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BBC News
an hour ago
- Politics
- BBC News
'Noses out of joint': Colleagues reveal what Reform's Zia Yusuf is like to work for
On a cloudy Tuesday in September last year, Gawain Towler, a veteran press chief for Nigel Farage's various political parties, was working in Reform UK's central London offices when his phone went calling him into a meeting. He was being given the decision had been made by Zia Yusuf, the then newly-appointed Reform UK chairman with a mandate to professionalise the although multimillionaire businessman Yusuf was sitting close to Towler in the party's office, it was delegated to Reform's chief operations officer to ring him and then deliver the news in an adjoining 20 years working for Eurosceptic causes, he was given just a few minutes to clear his desk and leave. "My nose was a bit out of joint for a few hours," Towler told BBC News. "It was a surprising way of doing it."He wasn't the only Reform employee or supporter who found themselves at odds with Yusuf's way of doing business during the 38-year-old's 11 months in Yusuf abruptly quit as party chairman last week, Farage acknowledged that the former banker's "Goldman Sachs-like mentality" meant some people found it difficult to work with him."Zia worked very hard but struggled with relationships and people," wrote Arron Banks, a former Reform mayoral candidate and ally of Farage, in a post on X."Quite often businessmen come into politics and they assume that politics works the same way as business and you can work people really hard in business because you're paying them well," Towler said.A lot of those in Reform, however, were volunteers. Others were veterans of Eurosceptic politics who were used to being left to do their work without having to "constantly" report back to now ex-chairman acted with a "brutality that a volunteer organisation which is based on personal relationships sometimes finds difficult," Towler added."And there were a lot of people's noses [which] were put out of joint. We give up our free time, we do all this and we're still treated like dirt."There was drive and commitment and passion. But there was very little empathy and sympathy and you need that too."Yusuf denies this and says that his success as Reform chairman has led to people bearing grudges. Before he was Reform's chairman, Yusuf was the co-founder and chief executive of a luxury concierge business offering travel bookings and once-in-a-lifetime experiences to a wealthy business, Velocity Black, was sold for a reported $300m (£221m) to a US bank in 2023, giving Yusuf the riches which allowed him to donate a six-figure sum to Reform and work as party chairman on an unpaid former employees of Velocity Black speaking to the BBC have said some of the issues - his controlling, sometimes domineering behaviour, a lack of empathy and harsh sackings of staff - had direct echoes of how he behaved running the concierge abrupt departure - and two days later, return as head of Reform's council spending-scrutinising 'Doge' unit - even had parallels with a break, and swifter-than-expected return, as CEO of Velocity, concerns included his unpredictable behaviour which meant people "lived in fear", a complaint from a female ex-employee alleging inappropriate conduct, and a failure to take others into account, epitomised by unhygienic office conditions caused by Yusuf allowing his dog to defecate on the questioned whether Reform had asked questions about Yusuf's time running Velocity Black and whether his issues with people could have been foreseen."We were all in complete disbelief [that he went into politics]," one ex-employee said. Like others in this article, they didn't want to be named publicly because they still work in related industries."It is the most absurd thing to see…a person with that history choose to be on the public stage.""I was frankly quite shocked," another said. "How does one make the jump from being a very kind of gauche CEO of a ridiculous concept ultimately to being incredibly high up in a major political party in one of the biggest democracies in the world. That seemed like a major jump." Demanding boss With its sale to Capital One in 2023, Velocity Black earned tens of millions of pounds for investors and shareholders and became a glittering success story for its two founders, Yusuf and former school friend Alex many tech start-ups, however, its journey there was rocky at business started as a mobile payment app, driving diners to restaurants and allowing them to pay the bill from their a couple of years, it had pivoted to offering travel bookings and experiences like swimming with orcas and dining in the Egyptian of those who worked with Yusuf saw him as a "visionary" and an "absolute force of nature" who was particularly adept at raising money from more than half a dozen former Velocity employees told BBC News that Yusuf was difficult to work for and lacked leadership paint a picture of a flawed character who could be extremely demanding, even by the exacting standards of a fledgling tech start-up. As they would be when he was running Reform, firings were frequent and brutal."Zia is one of the most challenging people I've ever worked for," one said."Everyone was on edge constantly, he was very curt," a second ex-employee said. "He led from fear.""He had zero empathy," they added. "It was a pretty toxic environment." A third employee who worked closely with him said he pushed people "to the absolute limits"."People were emotionally and psychologically affected but it wasn't always the workload, it was the sheer unpredictability of Zia's behaviour and people lived in fear of him," they would lambast employees in the office and sometimes in front of wealthy members of the business's concierge service at Velocity Black least one employee said they never received a formal written employment contract and many left just months after joining the company."He doesn't interact with people in a 'regular' way and he doesn't understand 'regular' interaction," another pointed to an online review of Velocity as reflective of their own experiences. It states that "at the beginning you truly believe you have joined the next Tesla… It is quite simply the worst company I have ever worked in".One employee said Yusuf was an "excellent salesman" who recruited her on a premise which turned out to be far from the reality."He courted me [for the role]. Took me out to dinners. It was all very exciting."But when she started it wasn't what she thought she had signed up for."It very quickly became apparent the façade, the charismatic salesperson, was no longer there."He just seemed very go go go go go and money was no object. He would get angry if things didn't work out the way he wanted them to work out."As he would as Reform chairman, Yusuf worked punishing hours, seemingly to the point of 2017, Velocity's board agreed that he could go on a break and employees weren't sure if he would return. In the end, he returned a few days former employee disliked Yusuf's approach to business so intently he said he didn't exercise his stock options and had no regrets about doing so, despite missing out on a potentially six-figure profit."It left such a bad taste," they said. "The moral culture, [Zia's] lack of empathy."It showed bad people can win."While several former employees were highly critical of Yusuf, others were more positive about their experience of working with him or some of his described him as a "brilliant boss" from whom they had learnt a lot. Another said he was an "absolute powerhouse" who was always respectful. Several employees who criticised his conduct acknowledged he was a powerful and persuasive speaker who was adept at securing multiple rounds of investment in the his hard taskmaster approach, "likeability was important to him", one former employee was a small company where employees told us they were reluctant to raise formal complaints because they feared they would invariably make their way back to the chief 2018, a female employee told colleagues she received a series of late night phone calls from Yusuf which she did not answer. She told them they had made her uncomfortable and she raised them with Yusuf's co-founder, Macdonald, the next day, asking if she could work from home because of the "Zia issue".Macdonald said his co-founder had explained that the phone calls were in error and he had been trying to call someone else. Yusuf said he does not recall this, and that the company ran a 24/7 customer service operation so it was not unusual for employees to be called at June 2019, several months after her departure, the same woman wrote to Macdonald to complain that Yusuf was repeatedly trying to follow her personal Instagram account, despite her rejecting the request each time. She said she had already blocked him on the messaging service warned she would take it further if it continued and suggested others had been contacted in the same News has seen messages between employees suggesting that another woman who had recently left Velocity Black said they had experienced similar requests on social lawyers, Yusuf said the accusation was false and that he had employed someone to manage his social media accounts during that man was put in touch with a BBC reporter by Yusuf's lawyers. He said Yusuf paid him to post content and occasionally follow people through the accounts, all at Yusuf's direction and with his approval. He said he was not employed by Velocity Black, didn't know anyone else at the company, and did the work as a paid hobby. He said any repeat requests would have been inadvertent and claimed that while Yusuf had retained access to his accounts during this time, he did not use them. Celebrity-studded parties Velocity Black had offices in Mayfair in London and in several American the early period after the company's US launch, Yusuf moved to New York. He lived in a five-bedroom double-height loft apartment owned by Sir Winston Churchill's cost $8,000 a month, paid for by Velocity Black with the board's on its grandeur, one former staffer recalled how "this place had columns". Yusuf said it was also used as an office by Velocity employees said they thought the spending was excessive and a bad look for a cash-strapped start-up trying to build a viable company spent lavishly on celebrity-studded parties designed to build the brand. In 2017, it flew several supermodels for a party at a private villa in Mykonos, with other events including a Halloween party at the Mandrake Hotel in London and pool parties in Coachella, California in one senior source said Yusuf disliked the events and found them very stressful, others thought that being in the same room as stars was important to him."He was very enamoured by celebrity, very enamoured by being seen, being the guy, being viewed as cool," one ex-employee liked to dress in designer clothing and owned a number of sports cars including a Porsche and a Ferrari. For months, these were kept in a car park at Westfield shopping centre in west London, with Yusuf racking up significant fines in the process, staff said; he said he had no recollection of this and denied living a lavish joining the company were struck by how attractive staff members were, to the extent it appeared to them to be a recruitment strategy, something Yusuf denied."Everyone looked like a model but that made sense as a high-end concierge company. It was never written that you had to be ridiculously attractive," a former staff member could be a chaotic boss. He worked long hours meaning at times he was "basically living in the office"."The environment was like a playground without any real senior people - fun but without a real structure," one ex-staffer said. Yusuf's actions sometimes betrayed a lack of regard for those around day in 2018, he bought a husky puppy called Apollo. He would bring it in the office and leave other staff to deal with it, on one occasion leaving it there dog was untrained and would run around the office and defecate on the carpet, with Yusuf seemingly unwilling to pick up the faeces, ex-employees told BBC staff members found it so unpleasant they wrote about it on Glassdoor, an online website which allows employees to anonymously review their employers. At least one post on the site about it appears subsequently to have been taken wrote: "Dog faeces in the office every day, it is unsanitary and smells disgusting."Under a section headlined "advice" they wrote: "Ban the dog, get the office cleaned."Eventually a small office was turned into a room for dogs, including those other employees were then allowed to bring own flat near Paddington "smelt of dog poo" according to two sources who visited. They could see dog faeces left on the carpet in the indicate that on one occasion in September 2018 his dog was left in an outdoor space at his London flat for several hours and sounded distressed, raising concern among his disputes this and said that his dog was occasionally in the office, but it would be taken outside. He denied that he left it there overnight. Entering politics By 2021, Velocity Black was growing fast. That year, it was listed as the 18th fastest growing company in Europe in the Financial fact, as BBC News has discovered, this was based on the wrong revenue figures being given to the statistical company compiling the list, meaning it appeared to have grown twice as fast as it actually company, Statista, said Yusuf had signed off the figures himself and had supplied gross revenue figures rather than the net revenue numbers they had asked the figures were corrected, the company fell to 32nd in the said the process would have been led by the company's finance team, not him and the revenue figures they had provided were, to the best of their knowledge, CEO's co-founder Macdonald took a step back from the company in 2022, moving to non-executive chairman so he could focus on founding another business. As it turned out, Capital One tabled an offer for Velocity Black two months later and the business was sold in 2023. Yusuf used some of the money he made from the deal as a springboard into politics, donating to Reform the following days after his resignation as chairman last week, he returned to Reform in a new role. He now focuses on leading its 'Doge' taskforce - which is modelled on US President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, working on policy and making media appearances.A new chairman, David Bull, has been appointed in his a press conference marking the change, Yusuf was self-depreciating."What we need now in a chairman is someone who's an incredible communicator, someone who is loved universally across the party. Loved by the volunteers. Someone who is going to do a better job than me in energising the volunteers on the frontline, he's going to have more time to do it," he he added: "I think you'll probably agree he's a more affable and charming man than I am."He said tweets he had sent criticising the party's only female MP as "stupid" for raising the issue of whether Britain should ban the burka had been misjudged and that he had been "exhausted"."There was general relief in the professional and voluntary party when he resigned. However, when he came back with a specific task he was given there was great support as well," Towler said. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. If you have any information on stories you would like to share with the BBC Politics Investigations team, please get in touch at politicsinvestigations@
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Borderlands 4' Adds A Hugely Requested Feature Months Before Launch
Borderlands 4 Gearbox Borderlands 4 has officially become my most-anticipated game of the year, between how good its previews have looked and the glowing hands-on reviews that have just hit the internet this past week. Now, I am deeply impressed by what Gearbox has just announced. Due to a load of fan feedback and debates about the issue, they have added a feature to the game that will launch with it in September, a demonstration of both listening to the playerbase and nimble development. The debate was whether or not the Borderlands 4 'compass' system of locating objectives and enemies was better than a 'minimap' system that did the same thing but in a different format. Gearbox adamantly defended the compass decision, but the conversation was so pervasive that it has just been announced that Borderlands 4 will indeed launch with a combat minimap option. Here's Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford showing off the system during a 32-tweet thread covering the issue: Randy credits the community for helping to reinforce how important this issue is and that it needed to be addressed: 'This happened because of the best elements of our community. I'm talking about the real fans who sincerely want the best for the game and gave constructive notes and made reasonable arguments. You know who you are and you rock! You made this happen!' I'm not exactly sure which side of this I come down on. I think perhaps the compass, as it seems less intrusive in the UI, but I'll try both out to be sure. Regardless, it's great that there's an option, and you really do not see this sort of thing happen this quickly and way ahead of launch, rather than a 'yeah, we'll look into that for the future' sort of thing. It seems like it's all green lights for Borderlands 4 so far. The only negative things I've heard about it are not about the game itself, but people saying they didn't like Borderlands 3 , so they're not excited about 4. But a lot of the praise about Borderlands 4 is that it's fixing many of the issues of 3, from combat movement to looting to even the tone of its writing. That, combined with what appears to be a very reactive dev team on top of their game, I think this is going to be a big fall launch, particularly with a number of other games moving out of its way. Can't wait to play. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .
The Herald
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Herald
Transport department ‘weighing' extending validity of driving licences
'The tender was awarded in August and in September we handed our investigation report to the minister, who passed it on to the auditor-general. 'In March this year, the minister announced that the [auditor-general's] investigation confirmed irregularities, and said she would go to court to overturn the tender award. We are waiting for clarity on the contract process,' said Fick. The department's Collen Msibi has confirmed the ministry received the letter from Outa and it is 'being processed internally for the minister's attention'. 'T he driving licence card agency of the department is also conducting a study of the financial implications on the extension of the validity period of driving licence cards,' Msibi said, on Outa's recommendation for an extended validity period. 'Motorists can drive with an expired card for up to three months before being eligible to be fined, provided they can show proof they applied for a new card before their current card expires.' 'If the card had expired at the time of application for a replacement, they must apply for a temporary driver's licence and keep proof thereof in the vehicle. 'A temporary driver's licence is valid for six months, or until the new or replacement card is issued.'
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Marathon has been delayed indefinitely after rocky Alpha playtest
After hosting an Alpha playtest and taking in community feedback, Bungie has announced that Marathon will no longer be launching on September 23 as was originally planned. Currently, the extraction shooter has no set release date, but the team is committed to hosting more playtests to address community concerns and add new features. The official Bungie news post breaks the news that the development team has made the difficult choice to delay Marathon, but does not give another timeframe for when we can expect the game to launch. The reasons appear to be based on player feedback, as the post reads, 'Through every comment and real-time conversation on social media and Discord, your voice has been strong and clear. We've taken this to heart, and we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion. After much discussion within our Dev team, we've made the decision to delay the September 23rd release.' Recommended Videos It isn't all bad news, however. The dev team outlines a clear roadmap of what it plans to improve or add over the coming months to make Marathon as good as possible. Some highlights include new types of loot and dynamic events on runs, adding more narrative elements to interact with in the world that more closely match the original lore, a better solo player experience, and proximity chat. The post concludes stating that we will hear more about progress on Marathon sometime this Fall, which is also when a new release date is promised. This heavily implies that the game will be pushed into 2026, but we will wait for full confirmation from the team in a few months. Marathon was met with a mixed reception when it debuted its gameplay and hosted an Alpha test earlier this year. Despite never announcing a price, many were already hesitant that it wouldn't be worth the asking price based on what was shown. For now, it seems like Bungie is taking all that feedback seriously and doing its best to make Marathon a hit when it does finally come out. Whether or not that comes to pass, however, is yet to be seen.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Bungie delays Marathon after alpha test feedback
Bungie announced Tuesday that it's delaying Marathon, its new extraction shooter that had been set for a September 23rd release date. The studio isn't providing a new release date just yet, though has promised to share it sometime this fall. The studio outlined a few 'immediate focus areas' for the game. It plans to make AI encounters 'more challenging and engaging' and make combat 'more tense and strategic.' It's 'doubling down on the Marathon Universe' by increasing 'visual fidelity,' including 'more narrative and environmental storytelling,' and will introduce a 'darker tone that delivers on the themes of the original trilogy.' (Bungie may also be making these visual changes after an artist said the company lifted her artwork without permission.) And it plans to add 'more social experiences,' including proximity chat and improving things for solo and duo players. 'We're using this time to empower the team to create the intense, high-stakes experience that a title like Marathon is built around,' according to the post. 'This means deepening the relationship between the developers and the game's most important voices: our players.'
