Examination of Witnesses (Questions 20
- 39)
TUESDAY 25 JANUARY 2005
MR JONATHAN
SAYEED MP
Q20 Mrs Browning: Is there a reason
for that?
Mr Sayeed: I am kicking myself
and racking my brains about this and one thing did occur to me
at the weekend and so it is not part of the evidence. As you will
have seen, the website is a separate entity and not run by The
English Manner. When the website was set up I thought I knew what
was on it because right at the beginning, in 2001-02, a collection
of photographs and brochures et cetera had been put together that
were going to constitute the website. I know it sounds rather
weak, but that is what I thought the website was.
Q21 Mrs Browning: Do you see the
company website as a marketing tool?
Mr Sayeed: Yes.
Q22 Mrs Browning: And you advise
the company on marketing?
Mr Sayeed: I advise them on what
I would call strategic marketing. In other words, I advise them
on the way you approach markets and, quite bluntly, as this is
almost a "boutique" company run by two ladies, how to
keep their costs down because they are good at spending money.
Q23 Mrs Browning: Do you see a company
website as part of the marketing strategy and as a tool for future
sales?
Mr Sayeed: Yes.
Q24 Mr Dismore: What you are saying
is that the various dinners at the House of Commons were to do
with friends and you saw no conflict of interest between the two.
Is that right?
Mr Sayeed: With one exception,
one or more were friends. The one exception is the New York
Times journalist Bob Morris.
Q25 Mr Dismore: If you did not see
it as a conflict of interest why did you tick the box on the Refreshment
Department booking form to say that there was?
Mr Sayeed: You have lost me.
Q26 Mr Dismore: On the Refreshment
Department booking form you tick a box to say if you have a conflict
of interest. If there was no conflict of interest why did you
tick that box on the form?
Mr Sayeed: It seems to me that
that is a belt and braces approach. Was this the garden group?
Q27 Mr Dismore: Generally speaking
you would tick the box.
Mr Sayeed: Can you tell me which
one this was?
Q28 Mr Dismore: I think you did it
for all of them.
Mr Sayeed: A registrable interest,
and I am quite prepared to be corrected if I am wrong, is whether
any company of which I had an interest has any interest in these
particular clients and the answer is quite clearly yes. I would
have thought that I would be attacked if I had not ticked the
box. They did not pay to come here. They did not expect to come
here. It did not form any part of the contract that they entered
into with The English Manner. The reason they were here was because
they were friends.
Q29 Mr Dismore: Can I take you through
to the visits which are set out at pages 14 and 15 in the Commissioner's
report,[9]
"Dinner was hosted by Mr Sayeed . . . The family were The
English Manner Limited's first paying clients . . . were also
close personal friends." If you look at your latest submission,[10]
which includes your business plan,[11]
one of the things that you say here as part of your marketing
strategy is "Friends, family and meetings in cities across
US". Is it not really the case that you see, although they
were personal friends, part of your marketing strategy, as Mrs
Browning has put to you, was to be getting people to go back and
say what a wonderful time they have had?
Mr Sayeed: I think I have answered
that with Mrs Browning. The point I would reiterate is that I
would want them to go back and make clear to their friends that
they were enthused with the contract which they paid for and the
way The English Manner had looked after them, but that contract
did not include Parliament whatsoever.[12]
Q30 Mr Dismore: Did you discuss with
the guests what the House of Commons' rules were in detail so
that they might be able to make such a distinction as you are
making?
Mr Sayeed: No.
Q31 Mr Dismore: I think it would
be fair to say that as far as they were concerned it was all part
of one experience.
Mr Sayeed: No, it would not be
fair to say that because it was made quite clear to them they
were coming here as my personal guests because they were friends.
Q32 Mr Dismore: Part of the marketing
strategy is to target friends.
Mr Sayeed: Is it friends or friends
and family?
Q33 Mr Dismore: It is friends, family
and meetings.
Mr Sayeed: Could you give me the
page number?
Q34 Mr Dismore: This is the second
last page of the business plan.[13]
Mr Sayeed: Is it the one that
says "Strategic Plan"?
Q35 Mr Dismore: Yes. While we are
on the same point I can put the same thing to you again in relation
to visit number (iii).
Mr Sayeed: It says "friends,
family and meetings in cities across US—Genie". I am
not Genie.[14]
Q36 Mr Dismore: The point about it
is that it is targeting friends and family as part of the marketing
strategy.
Mr Sayeed: I have to say, Mr Dismore,
if you are citing this as a piece of evidence that demonstrates
that I was using the House of Commons for my personal gain then
I disagree. This actually says, "Friends, family and meetings
in cities across US—Genie".
Q37 Mr Dismore: Let me put this one
to you, number (iii), Lake Forest Garden Club, 25 May 2004. On
the same page I have just referred to it says "Garden clubs—Lizzy's
Godmother".
Mr Sayeed: Yes.
Q38 Mr Dismore: Also, if you look
at the last page of your business plan, one of the things is to
"Donate trips on reserve to auctions", another promotion.
Mr Sayeed: Let me just deal with
the first bit. This is a document produced, as I understand it,
in September 2004. The Garden Club came in in May 2004. I did
not prepare the strategic plan.
Q39 Mr Dismore: Are you saying you
were not aware of the strategic plan for the marketing of the
company bearing in mind that you said you are strategically involved
in that?
Mr Sayeed: Of course I read it.
I did not write it is what I am saying. The strategic plan is
dated September 2004. The visit by The Garden Club was in May
2004. Quite clearly it was such a success that Mrs Messervy thought
it would be very sensible, no doubt from comments that she had
received, to target garden clubs.
9 Appendix 1, para 3(i)-(v). Back
10
Appendix 4. Back
11
Not reported. Back
12
Note by witness: The document quoted from was dated September
2004, long after these guests came. Back
13
Not reported. Back
14
Note by witness: The document quoted from was dated September
2004, long after these guests came and it was targeting in the
US aimed at potential new clients. Back
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