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I had spoken with a close friend of Kaja’s, Barbara Tomic, who had become my Personal Assistant and shared the gym and spa at my apartment (having been given a spare entry key to my apartment block).
She was a little jealous of my evening with Alexia as she ‘craves tapas’, so I invited her to join my brother and I on our trip to West Sussex. Nicola was attending another meeting before the afternoon talks, so we set off early to catch the sea air and visit a local restaurant.
We had to be back in Knightsbridge by 7.30 pm as I had received an invitation from Marcello Moscarello to attend his Gran Caffe restaurant in Knightsbridge for the launch of a selection of Lamborghini wines, accompanied by a fashion show from men’s designer, Angelo Galasso. I had decided to invite Michael to meet me there.
When we arrived at Brighton Beach and were looking for somewhere to park, I received a phone call from socialite, Lady Anna Brocklebank (pictured left), who had been given my number by Nicola.
Her deep English plummy voice intrigued me immediately, as I could hear her fluttering like a butterfly from one subject to another. She described ‘in my day’ parties, Who’s Who lists of the rich and famous in attendance, and the sexual innuendos of people in the news: all kinds of hot gossip. She told me she loved the sound of The Home Club and asked to meet with me at her home in Corsica.
I explained simply that I had no time to leave London and wondered if she would call me when she was back in the UK, so that we could meet and discuss matters further, which she graciously agreed to do.
Anna had many strings to her creative bow, including making a film, art and music, for which she has a real passion.
She sounded eccentric and quite a maverick in an attractive way, and I looked forward to our meeting.
Nicola had sent those of us speaking at Roedean a brief,
‘Roedean’s Head of Business Studies and I have now come up with a solution that will hopefully work for both the school and the Guild. The school’s theme for this term is “Adventure”, so your first five minutes of your presentations should focus on your personal business adventure...’
Can you imagine, I thought, when hearing my story, the poor kids either wouldn’t be able sleep at night or would want to create their own adventures, out of a sense of fearlessness and creatively.
I wondered what I should say to them. I thought more about this as we reserved a table at the local Champagne and Fish restaurant, Riddle and Fins. I had asked Nicola to meet us there but, as she was running late, we decided to begin the lunch without her. We enjoyed a wide selection of food and drink: champagne; mixed sashimi with pickled ginger; wasabi and soy sauce; pan-fried Brighton scallops, with lemon and parsley; oysters Rockefeller (a rich mix of spinach & Pernod); a bloody Mary oyster shot with a pan-roast fillet of turbot confit potato; burnt apple; Asian pear; and Shiso leaf butter. To finish off in style, Barbara and I each had an Espresso Martini before we left for the event. I found the food, service and ambience stunning, and referred to the chef that it was almost as good as Scott’s of Mayfair. You’d have thought that I had just given the restaurant three Michelin stars when the kitchen staff heard my reference: they were overwhelmed by such a comparison.
We parked in the Roedean car park and entered the reception of an odd-coloured building: the views from the houses were stunning and a contrast to the architectural design of the complex. We waited in the reception as the rest of the speakers arrived. I mentioned to Nicola that I would love Bea to attend a school like this. Nicola told me about the hurdles and difficulties that needed to be overcome to obtain a place at such a prestigious school, yet she promised she would speak to her close friend, the school’s Headmaster, to put in a good word for my daughter.
I felt excited and reassured, as I imagined (finally) taking a normal part in selecting my daughter's schooling. I dreamt about her filling with pride in the future when she understood my recent accomplishments and appreciated my down-to-earth nature.
As each of us took the stage, we told our different stories about our personal entrepreneurial journeys to inspire the audience of budding female businesswomen and sports stars.
My talk covered the gist of my biography – the same material as appears in this book, albeit the child friendly version – so much of it needed to be redacted. I included a few jokes as I rounded up my experiences.
I finished my talk by giving the students some tips about what they needed to focus on, including the parting message that there was nothing to fear from life.
Yes, this was a school that I wanted for my daughter. Nicola gave me a wink as I left early to attend the event in Knightsbridge.
My public profile was burgeoning. I had recently supported and received attention from the Whittington Walk, the Badge of Honour, the Guild of Entrepreneurs (as a Freeman), The Wimbledon Club’s social committee (as Chairman), and as a financial contributor to the Lord Mayor’s ‘City Giving Day’.
The Home Club was in development and growing in stature. In a nutshell, I was about ready to be attacked. I knew that the more interesting The Home Club became, the more attention I would attract personally. I knew there would be people out there trying to take me down. Nevertheless, I continued to act as normal. For example, I was honoured to meet again with Sheriff Alderman Peter Estlin for tea, in his office, located at the Central Criminal Court: The Old Bailey.
I mentioned this to Nicola, who asked if she could join me on the visit as she had never had such an opportunity. I agreed, so we visited Peter together. The butler brought tea and biscuits as I explained how The Home Club would further support the City of London, the Lord Mayor’s Office and charities favoured by the Guilds. Alderman Peter Estlin was in line to become Lord Mayor of the City of London at some future date.
Well, that date is now (October 2019), and he has only a month or so before the new Lord Mayor of the City of London is installed at the Silent Ceremony. I wanted to support him in this ambition, so I asked what he would want for the City of London and offered him any assistance I could give to fulfil those objectives.
After Nicola had taken the opportunity to drop a few names, we left so that I could prepare an informal list of areas where help was needed. One such area was the creation of a Cyber Security Academy for the City of London.
Tennis was my new passion and provided me with great relief from stress at the time. I spent 8 April playing tennis with Wenny and 9 April in a hit about with Daria, before I received a welcome email from Peter Estlin (on 10 April 2017),
‘Darren
Many thanks for this. As we discussed, increasingly many businesses are moving toward supporting philanthropic contributions, so this is very welcome. Indeed, Heart of the City encourages businesses to each take a stance; some offering advice, others their time and in many cases financial support.
With regard to gaining support for this proposal, I am happy to discuss it with the Lord Mayor’s Appeal team (copied) and, of course, the Court of Aldermen. With regard to the Livery, then it may be best to approach the Livery Committee, which is chaired by Richard Regan. I can introduce you to him if that would be helpful. I don’t have personal contacts with the Church or Crown but I am sure that we can assist with these once the operation is up and running.
In terms of the detail of the proposal, you may be aware that the livery have several apprenticeship schemes in place, which your proposal could help fund and support. The Constructors, for example, work with the Carpenters and their programme over in Stratford. Likewise, the Goldsmiths have their jewellery programme. It may be worth dovetailing your interests with these established programmes where your funding would give them additional scale.
I wasn’t quite clear what you would like potential donors to sign up to? Clearly any monies given would need to be used as you direct, and you could change this from year to year. I am happy to approach the Court of Aldermen for their tacit support although I am not sure many of them have come across a proposed donation structure like this. You may need to give some thought as to whether you would like to write to them individually?
When are you expecting to formally launch your new venture? I noted strong interest in the platform – how many of your suppliers have signed up to the new venture already?
I am away for a few days over Easter, so your deadlines may be difficult to meet, not least that the Court of Aldermen don’t meet again until 9 May – and I know that date is very busy.
Good to get your further clarification.
For now, kind regards
Peter’
Perhaps I hadn’t noticed, nor made enough inquiry about Villa’s emotional state at the time of the United Guilds’ event, but I wouldn’t usually pry into anyone’s business. I received a call from her on the same day as receiving Peter’s email, stating that – due to professional advice in relation to having a family of their own and the associated health reasons – Villa and Rick were immediately resigning from their positions with The Home Club .
I told her that The Home Club would still uphold the contracts and pay them, even though they were trying for a baby and needed less stress in their lives. Villa refused, which made me rethink their reasons for leaving. Surely, I reasoned, finances would be a concern and my offer would alleviate this part of their worries. If they had any financial problems, of course they would have been grateful and accepted my suggestion.
Experiences in life sharpen your gut feelings. My antennae were acutely sensitive to bulls**t. I realised that these resignations required further investigation. I began to ask questions in a series of emails.
As they did not provide any tangible evidence to support their comments, I pointed out that they were in breach of contract. I had to find replacements for Villa and Rick. It just so happened that I was in contact with a health and nutrition professional called Ms Karen Louise Leith. I planned to meet her for lunch, but before I could make it to her home in Buckinghamshire, I was asked to meet with Lady Brocklebank, as she was spending time back in the UK.
I collected Nicola from her flat in Surrey before travelling on to Anna’s home, parking on the street outside of her detached house. We were greeted by Anna’s assistant, who then ushered us into the rear reception, where aside the piano we met Anna. She was wearing black leather skinny trousers, sunglasses (indoors), her blonde hair pulled up into a topknot and her neck laced with pearls.
‘Oh, hello darling,’ she began in her deep, plummy English accent. ‘I’ve been looking forward to meeting with you. Oh, do sit down and make yourself comfortable’ she added, before leading me into her conservatory where drinks were already waiting.
Anna started to examine me in a way that was a cross between a doctor and a lawyer. Whilst I was more than keeping up, I couldn’t understand why Nicola was nodding at my every reply. I was being tested and thought to play along.
As Anna took her position opposite me at her table, she brought out a plastic bag full of business cards.
‘Now let me see, Bianca Jagger…’ she held out the card, ‘Interesting to your Club?’
‘Absolutely,’ I replied.
She then went through her contact list, throwing up every name imaginable. Each time my appreciation was animated and obvious, in order to join in with her game. With a final mention of Sir Elton John and John Galliano, the fashion designer, we were done.
With a smile to Nicola, Anna said, ‘Now, I suppose that you didn’t know that I was testing you there.’
‘No, really?’ I replied, before continuing, ‘Did I pass?’
‘You did quite well, and I’m pleased. Now, let’s have a photo together.’ As her husband arrived and greeted us respectfully, Anna crafted a provocative photo as she sat between my legs whilst being adorned by Nicola and a friend.
As we left, Nicola was tapping away on her phone, tweeting along with Anna,
‘Having an afternoon blast with Darren Puyne (sic) President of the exciting Home Club’
… followed by another tweet from Anna the following day,
‘What a splendid afternoon. “The Home Club ” sounds too alluring to miss!’
Meanwhile, I had to repair the damage to the Club caused by Villa and Ricks’ departures, so I arranged to meet with Karen. She turned out to be an attractive, petite, blonde. After losing her husband, she had struggled to bring up her three sons and was doing an amazing job keeping everything afloat.
We met in Tiddington in Oxfordshire and went for lunch, hitting it off immediately. Karen told me her life history and I told her mine, so there would be no misunderstandings as we remained friends. I asked if she might be interested in becoming the Brand Ambassador for Wellbeing and to supply me with some documents. We both left the lunch full of positive intent at our new business relationship. She also mentioned her love of tennis, which was a real winner with me.
Karen also wanted to join me in attending my events; this would not be a problem other than her needing to juggling travelling into London and to arrange childcare for looking after her boys.
She told me that she often drove in and out of London and so didn’t see these challenges as insurmountable issues. Neither did I, so we decided to form a schedule for her to attend London events that would fit in with her family commitments.
In her broken Russian accent, she said, ‘I’m so pleased that you were able to attend as this will be a great event. I understand that the Prince and a lawyer are also keen to make themselves known to you. Take a seat next to me and let’s hear from the Prince himself.’
We then sat and listened to Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich Romanov, who is a member of the House of Romanov, the former ruling Russian Imperial dynasty.
I listened intently as the Prince chatted openly about his family and the effect of Russian art during the Russian Revolution, as the invitation had promised. He is an intelligent, genuine, fun and likeable person.
We spoke for a while before my exit for an event at The Yacht: London where I had agreed to meet Michael. The Prince enquired about The Home Club and asked that I called him Rosti.
As I was just about to leave, I was interrupted by Daria who introduced me to Natasha Davies, who was also Russian and working in London as a lawyer. I stayed to recap a brief summary of The Home Club and planned to meet with Natasha again. With Daria’s parting reminder of the need to play more tennis, I left for my next venue.
I arrived at Temple Pier on the London Embankment, which is a short distance along the River Thames from the London Eye (but on the opposite bank). As the Thames is a tidal river – it happened to be low tide when I arrived – the gangway to the deck of The Yacht was steep, angling down towards the mud. I arrived on board and was greeted by Michael, who introduced me to his close friends and drinking partners. It soon transpired that the reason for Michael invited me to this event was to encourage my contacts to join the membership for; The Yacht: London.
Whilst the people I know often rough it on safari, or other adventurous excursions, on face value the decor and ‘rustic charm’ of the old boat left much to be desired. Although I would not usually introduce such a venue to my contacts, I wanted to see how the people at the location behaved and interacted first before making any firm judgement.
In the main, it was a relaxed evening with great views of the city, the River Thames and London Eye, which became illuminated as the evening wore on. The drinks and conversation were flowing. Whilst chatting, I noticed someone wading into my peripheral vision, getting closer and closer by the second. If it wasn’t for an outburst of ‘Oh no, not that idiot’ from Michael, I’d not have looked, but Michael then said, ‘Please forgive me, as you are about to meet with Mark from the TV show, Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away, or something like that. He looks like he’s had a few too many, as usual.’
Michael was right. Mark was in my face, going on a bit (mostly complaining about his wife), before asking me to go with him on land. He said no more other than asking me to follow him.
Michael stood where he was; it almost felt like a fight was about to take place. I was behind Mark as he swerved from side to side, even though the boat was completely stationary. As he headed down the staircase, holding a drink in his hand, I met him at the beginning of the gangway, which by this time was almost level with the quayside.
He turned, tripped and fell flat on his face, with drink going everywhere as the glass smashed. Michael and the security team ran over, calling down from the main deck, ‘Are you okay?’
I looked up and replied, ‘Can’t drink? Take it away!’
Everyone laughed out loud as security helped Mark back to his feet. I stayed away from the crowd, finished my drink and gave thanks to Michael and The Yacht’s owners before leaving. What a contrast, I thought.
Whilst able to deal with Mark and his type, I chose not to do so. I certainly wouldn’t place any of my contacts in such an environment.
The Home Club was created to be exclusive and it was achieving that goal throughout its structure. Even the concept of ‘asking for membership’ wasn’t applicable to The Home Club as registration to the network is ‘by invitation only’. I was even more reserved as to who the gatekeepers were. The Home Club is a club that the social elite desired to join but could not enter simply by dint of their public profile. The Club fostered an air the exclusivity through the desire and interest shown by people wanting to register.
I don’t know whether it was due the amount of similar people taking an interest or whether I might simply have been getting used to these people, but when I received contact from someone claiming to be ‘Mr Rockefeller’. I admit I was surprised. Mr Michael Rockefeller wanted to join The Home Club and introduce his family’s contacts. I was dubious and yet remained respectful, as always. I continued to take Mr Rockefeller through the process, ‘I require proof of your identity please,’ I asked.
Michael then recapped his previous proposal as to whether I wanted him, Mark and/or Russell to join The Home Club board.
He said ‘I am a director of a number of companies, chairman of many others, and very connected in the private security industry. Also, there are many businessmen in the City of London who would give their right arm to have me on their board.’
Before he could continue, I asked, ‘So what could you and Russell add to my company, for example, as I’m not interested in Mark.’
He replied ‘Russell will be Managing Director and I will take the position of Chairman. Russell will create the business plan and financials and I will oversee the company, leaving you to create the contacts and future development of The Home Club . Between Russell and I, we will bring in finances via investment, depending upon the proposed financial potential of the company using our global contacts.’
I thought about it for a moment (no, not that long) as I had to agree that the aims of the Club were to retain a trusted community and to develop the business globally. Finances were required, as were a new tech company – as I had fired Anthony due to his unprofessional behaviour added to the fact that whilst in breach of contract, he had contacted Nottinghamshire Police and reported me for harassment.
Same old, I thought, and yet another reminder of those people made of straw who enter contracts, fail to perform them and when in difficulty finding themselves in civil litigation, run to the police making up false allegations. I had first-hand experience of this and knew about the disclosure I would be afforded in any criminal case presented to me, which I would ensure was extended. Added to that, the police know full well of the level of information I retain, which as part of a defence statement would be submitted as ‘evidence’ for open court and a jury to consider.
I had been wrongfully convicted whilst holding serious information on UK and international matters and that information was not disclosed. I would not make the same mistake again.
‘I’m very interested and grateful to both you and Russell for considering joining my company. If you want to introduce any investment, then I will obviously remunerate you for any such introductions.’ I said.
Michael continued, ‘Let’s discuss all that once Russell has been told the good news and I would say, that we meet to advance this provisional agreement.’
I agreed and we planned to meet again at the IoD.
Russell had been updated and was thrilled with the news, as were the rest of us, and flew down from Scotland to meet with Henry and me to discuss the financial projections together.
The meeting was convened to agree the basis of the revenue created in business by The Home Club . Russell and Henry settled on the potential value of the business bringing the cost of £103 million for 20 per cent of my personal shares in The Home Club . Russell seemed happy to continue and added this information to his business plan.
The contracts were drafted, and I was excited as to how my life and business were moving forward.
I met with Henry at his offices in Moorgate to discuss further the potential revenue projections and review our previous meeting on 10 May. We spent hours scribbling away on the whiteboards and came to astonishing projections based upon achievable numbers. Henry stood back and confirmed what he had calculated to his business partner, Steve Foster, and me. We couldn’t wait to give the good news to both Michael and Russell and the rest of the team, especially as we were all in email communication.
A couple of days after they had been told about the potential of The Home Club I received a wave of resignations from five of the team: George; Az; Wenny; Richard; and even Nicola. This seemed like a scenario I had seen before, when Tom Kark QC ‘wanted to lead’ which was followed up by my trial. ‘Surely Tom Kark QC, the Police and CCRC weren’t still keeping me under surveillance?’ I thought. It seemed as soon as I was getting my life back in order, there were people in the shadows working hard at staging my downfall. I couldn’t keep going on like this. Surely, they weren’t still concerned about the evidence that I have on the police and government, in fabricating evidence in a murder case, and other dangers related to UK ports and both arms and bringing in immigrants, under the guidance of the Police, that I uncovered when I worked with New Justice?
Kaja, Victoria, Barbara, Elena, Ria, Henry and Jeremy remained, whilst Karen took the role of Brand Ambassador for Wellbeing and introduced me to two of her contacts: Troy Quintrell and Alex Buick.
I arranged an AGM, chaired by Michael, and attended by myself, Jeremy, Ria, Alex and Troy. The others made their apologies. No one at that meeting knew anything about the behaviour of the remainder of the team, but something was amiss, and I needed to find out exactly what was going on.
I arranged to meet with Michael at the London Capital Club as he had also invited a couple of his security contacts to join us. As I walked in, I received messages from Anthony that claims there was interest in the new website, even though it was at a very basic trial stage. I thought that might have been a result of some social media promotion I conducted, to gauge the initial level of interest.
As I was reading the messages, Michael appeared from the lounge area and opened the double doors to welcome me,
‘Hello, Darren,’ he began. ‘Do come through. I have my table here for us all day’.
Michael’s table would seat up to eight people. It was positioned in the right-hand corner of the lounge. I was then greeted by the General Manager of the London Capital Club, Simon Russell, who had sat as part of the group at my table for dinner, after the event with David Leakey. Simon asked us what we would like to drink and, although it was only 10.30 a.m. in the morning, he reminded us that it was St. Patrick’s Day. What would have been a cappuccino instead became the first of many beers, before we moved on to whiskey.
Michael’s contact came in and we began discussing The Home Club and my interest in online and personal security and in protection for our members. ‘Right,’ he continued. ‘I’ll get you someone over here that will promote The Home Club . He is a very senior media executive, who will try and join us in the restaurant downstairs’
I was then greeted by Mr Mark Moody, who worked as Social Editor at OK! magazine.
‘So, this is what you’ve dragged me out of a boardroom for, is it Michael?’ he queried, as he shook my hand.
Whilst that seemed to be the usual way in which they spoke to each other, Michael felt belittled by Mark, which may also have been a side effect of the alcohol that was flowing. Michael told Mark to join us in the basement.
The lunch was great, and the drinks flowed around the table, as we were getting drunk on the prospects.
‘I would naturally like to lead any media and PR, Wilson,’ said Michael. ‘As you can already see, senior people jump when I call them. Look at who I have brought here: the social editor of the magazine for the rich and famous.’
I was not a regular reader of OK! magazine but knew many others who were. I was aware of the publication, of course, but would usually hear the name of the magazine when a celebrity wanted them to pay for their wedding or a similar commercial arrangement.
We went back upstairs to Michael’s table, where we found Mark was almost as drunk as the rest of us. We had been drinking for a few hours and at quite a rate.
Michael carried on rambling, ‘Darren if The Home Club required the benefits of, say, myself and Mark on board, then we would want something interesting and rewarding from the business: say, a share or two for starters. You would have my Peerage, my good name in the City of London, my contacts and funding options; and I would promote The Home Club to my investment opportunities, as I am the Senior Partner of the Sino UK investment fund, a £6-billion fund based in Beijing.’
Mark then asked if I wanted to attend several upcoming high-profile events. He said he would forward the list for me to choose from, along with details of who else would be in attendance. We all left and went our own ways, with the parting reminder ringing in my ears to have a Lord of the Realm and the Social Editor at OK! magazine join The Home Club board. I made a note that Mark had already tweeted his excitement that day,
‘#HomeClub is already the talk of the London elite. Have you been invited to join? Where’s my invite?’
What most deterred me from having Mark on board, amongst many other things, was that when I received the long list of events, it included the following occasions that stood out from the rest,
April – BAFTA TV Craft Awards
April – Caitlyn Jenner Book launch
May – The Global Gift gala
May – Cannes Festival opening night
May – Pippa Middleton’s wedding
June – Tony Awards
The biggest issue for me was that alongside each of these events I was sent set of A-list attendees, including, but not limited to: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; the Duke of Sussex; Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Rihanna Fenty and Adele Adkins. Michael ran one of the largest private security and defence companies in the world, and yet was unaware of this sloppy emailed disclosure about which celebrities would be going to an event and when they would be there.
This was a major security risk, as I saw it, and Mark had just ruled himself out of any future discussions!
Before I had received the guest list, Michael invited me to meet with his ‘business partner’: a Scottish ‘giant’ of tech and Senior Partner at Exolta Capital Partners, Russell Dalgleish. Michael explained that Russell was the go-to guy for anything tech in Silicon Valley and had established contacts with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Pivitol Labs.
I immediately arranged to meet with Russell at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London. I soon understood Michael’s reference to Russell being a tech ‘giant’, as the latter is approximately 6’ 7” (203 cm) tall.
I explained the concept to Russell and filled him in on what had been achieved to date. Russell fell back on his chair and said, ‘Facebook meets Amazon for the uber-rich and luxury brands? I love it and it makes perfect sense when adding the events, specifically directed goods and services along with a potential magazine. This is going to be big! What does Michael think of it?’
‘Well.’ I replied. ‘He thought that he wanted to join the company board and drive the business. He also added that he was the Senior Partner of a £6-billion investment fund...’
‘You’ll definitely need funding,’ Russell interrupted. ‘Michael has seen the real value of your business, as do I, and I would also wonder if you might consider adding me to the board – after, of course, I show you my value in helping you at this early stage.’
I knew that he was making a play but thought that the added value of Michael and Russell on board, in addition to the Brand Ambassadors and Associates – not least for the funding opportunities – made perfect sense and was something that definitely interested me.
‘I’ll need to think about it, but I’m very grateful for all the interest’ I replied, leaving Russell at the IoD as I left for my next meeting, at the South Kensington Club to meet fashion designer, Alexia Mossay Guerra, who I had met briefly at the Sanderson Hotel fashion show a while earlier with Wenny.
Alexia is a petite, Spanish luxury fashion designer. Reading her online presence did not do full justice to her character in person: she appeared very creative and a little eccentric, in a completely endearing way.
We sat chatting at the SKC where she led to impress me by telling me of her family who owned one of the largest media companies in Spain and their Royal connections which I thought was charming of her, before she asked me to join her at her favourite tapas restaurant in London.
We took the short walk to Casa Brindisa in South Kensington, where we chatted some more whilst eating the finest tapas accompanied with amazing red wine. I had to leave earlier than I wanted, as I had been asked to give a talk on the following day to the pupils at Roedean School in Brighton, West Sussex. Nicola had set this opportunity up as part of the Guild of Entrepreneur’s outreach programme.
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