John Swinfield's Big Business

ROBERT SANGSTER: First past the PostThe bloodstock business is a multi-billion dollar industry employing thousands of people around the globe. John Swinfield made a TV documentary about Robert Sangster who was an axial figure in the rarefied and risky bank-balance stakes. It’s a business closely linked to the lucrative and exploitative gambling industry. It’s often in the spotlight because of its showy image. And it’s frequently nobbled by controversy. Sexism is said to be rife among joc...

SYNOPSISED ACKER of Pan Am: Triumphs and Tragedies Flying taxis, private space shots, aircraft powered by electricity, solar and even hydrogen. Aviation has witnessed swift and tumultuous developments from the heady days of the intrepid Wright brothers taking to the skies over North Carolina at the dawn of the 20th century. As Covid and its variations, from Delta to Omicron, wreaks havoc on routes and companies and passenger numbers – commercial airlines have faced some of the most ...

SYNOPSISINTO THE RED: how a gift company fell to earthA high number of different businesses have gone bust lately, many being the victims of Covid. But life in business has always been precarious with more stories of calamity than success. Way before the pandemic Red Letter Days was a small British company which took off but subsequently failed. In its hey-day, with its founder Rachel Elnaugh at the helm, customers could send presents and surprise events to lucky recipients. The firm pro...

HEAVENS ABOVE: Sir Freddie Laker’s low fares and cheap travel.In the capricious airline business low cost fliers battle it out. The Hungarian based Wizz Air has collared a chunk of the market and is widely thought to have put in a so-far unsuccessful bid for easyJet. The Irish Ryanair, run by the ebullient Michael O’Leary, is planning to quit the London stock market, blaming its departure on Brexit. Loss-making Flybe, which collapsed in 2020, will fly again in 2022. It operated out of Ex...

MARKS & SPENCER: Weathering the stormBritain’s ubiquitous Marks & Spencer (M&S) with over a 1,000 shops and 78000 workers began as a market stall in the Yorkshire city of Leeds in 1884. Like other familiar high street names it’s had a difficult time but new financial figures are encouraging. John Swinfield has known the company for decades. He recalls his friendship with the once-chairman Marcus Sieff and interviewed the current boss, Archie Norman, who at one time ran ITV an...

STRICTLY DELFONT: The impresario Lord Delfont.Lord Bernard Delfont began as a dancer and rose to the top of the entertainment industry. A powerhouse in London’s theatre land and New York’s Broadway he was part of a media and entertainment dynasty and worked with myriad superstars from Frank Sinatra to Judy Garland. His brothers were Lew and Leslie Grade. Leslie was a theatrical agent who died prematurely. Lew became a big wheel in television and cinema. Bernard’s nephew, Michael Grade, r...

PARTY TIME: Clive Sinclair and Jeffrey ArcherLegendary inventor and computer genius Sir Clive Sinclair was a friend of many years standing of John Swinfield. They met up again at a party given by the Tory peer and novelist Jeffrey Archer and his wife Mary at their Grantchester home in Cambridge. John recalls a colourful cast including Lord Archer, who went to jail for perjury; Michael Edwardes, the cost-cutting boss of stricken car conglomerate British Leyland, and the fruity-voiced thespian ...

PROFITS TO POPEYEThe world’s biggest mouse house and why Gerry Robinson of Granada TV chose profit over priesthood. Robinson ran Britain’s Granada company. It triggered a takeover battle which changed the face of British TV and enraged the comedian John Cleese of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In America, John Swinfield made a TV documentary about the Disney Corporation, the world’s biggest entertainment conglomerate and home to Mickey Mouse and Popeye. Disney embraces everything from fil...

Big Bucks and Bold BreakthroughsHi-tech is hi-risk. It’s built into the DNA. People and companies make fortunes, others fall by the wayside. In some the science is strong. In others it’s flaky. Deals can be imperilled by myriad factors - not just the purity or effectiveness of the science. John Swinfield looks at the roller-coaster world of earth-shaking advances, where business acumen and scholarly endeavour can be harnessed to achieve astonishing goals. Cambridge, like Oxford, is ...

FORTELittle Big Man: Lord ForteThe legendary Charles Forte built a hotel and catering empire which straddled the globe, only to see it snatched away in his twilight years in one of the City’s most ferocious takeover battles. John Swinfield knew Forte, and his son Rocco, who has built his own portfolio of exclusive hotels. John Swinfield’s essay, based upon the newspaper articles that he wrote, and the television films that he made for ITV about the company and its masters, is a story of ...