– Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair Sees Profits Triple:
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a bumper year as profit at the firm managing his business interests more than tripled.
Windrush Ventures Ltd., the main company running his government advisory business, reported operating profit of 2.6 million pounds ($3.8 million) in the year through March 2015, up from 812,000 pounds a year earlier, according to accounts published on Blair’s website . Turnover rose to 19.4 million pounds from 14.2 million pounds.
The former Labour Party leader runs a network of companies and charities that operate in more than 20 countries. Windrush is the company overseeing one of Blair’s most lucrative contracts: advising Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on government reforms.
Staff shared in the profits. The highest paid director earned 403,000 pounds, up 34 percent from the previous year. Catherine Rimmer, a former Downing Street aide who is his chief of staff, and David Lyon, a former Barclays Plc banker, are Blair’s top directors. The increase in profits allowed Blair to hire 11 more people, bringing total staff to 48. Operating costs rose to 16 million pounds from 13 million.
Another of his companies, Firerush Ventures Ltd., published partial accounts showing a 1.9 million-pound loss for the year.
The Office of Tony Blair stressed that the accounts don’t show the full picture. “The financial results released today do not present the overall profits of the Windrush and Firerush businesses,” it said in a statement. “Instead they present the operating costs of the businesses.”
