COOGAN’S BABY COW IS GIVING GOLD TOP

COMEDIAN Steve Coogan, whose business took almost £100,000 of taxpayer-funded furlough cash during the pandemic, has declared a bumper turnover.

Accounts for Baby Cow Productions disclose that its revenue shot up after the pandemic from £2.2 million

to £10.2 million in the year to March. The company — in which BBC Studios has a majority stake — made a profit of £277,000 overturning a £1.2 million loss in 2021.

The 57-year-old creator of Alan Partridge put seven employees and two temporary staff on furlough in 2020. He also furloughed the gardener and housekeeper at his £ 4 million mansion, leaving taxpayers to stump up 80 per cent of the pair’s wages. Coogan was said to have since repaid the furlough money.