SADDENED BY OUR CRUMBLING PILLARS OF COMMUNITY
RAN average of 30 pubs and restaurants a day have closed across the country in the past 15 months. Since none of us have been going anywhere recently, that might have passed you by.
However it hasn’t stopped many of them from being turned into retirement apartments. That hasn’t passed me by. Nor has the lack of police stations – there are only half as many of those as there were 10 years ago.
So there are more people living where we used to go to socialise.
Add to that, have you noticed how many petrol stations have been converted into coffee or fast food drive-throughs?
So apparently we no longer need somewhere to have a tipple, somewhere to find safety and protection or somewhere to keep us on the road.
I think it used to be called community.
THE dropout daughters of a banking CEO who say they were unfairly cut out of his £7million fortune are suing their stepmother after she got the lot.
Juliet Miles, 40, and Lauretta Shearer, 38, claim they are due maintenance from Tony Shearer’s multimillion estate to replace the “generous financial provision” he gave them both while alive.
He forked out for luxury holidays, membership of the posh Hurlingham Club, rents on their flats, £185,000 deposits for houses together with a regular maintenance allowance and other cash sums.
Desperate
But their stepmum Pamela says they are due nothing and sees the women as “entitled” and “interested in their dad only for his money,” the High Court heard.
The former head of merchant bank Singer and Friedlander, died aged 68 in October 2017 from a brain tumour.
Having split from his daughters’ mum Jenny after 34 years in 2005 he married colleague Pamela two years later and they moved to France.
After his death, almost all of his fortune – which Juliet and Lauretta put at around £7million – was left to their stepmum, with
nothing in his will for his daughters. They are suing her for “reasonable provision” from the estate, backed by mum Jenny.
Both the daughters are recently divorced with children.Their lawyer told the Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Julian Flaux, that Juliet, who is not working, is in a “desperate” financial situation and wants £915,991 to buy a
house. Lauretta, who works for Sotheby’s, wants £350,154 to secure her own housing.
But Barbara Rich, for Pamela, read an extract from a letter Mr Shearer wrote after giving each of his graduate drop-out daughters £185,000 to put towards a property. It read: “From now on, you are on your own financially.”
The hearing continues.
IT WILL be business as usual for The Apprentice this year, host Alan Sugar has promised.
The tycoon revealed the production team is desperate to get the show on air after eight million viewers were saddened last year when Covid poleaxed the 2020 series.
The business guru, famous for his “You’re fired!” catchphrase, says a new series will signal Britain is open for business again after a battering in the pandemic.
Work has begun on the 16th run, with BBC One producers determined to beat “this bloody terrible virus”.
Lord Sugar, 73, said: “I know many people will have been disappointed we weren’t able to make The Apprentice last year – myself included. I am pleased to say that we are going to be cracking on with a new series very soon.
“In fact, the pre-production phase has already begun and plans are coming together to make sure we are back on air this year.”
The former Spurs co-owner said making the show while sticking to health regulations that could change instantly was bound to be frustrating.
He added: “Putting something together as complex as The Apprentice means the production team need to be flexible. But we have one of the best teams in the business working around the clock and I can assure you they will do their absolute damnedest to get the show back on TV.
“The return of the programme will also show the world Britain is back on track and open for business again. It is an exciting prospect.”
Lord Sugar said the economy had taken “one hell of a battering” from lockdowns.
But he added: “In the coming months businesses across the country will be fighting back against this bloody terrible virus as best they can. It is going to be a huge challenge – but it is one I am confident British business can rise to.” The reality show, which also features West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady and executive Claude Littner, normally airs from October. Entrepreneurs who want to take on the various challenges can apply now. Winners get a £250,000 investment in their new venture. Contestants selected for the cancelled 2020 series will also be contacted to see if they want to take part.