THE Tory guru behind David Cameron’s Big Society idea has hit money troubles.
Phillip Blond, set up the think-tank ResPublica two years ago to promote his “red Tory” brand of community-focused politics.
The Prime Minister hailed the organisation for its “fresh and radical thinking”.
But the limited company, whose sole director and owner is Cambridge-educated Mr Blond, is believed to have cut staff from 16 to six in a round of redundancies.
And workers were locked out of their offices near Downing Street last month because the rent hadn’t been paid. A spokesman for Mr Blond said the staff lock-out lasted “several days” and was the result of a technical bank account glitch while he was abroad rather than a lack of cash.
Accounts lodged at Companies House show the firm has “net current liabilities” of £13,358.
A ResPublica spokesman insisted it made “a healthy profit” of about £4,000 last year. Mr Blond, step-brother of Bond actor Daniel Craig, owes the firm £38,609.
The spokesman added: “I can confirm that ResPublica has recently been through a period of restructuring, prior to the think-tank becoming a not-for-profit company, which has involved some redundancies, and towards the end of the summer we will be recruiting additional staff.”
Phillip Blond, set up the think-tank ResPublica two years ago to promote his “red Tory” brand of community-focused politics.
The Prime Minister hailed the organisation for its “fresh and radical thinking”.
But the limited company, whose sole director and owner is Cambridge-educated Mr Blond, is believed to have cut staff from 16 to six in a round of redundancies.
And workers were locked out of their offices near Downing Street last month because the rent hadn’t been paid. A spokesman for Mr Blond said the staff lock-out lasted “several days” and was the result of a technical bank account glitch while he was abroad rather than a lack of cash.
Accounts lodged at Companies House show the firm has “net current liabilities” of £13,358.
A ResPublica spokesman insisted it made “a healthy profit” of about £4,000 last year. Mr Blond, step-brother of Bond actor Daniel Craig, owes the firm £38,609.
The spokesman added: “I can confirm that ResPublica has recently been through a period of restructuring, prior to the think-tank becoming a not-for-profit company, which has involved some redundancies, and towards the end of the summer we will be recruiting additional staff.”
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