‘Sulking’ Victoria Beckham stops boastful Instagram posts after backlash over furlough – despite £335m family fortune
VICTORIA Beckham has stopped posting boastful images from her charmed life on Instagram after she faced a public backlash over her decision to use the taxpayer funded furlough scheme to pay her staff.
Last week The Sun Online exclusively revealed the former Spice Girl – whose family is worth £335 million – was left “upset” over the “unfair” backlash to her using taxpayer cash.
The Sun revealed she will be using the government scheme, set up amid the coronavirus pandemic, that will see the taxpayer paying 80 per cent of employees’ wages of up to £2,500 per month.
This week Victoria has reacted by playing down the Beckhams’ millionaire lifestyle on Instagram.
She hasn’t posted any personal pictures or videos from the family’s stunning £6.15 million Cotswolds retreat – a Grade II-listed farmhouse that was converted into the sprawling mansion-like building they’re currently isolating in amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Victoria’s 28 million followers have been left without constant updates of the family cooking and exercising in the Cotwolds bolt-hole that is a step above the self-isolating experience most of us are enduring with a sprawling garden and a living room that boasts chandeliers and an enormous roaring fireplace.
Instead she has shared only business focussed posts about clothes from her Spring/Summer collection.
Last week, sources close to Victoria revealed the designer has been having “the worst week” after coming under fire for the decision.
The insider told The Sun: “Victoria’s telling friends that despite it being her birthday, it’s been the ‘worst week’.
“She’s really upset and doesn’t think it’s fair she’s getting slammed for something a lot of companies and businesses are doing. She thinks it’s unfair and had no idea the backlash would be this bad.”
Piers Morgan was among the voices to criticise the star, tweeting after she made an appearance on Together At Home: “Sorry, but this makes me puke. If you care this much about the NHS, @victoriabeckham – then why are you taking taxpayer money the NHS desperately needs – and you DON’T need – to furlough your staff & prop up your failing business.”
Victoria’s team had “no comment” when approached by The Sun Online.
It was revealed last weekend that Posh Spice has chosen not to take her salary during the coronavirus crisis and has lost yet another senior executive after her chief marketing officer quit.
The Sun revealed Victoria’s plans to furlough her remaining staff as her flagship store in Hong Kong faces closure and she focuses her attention on her fledgling beauty brand.
Victoria, who turned 46 this month, recently declared 20 per cent of all profits will go to food banks during the pandemic, despite her firm announcing over £12million losses last year.
Cuts have seen her ditch expensive plant pots in her West London HQ and lose her chauffeur.
Her chief marketing officer’s departure means seven members of staff have quit since January.
Last week, a spokeswoman for Victoria said: “We are working hard to ensure our much-valued VB team are protected by keeping our business healthy.
“Having carefully assessed all our options, we made the decision to furlough a proportion of staff on an enhanced package.”
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Victoria Beckham Limited has not made a profit since it launched in 2008.
And despite being praised by experts, sales fell 16 per cent to £35million, according to accounts filed in November.
Victoria said at the time: “We’re on track to break even, but it’s not going to happen tomorrow.”
The Sun reported in November the firm went £12.2million into the red again in 2018 — taking her total losses to a monstrous £42million.
Posh’s ballooning debts also saw her forced to take a bailout of £16 million from shareholders, whose identity remains a mystery.
But around the same time accounts for husband David’s firm, Footwork Productions, show he invested £15.5million into an unnamed business described as “an associated company”.
Victoria, who is mired in debt to the tune of £23.8million, needed the financial injection after failing to meet the terms of a loan with banking giant HSBC.
In 2016 the business made a loss of £8.2million followed by another in 2017 of £10.2m. But the 2018 figure is the highest loss yet.
Her annual accounts sent to Companies House in November said: “Whilst revenues and profits were down in 2018, the businesses performed in line with shareholders’ expectations by cutting costs, focusing on its digital channels and refining the product to more closely reflect Victoria Beckham’s aesthetics and values.”
The accounts show that on three occasions in 2018, Victoria breached the terms of the business’s loans and needed the bailout to fulfil them.
They also say the business had: “Commenced its negotiation with the bank for a refinance and the negotiations are still under way.”
It adds that if the terms of the loan are breached in future: “There are levers that the business can pull at short notice to generate cash.”
Although £41.7million went through her tills, revenue was down 16% at 35.1million.
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The report from accountants said the drop in cash was due to: “reduced volumes of wholesale trade in international markets”.
The blow for Posh came after David’s other company, DB Ventures, this week revealed its profits for last year halved from £23.2million to 11.5million.