through PP, then it wont need to pay tax
it says most of their companies are dormant, ie not trading

So I guess The Duke of Dumb has taken over Uncle Gary's job of financing the lifestyle of The Crone and company.

Yes I would say

The company would have to be big as in like Amazon to pay for their lifestyle

The RF prob didn't allow it hence it now dormant.

God, he is such a sucker!

Interesting research. I found a similar article a few months back in the Telegraph that pretty much said the same thing - that where their money comes from is a mystery. A partnership is also dangerous as if you go bust you are personally liable (they can take your house everything you possess) whereas if you have a limited company you are not liable. I have often wondered given what we now know about the royal family if blackmail isn't part of this story.

Probably all blackmailing each other. It has been said by many that Ma Mid extracted every bit of info she could about the RF from dumb, naive and vulnerable willy so she has plenty up her sleeve. In the early courtship days of willy and Waity there were many questions asked about her family and the institutions were told 'to lay off as she was Willy's girlfriend!! What the RF didn't bargain for was that he would 'spring' the engagement on them and he would marry in to that odious family. There has always been a big question mark as to why PA stayed with the ghastly Fergie and Ma will know all about that too.

What's that all about?

Fergie was not bumped off though ?

Party pieces and Marina Fogle news article is interesting, especially as the company is not trading and is dormant
is this to bring the company into the spotlight ?

Its in the papers now about PA and Fergie was also said to have caught him in bed with his equerry hence the need to keep her close and support her. Probably why the Queen being a little more welcoming to her now too. Anything to protect HM's allegedly perverted offspring.

I am waiting for Fergie to be defending him. There was a reason that Fergie was still paid for and looked after. I came across someone at the Sky news room and they know the above did happened but was gagged

Andrew is HM's favorite child. She will do anything to protect him.

Deep pockets and pulling all favours

Sarah started cheating cos Andy was cheating with male staff
to keep mum, she is still paid for and cleaned up after and in the holiday fold

Going back to PP, maybe hang them out to dry to save Andy , Chuck ( letters,BBC doc ) and Wimpo on sunny holidays
They may have had a recall and summoned back to UK

They had all better get their paedo, perverted a$$e$ back to HM and deal with this obscene, horrific situation. Their mummy may not be able to sweep this mess under the rug.

Unless the rug is as big as China

I am sure their Big Mama HM will figure out a way to protect her nasty little brood.

A nasty ill moral brood