Northern Ireland

Stephen Nolan's production company outperforms Northern Ireland peers by millions

Stephen Nolan
Stephen Nolan
By John Breslin

Funds in Stephen Nolan's production company outstrip by millions the amounts in other leading independents in Northern Ireland.  

Third Street Studios reported having close to £4m either owed, in cash or in the bank at the end of a 15-month period to March 2022. 

Of six other significant production companies whose accounts were checked by The Irish News, none reported close to that amount in total funds at the end of their latest reporting periods.  

The next largest amount reported by the companies based in the north was the long-established Waddell Media at under £900,000, with others between approximately £200,000 and £500,000. 

The Irish News approached several production companies for comment on the relationship between the BBC and Third Street, but none were available to talk. Most independent productions work on BBC commissions.  

A regional representative for the industry group, PACT, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Concerns have been raised privately by production companies over the relationship between the BBC and Mr Nolan's company, whose shares were transferred to an entity solely controlled by leading bookmaker, Paul McLean. 

Read More: Shares in Stephen Nolan's company transferred to entity controlled by leading bookmaker

Holly Hamilton takes over Nolan Show for 'next few weeks'

DUP MP Gregory Campbell said he was contacted and raised the matter in the House of Commons. He has long called for greater transparency over the relationship between Third Street and the BBC, including over commissions and contracts. 

On Friday, Third Street, which reported having an average of three employees over the accounting period, was listed as having an address at Astor House in Shaftesbury Square. This was changed over the weekend to Linenhall Street, the same address as Third Street's accountant.  

Mr Nolan, after an initial statement last Wednesday, did not respond to follow-up questions. He is currently on holiday in the United States, posting on social media he was in Las Vegas for the UFC fight night on Saturday. 

The broadcaster is paid a salary of more than £400,000 for hosting The Nolan Show and one on BBC Radio Five along with Nolan Live on television. His production company reported being owed £2.4m at the end of March 2022 and with £1.5m in cash or the bank. 

Third Street Studios, on its website, lists nine productions it was involved in, including The Top Table,Made in NI and The Shankill Bombing. All the productions listed were commissioned by the BBC. 

In his statement, Mr Nolan said: “Third Street has been approached by an industry leader in London to discuss teaming up to develop programmes for the national and international market. 

"We first came to their attention because of the massive audience success in terms of iplayer activations from the prison series Third St made for the BBC , both locally (Nolan Inside Hydebank) and for BBC3 network (Boys Banged Up).”  

However, The Third Street Studios website does not list the two series Mr Nolan mentioned in his statement. The website for the company does not list its key employees unlike all the other leading companies surveyed. Mr Nolan did not respond to a comment on who the employees and how many people are currently employed by the company,  

He said the "talented employees behind the scenes of Third St ( present and future) will now have a real stake in the company through employee ownership and be on the journey themselves of growing the company with the exciting opportunities that we are lucky to have in play."  

Tsseot Limited, a company incorporated in September 2022, is the trustee of the Third Street Studios Limited Employee Ownership Trust, established in November 11 last year. Mr McLean is the sole officer and person with significant control of the company. 

Days later an agreement was signed transferring the shares in the company from Third Street to Tsseot as the trustee. Mr Nolan ceded his position as a person of significant control, the main shareholder, on November 16. 

The broadcaster, in his statement in response to questions about Mr McLean's link to Third Street, said he was "delighted that one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland will be advising the staff about all the business elements of running a company". 

Employee ownership trusts are often managed by a board headed by the exiting shareholder, a senior employee, a solicitor, accountant or trust expert. 

There are tax benefits as employees can be paid bonuses free of income tax. 

A BBC spokesperson said: “We have well-established arrangements in place to record, and deal with, any potential conflicts of interest involving BBC staff.  

“All of this is about protecting the integrity and independence of BBC programmes and our editorial decision-making. It’s a routine part of what we do and is kept under regular review.” 

The broadcaster earlier said: “Our contractual arrangements with independent production companies that make programmes for the BBC are commercially confidential." 

The BBC did not answer whether management knew of the arrangement involving Mr Nolan and Mr McLean.