Mary Queen of Shops to make £46,000 from TV show 'saving' ailing towns for the government
By Nick Craven
PUBLISHED: 22:00, 16 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:42, 16 June 2012
Mary Portas will make £46,875 from her involvement in a Government project to regenerate 12 of Britain’s ailing high streets.
The self-styled Queen of Shops’ own fee for a three-part Channel 4 series shadowing the scheme is nearly half of the £100,000 each of the rundown towns chosen to be ‘Portas Pilots’ will receive to reverse their fortunes.
Yet when Local Government Minister Grant Shapps launched a ‘Golden Ticket’ contest for the towns to bid for the cash, there was no mention of her plans to turn the project into lucrative TV shows – starring herself.
Ms Portas will receive no Government money for her work, but Channel 4 – with which she has a two-year £500,000 contract – confirmed she will be paid her normal project fee.
As she is contracted to make 16 one-hour programmes a year and, at an estimated fee of £15,625 per programme, the three-episode series will earn her about £46,875.
Meanwhile, in Margate, Kent, concerns were raised by the Town Team formed to spearhead the bid after Optomen TV, which make Ms Portas’s programmes, tried to sign up shopkeepers with ‘draconian’ contracts.
One businessman said: ‘When I saw the contract, I couldn’t believe my eyes. They promised to pay a nominal £1. In return, they would basically own me and my business for five months during filming and gag me from talking about the programme for a year.’
Clauses even stipulate that participants agree to being ‘filmed without your knowledge’.
Ms Portas, followed by a camera crew, appeared resolute at a public meeting. Referring to the publicity, she told traders: ‘You either let the cameras in with me, or I go back on the train and some other town gets it.’
Veteran TV presenter Ms Portas, 52, surprisingly claimed later on Twitter: ‘Heat of moment stuff with a camera stuck in face. There’s also been odd suggestion that I won’t be going to each town and don’t want to share learnings. Bonkers.’ She also promised to amend the contracts.
Robin Vaughan-Lyons, chairman of the Margate Town Team, said: ‘The clauses went way beyond anything acceptable.’
Yesterday the Department of Communities and Local Government admitted it had secretly colluded with Ms Portas and Optomen, telling them in advance which towns had been chosen as ‘Portas Pilots’. But a spokeswoman added: ‘The status of Portas Pilots is absolutely not dependent upon their participation in any show.’
A source close to Ms Portas said last night: ‘Whatever fee she receives, it would still be far less than she’s invested into this project. She has put in the equivalent of £100k to £150k of her own money and time.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nment.html
