Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
How tenner got heritage group going
THE National Trust has marked 125 years since it bought its first historic house – for just £10.
The “National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty” bought 14th century Alfriston Clergy House in East Sussex in 1896 for the bargain price, but spent a further £400 on repairs.
National Trust curator George Roberts said: “Had its efforts to purchase and restore the house failed, the Trust may never have acquired another building.”
Trust founder Octavia Hill wrote she was moved by “the pleading voice of the old building itself... to be left to tell its story to the days that are to come”.
The Trust now cares for more than 500 houses, castles, parks and gardens and a million works of art.
The move will make Matt Moulding, whose first job was washing dishes, one of Britain’s biggest philanthropists.
His promise comes just seven months after his firm The Hut Group listed on the stock market.
The 49-year-old executive chairman scooped an £830m shares bonanza as a result – one of the biggest ever payouts in UK corporate history.
His booming Manchester-based business runs websites for other retailers and also sells everything from mascara to vegan protein bars.
Mr Moulding, who was born in Colne, near Burnley, Lancs, was expelled from college for playing truant and became a factory hand.
Together with his family, he set up The Moulding Foundation last year to help disadvantaged people and communities across the UK.
It recently pledged £5m to support the building of a new campus at The Seashell Trust, a residential school for seriously disabled children based at Cheadle Hulme, Gtr Manchester.
The Mirror revealed last December hundreds of delighted workers at The Hut Group had shared a near £1billion bonanza between them.
About 430 staff – from managers through to secretaries and warehouse workers – had been gifted free shares in the past 10 years. The windfalls have already made 74 workers millionaires.
Mr Moulding, who also pledged to give his £750,000 a year salary to charity, spoke about the importance of staying close to its roots. He said: “Once you set up somewhere, you almost get a siege mentality with the people around you. I think the UK is spectacular at generating small start-ups.”
SPECTACULAR
The firm’s sprawling HQ is next to Manchester Airport.
Mr Moulding has told about how his dad made a living buying lorryloads of Tarmac and knocking on doors offering to resurface people’s driveways.
He added: “You soon realise the value of money when your dad’s gone out for a day’s work and made nothing because the weather’s bad.”
Father-of-four Mr Moulding drives a £160,000 Lamborghini Urus, works out in his lunchtimes, and holidays in the Maldives. His Instagram account features pictures of a lavish Ibiza party.
The Hut Group’s business surged during the lockdown, with revenues soaring 41.5% to £1.6bn in 2020, and underlying profits 35% to £15m.
But statutory pre-tax losses widened to £534,639 after it paid out for share option schemes as well as the costs of the initial public offering.
The Hut Group’s charitable donation comes after controversy over Mr Moulding’s position as landlord to the public company’s premises.
The £100million donation is in shares he owns in The Hut Group, some of whose properties are owned by his company called Moulding Capital Ltd.
The figure is based on how much Mr Moulding believes Moulding Capital would make in profit over the next 100 years, at today’s prices.
Mr Moulding and his wife own 319 million shares – a 25% stake worth £2.2bn before the donation.