The Beckhams! How greedy can you get?!

[MotherOfAllNameChanges]

https://meaww.com/victoria-beckham-employees-furlough-salary-pay-taxpayers-net-worth-posh?fbclid=IwAR2RmDGxYNRagLSTVBlE6DD1q4QV5ZZqjYspPABAAiBrrTgyFWL15DZydGo

I agree with most of what's been said. However just to play devils advocate here.

Theres been lots of comments about "funded by the taxpayer" "we shouldn't be bailing her out" etc.

She is a taxpayer herself...and probably pays more in tax in a month than the rest of us do in a few years.
It's not "us" bailing her out. She's a taxpayer too.

However I do think that theres only going to be a certain amount to go around and she should really be financing this herself if she can afford it. Saving what's in the pot for businesses who really need it.

I think a 'business' should be provably trading at a profit, yes, to qualify for the CJRS handouts

So virtually all startups should go to the wall?

How laughable. To bring Corbyn into a thread that is totally unrelated to him.

I have mixed feelings on this. I think she's shot herself in the foot doing this. Her 'fashion business' is a hobby and for that reason she could easily pay her staff from her considerable wealth.

OTOH I am not sure they don't pay taxes as someone said upthread, I don't know that everything is offshore. I'd need proof of that. If they do pay their taxes it will be a considerable amount and she probably thinks 'why not'. Not right I know.

I'm not a huge fan of them TBH. She has a business that lends itself to actually doing something to contribute like making masks or whatever. They have been remarkable quiet through all of this, holed up in the Cotswolds.

I do agree with pp's, I hope this pandemic will dampen the celeb culture of adoration some are so guilty of.

That business has been subsidised by David Beckham for years, it’s a hobby business. I’m astonished that anyone would defend a bale out from the taxpayer.

I’m astonished that anyone would defend a bale out from the taxpayer.

She is a taxpayer.

And?

I assume the government will see it’s not a viable business and not pay out.

That's SUCH a dangerous angle to take though. What if the government looked cynically at every business it is propping up right now and and assessed them on their long term viability and withdrew funding from those that didn't make the cut? How many people would find themselves completely unemployed?

I agree with the surmise above that it's snobbery. We recognise her name and begrudge her wealth because we think she's common, when her money is a drop in the ocean compared to all the serious wealth in this country.

There are 650 people/families in the UK on the Times Rich List with more money than the Beckhams , but most of those names are unknown to us/the tabloids - they're in chemicals, finance, construction. I'm sure lots of them are inherited wealth too (I'm not British so I don't recognise which names are old families).

They don't get bitched about because we don't know who they are. I'm sure they have thousands if not hundreds of thousands of staff on furlough between them right now too. But VB with her measly 30 furloughed employees is the one who gets slammed.

Branson’s getting it in the neck too.

I don’t get why she gets tax payers money when filming on Insta from one of multi millionaire pound properties. Why can’t she sell a house to pay her staff?

She is a taxpayer herself...and probably pays more in tax in a month than the rest of us do in a few years

Of all the taxes raised in a year in the whole of the country, one third of the total amount is paid by just 380,000 taxpayers out of a total of 20 million taxpayers. So unless you're Richard Branson, and you are eye wateringly rich, you are paying your dues.

They may have cleaned up their act more recently, but the Beckhams were investigated for tax evasion as I understand it, and this is seen as one of the reasons he hasn’t been honoured.

She has a business that lends itself to actually doing something to contribute like making masks or whatever

I thought so too at first, but the government has refused PPE from companies that can't produce at scale, and has said it is preferring to work directly with the factories in Turkey etc., which to be honest is 100% the right approach to take. They need to order 500k masks at a time, not the few hundred a day (if any at all) a tiny company like VB can make.

Does she even directly employ any seamstresses or own any sewing stations (or whatever) herself? It's probably all contracted out to factories in the UK, Europe or China. If she only has 30 staff to furlough, chances are that they're all marketing/office staff.

And surely she won’t be paying tax if her company is loss making?

It's the staff I feel sorry for imagine seeing thousands of people calling for you to lose your job because your employer is rich imagine the feeling of insecurity that you might not get 80% wage because people hate your employer with a passion

The money going to VB could support more small business. A clothing company only the mega rich and skinny can wear is hardly a necessity to keep going.

And VB could diversify, sell something useful such as PP if she really wanted to help her staff.

She pays taxes by way of employing people, selling clothes, paying her suppliers and so on.

Turning a profit is just one way of paying taxes.

So agree with @crosspelican. There are far worse out there. She is getting it in the neck because she's well known.

Nobody wants her employees to lose their jobs, they just want her to take responsibility for her own hobby and pay them herself.

Why isn’t she being made to sell a house first? The big charities are having to furlough staff. She has millions of pounds, the money she is taking ,which she doesn’t need, could be going to more needy places.

I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for her staff! She has always wanted to be a fashion designer. She has a company that leaks money, yet the few staff she has, she has kept on with DB bailing her out. I think they're in a pretty enviable position compared to some because I can't imagine her giving up fashion designing ever. It's a hobby she wants to keep doing.

Posters are more than happy that the UK government will bail out businesses owned by extraordinarily wealthy. This is why they vote Conservative - the rich much get richer and the poor must get poorer.

As long as it is not Victoria Beckham. She is common and has gone above her station.

TO be fair at the top of any company who is furloughing employees will be a very rich individual. Their personal wealth won't be sitting in accessible cash in a savings account and won't be available to be used to pay employees. You could argue that those who are very wealthy should be making some donation to good and relevant causes but the salaries would come out of business expenses and are dependent on how profitable the company is.

Why isn’t she being made to sell a house first?

How? You want to change UK business law and undo the entire principle of Limited companies overnight, and force ALL business owners put up their homes and savings to prop up their businesses now? The millionaires? The construction yard in your town with 5 workers? Or just VB?

I think a 'business' should be provably trading at a profit, yes, to qualify for the CJRS handouts. And to have been doing so for a set amount of time. Just like the self-employed will have to do when they are invited by HMRC to fill in their claims

I agree. The criteria for help should be very strict.

A business/SE should be making a profit and paying tax, generating enough to live on without state handouts. Far too many “hobby” businesses on FB etc.